Josef Martinez continued his torrid goalscoring pace, picking up a historic hat trick as Atlanta Unitedreturned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Wayne Rooney and D.C. United.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the league-leading Five Stripes, though. After a brief spell of early pressure from Atlanta, D.C. drew first blood in the eighth minute. The goal came on the counterattack as Paul Arriola sprang Zoltan Stieber with a through ball to the right that the Hungarian put away for his fourth tally of the season.
Atlanta would equalize just before the half-hour mark through Martinez, the runaway MLS Golden Boot leader. A minute after he was denied on the breakaway by D.C. ‘keeper David Ousted, Martinez beat the experienced ‘keeper to the ball to head home a cross from from Hector Villalbafollowing some slick buildup play.