News

The MLS Team of the Week: Matchday 13

The MLS Team of the Week: Matchday 13

Share

FotMob’s MLS expert James Nalton picks five standout players from Matchday 13, including his two votes for the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) MLS Player of the Matchday.

By James Nalton

It was one of those weeks where picking just five players from a raft of impressive performances proves a difficult task.

Even selecting a team of XI players is not so easy when there were so many individual performances affecting the results achieved by their teams on Matchday 13, which was also a Rivalry Week in MLS.

There was one standout player, though. The race for the Golden Boot looks to have several contenders this season, and one player made their mark this weekend with a headed hat-trick.

Elsewhere, there were notable performances from players in both Los Angeles teams and star players from each conference showing their class in rivalries new and old.

The Top Two

9.7 FotMob rating: Christian Benteke, DC United

The Belgian centre-forward leapt back to the top of the goalscoring charts, scoring all three of his side’s goals in DC United’s 3-2 win at Atlanta United.

And each of them came via headers, with Jared Stroud delivering the crosses for the first two, and Mateusz Klich assisting the third.

The hat-trick saw Benteke return to the top of the goalscoring charts, overtaking Lionel Messi to take his place alongside Luis Suárez and Cristian Arango on 11 goals for the season.

Benteke’s hang time and reach are unmatched in the league, though these headers were more about positioning and evasion of defenders.

This prowess makes him both a weapon in attack and extremely useful when defending set pieces. It should see him keep pace with those big names at the top of the goalscoring charts.

9.4 FotMob rating: Denis Bouanga, LAFC

Bouanga was one of two players, along with Nicolás Lodeiro of Orlando City, to register three assists this Matchday.

The performances of Lodeiro and Luis Muriel in Orlando’s victory against Philadelphia Union were impressive, but Bouanga edges his way ahead of them onto the list of standout players this week.

Bouanga’s usual trick is using his speed and directness to cut inside from the left into shooting positions on his stronger right foot, but he mixed things up in this 3-0 win against Vancouver Whitecaps.

All three of his assists came from left-footed crosses, causing defenders problems on the outside of the left flank rather than cutting in.

These three almost identical plays set up each of his team’s goals; two for Cristian Olivera and another for Mateusz Bogusz.

This ability to go on the outside and cross like a traditional winger as well as cutting inside to shoot like an inside forward will worry defenders throughout the league, who will be at a loss as to the best way to defend against him. Good news for LAFC, though.

Three more standout performers

9.2 FotMob rating: João Klauss, St. Louis City

St. Louis City’s Brazilian striker was one of the revelations in MLS last year as the Missouri franchise played its first season in the league.

He scored 10 goals in 14 starts in 2023 but missed a big chunk of his season with a hamstring injury.

Hoping for an uninterrupted campaign this year, Klauss is starting to get on a goalscoring roll. 

He’s now scored four in the last four games, including two in Saturday’s 3-1 win at home to Chicago Fire.

The first was an instinctive finish following an awkward ball in from Celio Pompeu, which required him to readjust his right foot quickly to guide the ball home.

The second was a Benteke-esque header at the far post after Chris Durkin stood up a cross, leaving Chicago’s defence scrambling in vain to prevent the inevitable — a second goal for Klauss, who is starting to look sharp in front of goal once again.

8.9 FotMob rating: Riqui Puig, LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy will have been disappointed not to take all three points from this clash at the top of the Western Conference with Real Salt Lake.

They had Cristian Arango to contend with, and the Colombian was one of a number of players close to making this list this week, thanks to his two goals in this 2-2 draw.

But, as he often is, Riqui Puig was a standout player, pulling the strings in midfield for the Galaxy.

The first goal summed up everything that is good about this team.

Joseph Paintsil played the pass to Puig who found Gabriel Pec cutting in from the left to score, but the run of Dejan Joveljić to take defenders away from Pec was also key.

Ahead of the second Galaxy goal, Puig was frustrated his through-ball intended for Miki Yamane had been picked up by Daniel Aguirre before it got there. 

But once the ball found its way back to him, Puig crossed to Miguel Berry to score the equaliser to claim a point which was the least the Galaxy deserved.

8.9 FotMob rating: Lewis Morgan, New York Red Bulls

Amid some stiff competition for a place among the top five players of this matchday for this article, Morgan’s performance for the Red Bulls against New England Revolution cannot be ignored (although we did do that for the FotMob TOTW).

Morgan opened the scoring when Sean Nealis played a long ball from deep over the top of the New England defence, catching them off guard.

The distance he had to cover meant he had lots of time to think about the finish. Players can often wilt in this scenario, but not Morgan, who slotted past Aljaž Ivačič.

He should have had an assist after some great play along the byline, beating defenders before setting up Emil Forsberg, but the Swede couldn’t take what was a great chance.

Morgan did eventually get an assist to go with his goal, backheeling the ball through to Cameron Harper to give the Red Bulls a 4-2 win against their old foes from Massachusetts.

