Atlanta United vs Toronto

88' - Purata makes it a hat-trick. 87' - Westberg makes a point-blank save on Almada to keep the deficit at one goal. 87' - Deandre Kerr comes on ...

Martinez’s peripheral role, as well as long-term injuries to goalkeeper Brad Guzan and defender Miles Robinson, have kept Atlanta from competing with the best in MLS this season. The Mexican has started the past 12 games for Atlanta United and will likely keep that trend going against Toronto FC on Saturday. He still leads his team with eight goals in 12 league starts. To make matters worse, Josef Martinez, the club’s all-time leading scorer, will miss out on the chance to play against TFC. They are set to miss out on the playoffs for just the second time in the young franchise’s history. The Canadian international has only started three matches for Toronto FC, with his last coming against Charlotte FC on July 23rd. Toronto beat Atlanta United in their match earlier in the year, with a late winner from Ralph Priso separating the sides at BMO Field. Sloppy defending, disappointing goalkeeping, and lack of industry all haunted the Reds, likely reminding fans of the team’s early and midseason form. Quentin Westberg starts as Alex Bono is dropped to the bench, Lukas MacNaughton comes in for Chris Mavinga, and Lorenzo Insigne misses this match as he is currently dealing with family matters. 9’ - Atlanta come close to scoring the first goal of the match. The last meeting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was a 1-1 draw, goals were scored by Luiz Araujo and Jordan Perruzza. 48’ - TFC almost tie it up immediately.

Get a report of the Atlanta United FC vs. Toronto FC 2022 Major League Soccer, Regular Season football match.

Toronto defender [Shane O'Neill](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/175083/Shane-O'Neill) had already committed and tackled Lennon. [Federico Bernardeschi](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/180956/Federico-Bernardeschi) stepped up against Gudino and coolly finished to tie the game. [Ayo Akinola](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/266022/Ayo-Akinola) was initially denied by a sliding Purata in the box. [Brooks Lennon](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/252778/Brooks-Lennon) ran into the box, then quickly cut the ball back. [Thiago Almada](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/277208/Thiago-Almada) had given United a 3-2 lead in the 74th minute on a contested header. [Alan Franco](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/228493/Alan-Franco) headed the short corner right onto Purata's head for his third of the game.