Our Major League Soccer expert James Nalton explains his two votes for the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) MLS Player of the Matchday and picks out three more standout players from the latest round of action.
By James Nalton
The Top Two
9.5 FotMob rating: Ashley Westwood, Charlotte FC
It was a statement win for Dean Smith’s Charlotte side against reigning Supporters’ Shield title winners and 2024 challengers FC Cincinnati.
Charlotte came away with an impressive 3-1 win, and Westwood assisted all three of the goals.
A deep cross from the right halfspace for Iuri Tavares opened the scoring, then a neat through-pass for Liel Abada following some good pressing made it two.
Cincinnati were close to making it 2-2 after Luciano Acosta had already pulled a goal back, but the Argentine star saw a penalty saved by impressive Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina who was unlucky not to get an All-Star call-up.
Westwood then whipped in a corner for Kerwin Vargas to make it 3-1 and the game was won.
The English midfielder finished the game having created five chances and with a pass success of 93%.
“He controls the game really well when we need him to,” Smith said of Westwood’s performance.
“He understands the game. He knows how to slow it down when he needs to and knows how to quicken it up.”
9.1 FotMob rating: Facundo Torres, Orlando City
Orlando went a goal down early on against New England but Facundo Torres contributed to what was a great comeback win for the Lions.
His three shots in this game had a combined xG of just 0.19, hardly great chances, but his xG on target was 1.44, showing how good his finishing was.
Both of his goals were perfectly placed left-footed finishes into the corner of the goal from the right wing.
Ramiro Enrique scored in between Torres’s brace to give Orlando a 3-1 win on the road.
Three more standout performers
9.2 FotMob rating: Ryan Gauld, Vancouver Whitecaps
The familiar double-act of Gauld and Brian White were in top form again for the Whitecaps as the Canadian side defeated St Louis City 4-1.
Gauld assisted the first of White’s two goals to open the scoring and assisted the final goal of the game scored by Fafá Picault in added time at the end of the game.
That second assist also involved some determined defensive work to win the ball back before releasing Picault.
In between all of that, Gauld created six chances in total, in what was another display of his creativity from open play and set pieces and his all-round importance to the team.
9.0 FotMob rating: Christian Ramirez, Columbus Crew
This weekend’s meeting between Los Angeles FC and Columbus Crew was not only a repeat of last year’s MLS Cup final but also pit two MLS coaches linked with the vacant United States men’s national team job against each other.
LAFC’s Steve Cheundolo has been heavily linked with replacing Gregg Berhalter, while many would like to see Columbus’s French coach, Wilfried Nancy, get the job.
Columbus came out on top in last year’s MLS Cup final, and did so again here, winning 5-1 in Los Angeles.
Christian Ramirez was on fire, heading in the opener and glancing in a free-kick cross from Alexandru Matan. Ramirez ended the game with an xG+xA of 1.23.
Cucho Hernández chipped in with a Golazo, fairly standard for him these days, and Diego Rossi and Matan got on the scoresheet too.
Columbus have two games in hand on league leaders Inter Miami, and at this stage look like a team that will really challenge Lionel Messi et al for the regular season title and the MLS Cup.
9.0 FotMob rating: Santiago Moreno, Portland Timbers
At this stage it’s a case of guess which Portland Timbers attacker will feature among the best players this week, it seems such a regular occurrence.
Last week, Jonathan Rodríguez featured in the top two, and on Matchday 23 it was Evander.
The third player of their attacking trident behind striker Felipe Mora is Santiago Moreno, and it is he who just gets the nod over the similarly impressive Evander this week.
The Timbers defeated a Suppoerters’ Shield (league title) chasing Real Salt Lake 3-0. It was RSL’s first away defeat since their trip to Miami in February.
Some great work at the byline from Moreno led to the cross and the opener for Mora. Moreno scored a well-executed half-volley to make it two before Evander rounded off the win.
The Colombian winger created six chances in total for an expected assist score of 0.8.
Last week the official Major League Soccer Twitter account posted about the MVP race, listing Luciano Acosta, Chicho Arango, Cucho Hernández, Denis Bouanga, and Lionel Messi, Timbers’ coach Phil Neville responded with a Tweet saying “Evander???????????????????”.
But how about Santiago Moreno???????????????????
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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