ATLANTA (AP) 鈥 Josef Mart铆nez scored twice against his former team and moved into seventh in MLS history with 115 career regular season goals as CF Montreal beat Atlanta United 2-1 on Wednesday.
Tom Pearce bent an entry behind two defenders to the front post, where a charging Mart铆nez tapped in a one-touch finish from point blank range that gave Montreal a 2-1 lead in the 76th minute at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The 31-year-old Mart铆nez 鈥 who scored 98 goals across six seasons with Atlanta, including a then-MLS single-season record 31 in 2018 鈥 moved past Ante Razov (114 goals from 1996-2009).
"I knew we had the weapons and abilities," said Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois. "The guys showed composure, quality and resilience even when they were suffering.
"I am proud of them tonight. It was special for Josef to be here, but he was also eager to have an impact, and you can see that he can execute and do things that nobody else can. With the proper service, he鈥檚 unstoppable."
Jonathan Sirois had six saves for Montreal (10-12-10), which vaulted over Toronto FC into eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto fell 4-1 to the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.
The conference's eighth and ninth seeds meet in a playoff wild-card game. The winner advances to face the first seed in the best-of-three first round.
Montreal is at home to Charlotte (12-11-9) on Saturday.
Mart铆nez opened the scoring in the 43rd minute when his pass was redirected by a defender back to Mart铆nez, whose chip shot from near the penalty spot slipped under the crossbar to give Montreal a 1-0 lead.
"We fought for this win and it is a very important one for us," Mart铆nez said.
"Of course, coming to this stadium, these fans and to play against this club was tough. It鈥檚 always hard and I have a lot of love for them but I am professional and I need to fight for my colours.
"We are happy with this victory, but we need to focus on Charlotte now. Now we fight for one reason and it is to make the playoffs. The team is on the same page and this is why we are scoring goals.鈥
Pedro Amador flipped a cross from outside the left corner of the area to Daniel R铆os at the back post for a header into a wide-open net to make it 1-1 in first-half stoppage time.
Atlanta (8-14-10) is winless in five consecutive games and has just one win since returning from the Leagues Cup break.
Montreal beat Atlanta 1-0 on July 13 at home.
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