Atlanta United’s free-flowing offense was one of the biggest additions to MLS in 2017, and while it passed the eye test, the numbers also back it up. Here are the stats behind Atlanta’s incredible first year.
Let’s start with the team’s leading goalscorer, Josef Martinez, who fell just short of the Golden Boot as top scorer despite missing several months due to injury. In all, he scored a goal every 80.4 minutes, the best rate in the league, and his 1.12 goals per 90’ is the best in MLS history. His three hat tricks this year put him just two behind the record for most MLS hat tricks in an entire career, and he became just the third player ever to record back-to-back hat tricks in MLS against New England and Orlando in September.
Unsurprisingly, playmaker Miguel Almirón was the creator-in-chief, with a team-high 14 assists. Meanwhile left back Greg Garza was a constant threat, with his 33 chances created good enough for fourth-best among MLS defenders. Team-wide, Atlanta United tallied 65 assists, the most in MLS. And all that was while earning the title of the best possession team in MLS, with their 57.8% average possession topping the competition.
An Atlanta United player recorded a multi-goal game eleven times this year; Almirón and Martinez combined for 8 while Tito Villalba and Yamil Asad each chipped in with a few as well. In all, the team bulged the net 70 times, the second-most in MLS, with a league-high 48 goals at home. The Five Stripes were one of the most clinical teams in the league, with their 20.4% shot conversion rate second-highest in MLS. All that adds up to 2.1 goals per match for Atlanta United’s high-flying attack, or a goal about every 44 minutes of play.
While ATL UTD’s attack was right near the top for this season, the team broke a few historical benchmarks as well. In just its second game, Atlanta’s 6-1 win over Minnesota was the most goals ever scored by an expansion team in its inaugural season. The club broke their own record in September when they put seven past New England, tying the largest margin of victory in MLS history.
In all, Atlanta United’s 70 goal season was the most ever for an expansion side, as was their +30 goal differential (breaking records set by the Chicago Fire in 1998 of 62 and +17 respectively). But beyond expansion teams, the 70-goal year is the fifth-most in MLS history and the goal differential (+30) ranked fourth-best all time.
Any Atlanta United fan will tell you the Five Stripes attack was one of the most electric teams MLS has ever seen in 2017, and the numbers prove it. For a team that is never satisfied, only time will tell how they can take the next step offensively next year.