(Cover Image from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from MLS live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

The MLS Team of the Week: Matchday 13

FotMob’s MLS expert James Nalton picks five standout players from Matchday 13, including his two votes for the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) MLS Player of the Matchday.

By James Nalton

It was one of those weeks where picking just five players from a raft of impressive performances proves a difficult task.

Even selecting a team of XI players is not so easy when there were so many individual performances affecting the results achieved by their teams on Matchday 13, which was also a Rivalry Week in MLS.

There was one standout player, though. The race for the Golden Boot looks to have several contenders this season, and one player made their mark this weekend with a headed hat-trick.

Elsewhere, there were notable performances from players in both Los Angeles teams and star players from each conference showing their class in rivalries new and old.

The Top Two

9.7 FotMob rating: Christian Benteke, DC United

The Belgian centre-forward leapt back to the top of the goalscoring charts, scoring all three of his side’s goals in DC United’s 3-2 win at Atlanta United.

And each of them came via headers, with Jared Stroud delivering the crosses for the first two, and Mateusz Klich assisting the third.

The hat-trick saw Benteke return to the top of the goalscoring charts, overtaking Lionel Messi to take his place alongside Luis Suárez and Cristian Arango on 11 goals for the season.

Benteke’s hang time and reach are unmatched in the league, though these headers were more about positioning and evasion of defenders.

This prowess makes him both a weapon in attack and extremely useful when defending set pieces. It should see him keep pace with those big names at the top of the goalscoring charts.

9.4 FotMob rating: Denis Bouanga, LAFC

Bouanga was one of two players, along with Nicolás Lodeiro of Orlando City, to register three assists this Matchday.

The performances of Lodeiro and Luis Muriel in Orlando’s victory against Philadelphia Union were impressive, but Bouanga edges his way ahead of them onto the list of standout players this week.

Bouanga’s usual trick is using his speed and directness to cut inside from the left into shooting positions on his stronger right foot, but he mixed things up in this 3-0 win against Vancouver Whitecaps.

All three of his assists came from left-footed crosses, causing defenders problems on the outside of the left flank rather than cutting in.

These three almost identical plays set up each of his team’s goals; two for Cristian Olivera and another for Mateusz Bogusz.

This ability to go on the outside and cross like a traditional winger as well as cutting inside to shoot like an inside forward will worry defenders throughout the league, who will be at a loss as to the best way to defend against him. Good news for LAFC, though.

Three more standout performers

9.2 FotMob rating: João Klauss, St. Louis City

St. Louis City’s Brazilian striker was one of the revelations in MLS last year as the Missouri franchise played its first season in the league.

He scored 10 goals in 14 starts in 2023 but missed a big chunk of his season with a hamstring injury.

Hoping for an uninterrupted campaign this year, Klauss is starting to get on a goalscoring roll. 

He’s now scored four in the last four games, including two in Saturday’s 3-1 win at home to Chicago Fire.

The first was an instinctive finish following an awkward ball in from Celio Pompeu, which required him to readjust his right foot quickly to guide the ball home.

The second was a Benteke-esque header at the far post after Chris Durkin stood up a cross, leaving Chicago’s defence scrambling in vain to prevent the inevitable — a second goal for Klauss, who is starting to look sharp in front of goal once again.

8.9 FotMob rating: Riqui Puig, LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy will have been disappointed not to take all three points from this clash at the top of the Western Conference with Real Salt Lake.

They had Cristian Arango to contend with, and the Colombian was one of a number of players close to making this list this week, thanks to his two goals in this 2-2 draw.

But, as he often is, Riqui Puig was a standout player, pulling the strings in midfield for the Galaxy.

The first goal summed up everything that is good about this team.

Joseph Paintsil played the pass to Puig who found Gabriel Pec cutting in from the left to score, but the run of Dejan Joveljić to take defenders away from Pec was also key.

Ahead of the second Galaxy goal, Puig was frustrated his through-ball intended for Miki Yamane had been picked up by Daniel Aguirre before it got there. 

But once the ball found its way back to him, Puig crossed to Miguel Berry to score the equaliser to claim a point which was the least the Galaxy deserved.

8.9 FotMob rating: Lewis Morgan, New York Red Bulls

Amid some stiff competition for a place among the top five players of this matchday for this article, Morgan’s performance for the Red Bulls against New England Revolution cannot be ignored (although we did do that for the FotMob TOTW).

Morgan opened the scoring when Sean Nealis played a long ball from deep over the top of the New England defence, catching them off guard.

The distance he had to cover meant he had lots of time to think about the finish. Players can often wilt in this scenario, but not Morgan, who slotted past Aljaž Ivačič.

He should have had an assist after some great play along the byline, beating defenders before setting up Emil Forsberg, but the Swede couldn’t take what was a great chance.

Morgan did eventually get an assist to go with his goal, backheeling the ball through to Cameron Harper to give the Red Bulls a 4-2 win against their old foes from Massachusetts.

(Cover Image from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from MLS live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.