Atlanta tries to keep goals coming at home vs. D.C.

Atlanta United welcomes D.C. United after returning from a season-long four-game trip that offered the latest signs of promise for the expansion club.

Atlanta (3-2-2) got a win and two draws out of that trip, and in the process proved to have a dangerous attack, even without injured striker Josef Martinez.

With Martinez (quadriceps) out for the duration of the trip, Atlanta scored six goals over the last three games, including a 3-1 win at Real Salt Lake last weekend.

“The positive is how effective we were as a team,” coach Gerardo Martino told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We were very decisive in attack. The negative is that I didn’t think we controlled the game for the full 90 minutes like I wanted us to.”

Martino also said Martinez will be out at least two more weeks, mostly as a precaution. He still leads the team with five goals, although Hector Villalba has four after scoring in last Saturday’s victory in Utah.

Atlanta’s 17 total goals led the Eastern Conference coming into the weekend, and were second in MLS behind Portland’s 18.

Meanwhile, D.C. (2-3-2) has conceded eight goals across three away matches, and at least two in each. But it pays its first-ever MLS visit to Georgia after scoring its first two away goals and earning its first road point in a 2-2 draw at the New England Revolution last weekend.

With playmaking midfielder Luciano Acosta (ankle) reduced to a substitute in that game, rookie Ian Harkes shined in an advanced midfield role.

Sebastien Le Toux and Jared Jeffrey each scored their first goals of the season.

Harkes still hasn’t yet scored for the club that his father, former U.S. World Cup star John Harkes, played for from 1996 to 1998. But he seems to be getting closer after hitting the woodwork twice last weekend.

“It’s coming,” D.C. United coach Ben Olsen told mlssoccer.com. “Ian and our central midfield are going to be a part of that (scoring) equation, and so far they have been.

“Lucho has helped out. Jared is helping out, and soon enough Ian will help out as well.