The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Martinez can break tie with goal against Orlando City
United forward shares MLS single-season scoring record.
Josef Martinez’s Atlanta United teammates think it likely he will set the MLS single-season scor- ing record Friday at Orlando City. Martinez has 27 goals this season and needs just one more to move ahead of Roy Lassiter, Chris Wondolowski and Bradley Wright-Phillips for the record.
“The way he’s scoring I don’t doubt it,” fullback Chris McCann said. “If he gets a chance, he will put it away. I hope he keeps scoring for our sake. The longer he
does this the better it us for us because it’s propelling us to the top of the league every week.”
Martinez has scored in eight consecutive games. If he scores Fri- day, he will tie the league record for consecutive games with a goal set by Portland’s Diego Valeri last year.
Martinez is scoring in a variety of ways: six with his right foot, six with his left, nine with his head and six on penalty kicks. Orlando City’s defense is a shambles with a league-high 57 goals allowed this season.
Martinez has scored in all but seven games this season. Atlanta United is 2-3-2 in those games.
“Josef is Atlanta, Josef represents Atlanta,” Miguel Almiron said. “Josef ’s breaking records. Atlanta’s breaking records.”
If Martinez maintains his scoring clip of 1.09 goals per game,
he will finish with 36 goals this season.
Nagbe, Garza inch closer to return: An already strong United roster could be getting stronger with the returns of midfielder Darlington Nagbe and fullback Greg Garza.
Nagbe ran to the side while the team trained Tuesday in Marietta. He suffered an adductor injury during the draw against Portland on June 24 and was expected to miss 2-3 months. He has three assists this season and was a crucial factor in the team climbing into first place in the Eastern Conference.
Garza, 27, has also resumed running. He underwent shoulder surgery following a recurrence of an injury during a game against New York Red Bulls on May 20. He was expected to miss 4-6 months. He has 10 starts with one goal and three assists this season.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to count on guys like (Darlington) Nagbe and (Greg) Garza as well as we enter this final stretch of the season, because the more complete and deep our roster is, the better off we are,” Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino said.
The team Sunday welcomed back Ezequiel Barco after the missed the three previous games because of a disciplinary hiatus. Barco came off the bench to play 16 minutes in Sunday’s 3-1 win against Columbus.
Before his hiatus, Barco had started the previous 15 games. While he has just one goal and four assists this season, he was creating a lot of chances for teammates.
Atlanta United is still missing fullbacks Sal Zizzo (knee) and Mikey Ambrose (knee), who are likely out the remainder of the season. Midfielder/ striker Brandon Vazquez is day-to-day after suffering a minor injury during training last week. Midfielder Chris Goslin also sustained an injury last week and the team has yet to release a diagnosis and prognosis.