The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Martinez scores twice; Atlanta tops Impact 2-1
MONTREAL — In their first starts together in the center of Atlanta United’s formation, new signing Eric Remedi and MLS veteran Jeff Larentowicz combined for a Jessie Tuggle-esque 14 tackles in Saturday’s 2-1 win against Montreal.
The two forced the Impact to put in cross after cross from the wide areas in the second half because the cen- ter of the pitch was like I-285 at 5 p.m. on a Friday. No one was going anywhere.
Their effectiveness was a bit of a surprise because Remedi, recently acquired from Banfield in Argentina, made his first start for Atlanta United. He said he hadn’t played that many minutes in about two months when he was going through the preseason in Argentina.
The duo’s strong defense backed a two-goal perfor- mance from Josef Martinez, who scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the year. With 11 games left in the regular season, Martinez is only three short of the MLS season record of 27 goals shared by three players.
On defense, Remedi threw himself into seven tackles — and missed some more — but didn’t concede a foul against Montreal. He said he is still getting used to the rhythm and speed of Atlanta Unit- ed’s games.
With Larentowicz, Remedi is the only other true defensive midfielder Atlanta United can use. Atlanta United man- ager Gerardo Martino has used Darlington Nagbe and Julian Gressel as two-way midfielders this season. Remedi showed an ability to not only break up plays, but he was tidy with his passing and goal- keeper Brad Guzan pointed out that Remedi was able to dribble out of trouble and break Montreal’s pressure near the end of the game.
“I hope that I did well, I hope that I’m comfortable and met the expectations the coaches had of me,” Remedi said.
Zeroing in on two MLS records: With the win, Atlanta United has 47 points, including 23 on the road. The MLS record for points in a season was set by Toronto with 69 last year. With 11 games left, Atlanta United can reach a maximum of 80 points, shattering Toronto’s record.
Atlanta United needs only to maintain its average of 2.04 points per game to finish with a record-tying 69 points. With a 7-2-2 record away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium and six road games remaining, Atlanta United could finish with a maximum of 41 points.
“We’re a bunch of competitors and guys that, when we step across that white line, want to win regardless if it’s home or away,” goalkeeper Brad Guzan said.