It’s been a week of firsts for Josef Martinez and Atlanta United FC.
Two days after Martinez led the expansion club to its inaugural MLS victory by scoring the first hat trick in club history in a 6-1 win at Minnesota United FC, the Venezuelan Designated Player was named Alcatel MLS Player of the Week for Week 2 by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) on Tuesday.
Martinez won the honor over New York City FC’s David Villa and Atlanta teammate Miguel Almiron, both of whom had two goals this weekend.
Martinez got things going early on Sunday, running onto an Almiron through ball in the left side of the box and slotting a right footed shot inside the far post to put Atlanta up 1-0 just over two minutes into the match.
After Almiron made it 2-0 in the 13th, Martinez put Atlanta up three in the 27th, latching onto a Yamil Asad pass in the right side of the area and poking a shot home inside the far post. He completed his hat trick in the 75th minute, once more getting behind the Minnesota defense before rounding ‘keeper John Alvbage and finishing into an empty net.
Atlanta and Martinez will return to action on Saturday, when they’ll host the Chicago Fire at Bobby Dodd Stadium (4 pm ET; UniMás in the US | MLS LIVE in Canada | Facebook Live).
