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Atlanta United FC

Almirón, Martínez shine in Atlanta United’s win over Orlando City

ATLANTA, Ga. — Josef Martínez didn’t waste any time scoring his Major League Soccer-leading 15th goal of the season Saturday.

In just the third minute of the match, thanks to a feed from Julian Gressel and a gaffe from Orlando City SC’s Amro Tarek, Martínez slid into a ball that was heading toward the goal and kicked it in with his right foot.

It was the first of four goals on the day for Atlanta United FC, which won 4-0 in front of an announced crowd of 71,932 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Josef better without mask

Martínez scored his 14th goal of the season June 13 against the Columbus Crew, but broke his nose in the process. Last weekend, in a 1-1 draw against the Portland Timbers, Martínez wore a mask to protect his nose. He grew frustrated with it as the match went on. After missing a few scoring chances, he ripped the mask off and tossed it toward supporters in the second half.

At the Five Stripes’ training grounds Friday, the Venezuelan striker made it clear he would ditch the mask for Atlanta’s clash with Orlando. He was supposed to wear it for six weeks.

“I don’t think I like wearing the mask,” Martínez said Friday through a translator. “I think I’ll be OK.”

The striker was more than just “OK,” turning in a performance that included his early score and an assist to Miguel Almirón. He was also 81 percent accurate on 21 passes.

Sprinting up the middle of the field with the ball at his feet in the 55th minute after receiving a pass from Héctor “Tito” Villalba, Martínez played a ball to Almirón, who sliced the ball past diving Lions goalkeeper Joe Bendik.

It was just the second time this season Martínez, Almirón, Villalba and Ezequiel Barco all started a game together. Each tallied either a goal or an assist in the match.

“Those guys are all really good attacking players,” Barco said through a translator. “We were able to attack vertically really well. I’m very happy with our performance as a team.”

Said Almirón: “Those guys make everything easier for me.”

Almirón back in MVP form

Almirón added another goal in the 78th minute, shooting a ball between Bendik’s legs after getting a solid feed from Mikey Ambrose. The scores were Almirón’s first since April 28.

“I mean, we see Miggy put the ball through somebody’s legs every, single day in training,” said Andrew Carleton, who played 10 minutes. “It was an awesome goal. I’m super happy for him. He’s been working really really hard. I think he deserved that goal. He played really well.”

The Paraguayan midfielder now has eight goals and seven assists on the season, and is third in MLS in shots-on-goal with 27, trailing Martínez and Houston’s Alberth Elis.

Almirón has yet to miss a start this season, but battled through much of June with a shoulder injury he suffered earlier in the month during a 1-1 draw at NYCFC.

Gressel solid filling in for Nagbe

A big question coming into this match was who Gerardo “Tata” Martino would call on to fill in for Darlington Nagbe, who suffered an abductor injury last week. Martino did some reorganizing, shifting Julian Gressel into a box-to-box midfielder role from his usual position on the right wing. Villalba filled in on the wing.

Gressel was solid as a substitute for Nagbe. He tallied an assist, six recoveries, an interception and three tackles. He was 77 percent accurate on his 57 passes.

“I thought he played very well, as he always does,” Martino said through a translator. “He gave an assist on that goal to Josef, so it doesn’t matter, even if he’s playing on a more inside role like he was tonight, he’s still able to provide assists for us, just like when he’s playing on the right wing. I think Julian has become a very important player in the structure of our team.”

Through 17 starts this season, the 24-year-old German has two goals and six assists.

“I think I connected pretty well, with Jeff (Larentowicz) and Miguel. It was a pretty good day,” Gressel said. “It wasn’t too big of a change for me. I trained there all week and kind of knew it was coming, and I’ve played there throughout the season a bit, always doing some training reps, so it’s nothing really that new. I thought I did alright. So, we’ll push on from there, learn a few things and get ready for the week.”

The Five Stripes have a two-game road trip ahead of them, playing at Dallas on Wednesday and at Philadelphia on Saturday.