Atlanta United

VOTE: ATL UTD Goal of the Year

181217_ATLUTDGoalOfTheYear

Atlanta United's league-best attack scored stunner after stunner this season which makes it difficult to pick one above the rest. So we're leaving that up to you, 17's.


Throughout the next few weeks, you can come here to vote for your favorite in a bracket-style competition. Each goal is great –– but you can only pick one in each matchup. So which one will survive and advance to be named the year's best Atlanta United goal? We shall see.


Matchup #1


Josef sets the hat trick record


Of all the historic goals scored by the team this season, this was the first. Josef breaks a career MLS record less than halfway through his second season -– proving the dominance of our #7 since the day he entered the league.



Julian's sumptuous volley vs RSL


This was a crucial match, coming off a West Coast road trip during the dog days of the final stretch of the regular season. Julian Gressel stepped up in a big way, taking a cross down off his chest and firing an unstoppable half volley off the bounce and past the goalkeeper's outstretched hand and into the side netting.





Matchup #2


Josef sets the single-season goal record


A night no Atlanta United fan will ever forget. With the game on the line, Josef Martinez goes into enemy territory and chips the Orlando City goalkeeper to break the single-season goal record.



Kevin Kratz's free kick vs Montreal


Despite going a man down due to a red card, Montreal's disciplined defense was looking too tough to crack. But Kevin Kratz came in and hit not one but two stunning free kicks, the second one all but clinching the match.





Matchup #3


Tito's long-range stunner


Perhaps the snub of the year in the MLS Goal of the Year vote, Tito Villalba's vicious curling first-time effort against San Jose sparked one of the best comebacks the league has ever seen.



Josef's bouncing header


It takes something special to take a result vs NYCFC at their home ground at Yankee Stadium, and that's just what the Five Stripes got. Julian Gressel's cross was inch-perfect, but Josef Martinez had plenty left to do –– smashing the ball into the ground and bouncing it over the helpless goalkeeper.





Matchup #4


Miguel's top-corner blast


One of the goals of the season came in just the first home match for Atlanta United, with Miguel Almirón's unstoppable top-corner finish the pick of the lot in the team's first win of the year.



Josef's winning header


Atlanta United's incredible comeback was only worth one point until this, with Miguel Almirón and Josef Martinez combining with nearly the last touch of the match to steal a result in San Jose.





Matchup #5


Ezequiel Barco's top-corner blast


After Josef Martinez took the lead in a tense opening matchup of the season against Orlando City, Ezequiel Barco got the insurance goal they would eventually need for the 2-1 win, with an absolute missile from a first-time finish into the top corner.



Josef's opener vs the Red Bulls


The goal that started one of the biggest wins in team history. Jeff Larentowicz's cross was perfect over the head of the Red Bulls defender, and Josef Martinez was as clinical as ever to take the lead over New York in leg one of the Eastern Conference Final.





Matchup #6


Miggy's unstoppable run against Orlando


The moment a convincing win became a route. One of Miguel Almirón's signature moments at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this year, shrugging off the Orlando City defender effortlessly before smashing home through the legs of the goalkeeper.



Franco Escobar's crucial goal vs the Red Bulls


Josef Martinez may have taken the lead, but the match was still a tense battle between the two best teams in the league until Franco Escobar turned the Eastern Conference Final on its head with a left-footed blast inside the top corner.





Matchup #7


Tito ices the victory over Red Bulls


One of the most emotional moments of the season, the goal that all but clinched Atlanta United's MLS Cup berth. Tito Villalba's swerving effort left the Red Bulls goalkeeper with absolutely no chance.



Josef finishes off NYCFC


Before Atlanta United even had a chance to face the Red Bulls, they had to get past NYCFC. And this was the exclamation point capping off two incredible performances, with Josef Martinez taking a beautiful Eric Remedi pass off his chest and volleying home the win.





Matchup #8


Miguel's free kick stunner


After an away goal from NYCFC, Atlanta United's postseason run was in danger of falling apart before it got started. But Miguel Almirón restored the team's advantage with this unstoppable looping free kick over the wall and in the top corner.



Tito finishes off a beautiful passing move


As far as passing play, it doesn't get any better than this. Josef Martinez's pass is incisive and Miguel Almirón's was brilliant, setting up Tito Villalba for a tap-in from a stunning passage of play. Poetry in motion.




Stay tuned throughout the week as we update the rankings and find out which goal YOU think was the best in 2018.

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