A 25-year-old MLS record has finally fallen.
Josef Martinez, with his 28th goal of the campaign in the 74th minute to give Atlanta United a 2-1 win over Orlando City, has set the Major League Soccer single-season goalscoring record.
With the goal, Martinez also tied an MLS record with a score in nine straight league matches, with an insane 14 goals during that span. His torrid pace has Atlanta on a massive hot streak, as the team has lost just once since May 22nd.
The goal itself was beautiful, taking a feed from Julian Gressel and putting a move so filthy on Jonathan Spector that he sent the Orlando City defender crumbling into goalkeeper Joe Bednik, leaving Martinez to chip the netminder who now sat on his rear end. It was a move and finish fitting of a record-scoring strike.
2️⃣8️⃣ pic.twitter.com/8rZx3GFYpH
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 25, 2018
The 25-year-old Venezuelan has been an absolute menace since joining Atlanta last May, with now 47 MLS goals in 48 games. As you can see, he’s a goalscoring machine:
Josef Martínez's 28 goals this season have come on 77 shots worth 27.0 xG
— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) August 25, 2018
His scoring rate of 36% is about three times the @MLS average this season. pic.twitter.com/B6Z31iOQ3m
After setting the record, Martinez was immediately congratulated by New York Red Bulls striker Bradley Wright-Phillips who was the most recent man to equal the previous mark of 27 back in 2014. Wright-Phillips was tied with Chris Wondolowski and Roy Lassiter at the top of the list.
Congrats @JosefMartinez17 👏🏿 you made it look easy
— Brad Wright-Phillips (@BWPNINENINE) August 25, 2018
He also received a congratulations video from San Jose’s Wondolowski via the Major League Soccer social media account. “It’s been fun watching you play this season, and hoping to watching you score many more goals, just not against us,” he said.
Congratulations to Josef Martinez on breaking the @MLS single-season goal scoring record!
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) August 25, 2018
A message from the man himself, @ChrisWondo. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/CI6SaoDghz
The insane part about Martinez’s goalscoring numbers this season is that Atlanta still has a whopping eight league matches remaining, and with the club chasing the Supporter’s Shield, it’s unlikely that he will sit very many of the remaining matches, if any. Atlanta United sits atop the Eastern Conference on 51 points with the victory, two points above Wright-Phillips and the Red Bulls.
