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Watch: Josef Martinez brace leads Atlanta United past NYCFC

Atlanta United beat New York City FC 3-1 (4-1 aggregate) Sunday in the second leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal. Standout forward Josef Martinez gave Atlanta some breathing room with his second goal of the night in the 83rd minute for the two-goal lead. 

The Five Stripes will advance to the Eastern Conference final to face the winner of Sunday’s 7:30 p.m. ET semifinal between the New York Red Bulls and the visiting Columbus Crew, who enter the night with a 1-0 lead on aggregate.

Martinez and Miguel Almiron, scored in the 25 and 42 minutes, respectively for an early 2-0 Atlanta lead. Martinez converted a penalty and Almiron curled a free kick into the top left corner of the net, past NYC goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Maxime Chanot pulled one back for NYCFC just before the halftime whistle, heading in a deflected free kick. 

“Things are a little tighter now with the late goal,” Atlanta coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said through a translator on the ESPN broadcast during halftime, adding his team would need to “continue playing the same way with the same intensity.”

Watch a highlight of Martinez’s second goal above. His first goal, along with those from Almiron and Chanot can be seen below. You can also find match stats here. See a full recap, highlights and photos here. 

Josef Martinez goal No. 1

Miguel Almiron goal

Maxime Chanot goal