ATLANTA — Atlanta United forward Josef Martinez was voted the MLS Player of the Month by members of the media for the month of August.
The 26-year-old forward scored six goals in five league matches while extending his MLS record goalscoring streak to 13 matches, which ranks third all-time across the world. The reigning MLS MVP has scored 23 goals and is tied for second in the Golden Boot race.
Outside of regular season play, Martinez scored the game-winning goal in Atlanta’s 3-2 Campeones Cup victory over Liga MX side Club América on Aug. 14, finishing a penalty kick to give the club its second ever trophy (watch goal). Two weeks later, Martinez and Atlanta defeated Minnesota United FC 2-1 to win the U.S. Open Cup on Aug. 27, helping Atlanta win its third trophy and secure a berth to the 2020 Concacaf Champions League.
In the club’s first match of the month on Aug. 3, Martinez scored a penalty in the 72nd minute in a 3-0 win over LA Galaxy at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (watch goal). In the next league match against NYCFC on Aug. 11, Martinez broke a pair of records while scoring a brace in a 2-1 win. Martinez’s powerful header in the 42nd minute marked the 10th consecutive league match in which he scored, breaking his own record of nine the year prior (watch goal). He also added a penalty kick in the second half, reaching 20 goals in 2019 and 70 career regular season goals, which surpassed the most for any MLS player in a three-year span (watch goal). With the win, the club ran its home unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive matches.
After a pin-point through ball from Julian Gressel, Martinez scored a curling shot from outside of the box less than a minute into the second half in Atlanta’s 2-0 road win at Portland on Aug. 18 (watch goal). He again scored from outside of the box to beat Orlando 1-0 on Aug. 23 for the club’s fourth consecutive win (watch goal).
Martinez ended the month scoring at Philadelphia on Aug. 31 with a cool finish following a brilliant give-and-go with Darlington Nagbe (watch goal).
After winning the award in July, Martinez won the award in back-to-back months for the second time after he accomplished the feat in July and August in 2018. This marks his sixth Player of the Month award in three seasons as he also won it twice in 2017 (March and September). MLS Player of the Month presented by EA SPORTS™ is voted upon by a panel of select national media members in a process conducted by MLS Communications.
Atlanta United faces Columbus Crew SC Saturday, Sept. 14 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7:00 p.m. ET, FOX Sports Southeast).
