Five minutes later, Atlanta got the lead when Brazilian winger Zende Silva dribbled to the byline and Miami defender Kamal Miller turned his pull-back into his own net.
Miami’s defense was stumbling without former Spain international left-back Jordi Alba and Brooks Lennon added the third with a sweet shot in the 44th minute.
Miami got back into the game in the 54th minute through a Campana penalty, but although they have made a habit of coming back with Messi, there was no such comeback this time.
As they went in search of the equalizer, Atlanta caught them on the counter with Greek striker Giorgos Giakomakis scoring his 14th goal of the season, moving him level with Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar as joint top scorer in MLS.
Another well-worked break resulted in a fifth in the 89th minute, with Lobzhanidze again setting up creator, Tyler Wolfe to blast home.
Miami is at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, six points behind D.C. United in ninth place, the final playoff spot.
Martino defended the decision to leave Messi and Alba at home ahead of a busy round of league matches on Wednesday and Sunday before the US Open Cup final on September 27 – who he said also had muscle fatigue.
“If they come to play this game, we risk suffering even worse results. This has nothing to do with the (artificial) surface,” the coach said.