Though Josef Martinez may be stuck on the sidelines for now, he keeps winning hearts, minds and clicks.
Atlanta United’s star striker dominated the Week 29 AT&T Goal of the Week vote, his third such triumph in the past six weeks, with his clinically-taken left-footed strike vs. FC Cincinnati on Sept. 18.
That tally took Martinez’s season total to 26. The winner of last year’s Golden Boot presented by Audi with an all-time-MLS-record 31 goals, Josef was subsequently injured in Saturday’s 3-1 win over San Jose and could miss the rest of the regular season, leaving him a spectator as LAFC’s Carlos Vela – who notched his 30th goal of the season on Wednesday – bears down on that single-season scoring record.
Martinez dominated the Week 29 vote, garnering 78% of the ballots. The acrobatic bicycle kick by Colorado's Kei Kamara came in second at 12.26%, followed by New York Red Bulls defender Kyle Duncan at 4.77%, Houston’s Alberth Elis at 2.67% and Valentin Castellanos of New York City FC at 2.29%.