Martínez scores 2 goals, Atlanta blanks Houston 5-0
ATLANTA (AP) — Josef Martínez scored two goals to reach 15 for the season and Atlanta United beat the 10-man Houston Dynamo 5-0 on Wednesday night.
Atlanta (10-8-3) snapped a three-game winless run. Houston (8-9-3) has just one win on the road this season.
Atlanta scored two minutes apart to take a 2-0 lead in the 29th minute. Darlington Nagbe scored his first goal for Atlanta by redirecting Julian Gressel's cross at the penalty spot. Brandon Vázquez added his second goal of the year by heading in a deflected pass.
Martínez made it 3-0 in the 60th, netting a goal in six straight games. He added another in the 79th for his 10th goal over the stretch, moving into second in the MLS behind Carlos Vela (19).
Gressel capped the scoring in the 88th.
Houston played a man down nearly the entire match after Alberth Elis was given a second yellow card for contact with a referee.