Josef Martinez scored twice and Miguel Almiron blasted in the first free kick goal of his Atlanta United career as the Five Stripes advanced to the MLS Cup Eastern Conference Finals with a 3-1 (4-1 aggregate) win over NYCFC in Atlanta.
Atlanta and Martinez struck first. An NYCFC strategy predicated on putting as many bodies on the floor as possible came back to bite them as Ismael Tajouri-Shradi took down Franco Escobar in the box. Martinez, as expected, cool finished the penalty.
Despite the penalty, NYCFC and Atlanta continued showing no hesitancy in sending opposing players to the ground.