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The MLS Team of the Week: Matchday 15

The MLS Team of the Week: Matchday 15

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FotMob’s MLS expert James Nalton picks five standout players from Matchday 15, including his two votes for the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) MLS Player of the Matchday.

By James Nalton

After several weeks of Inter Miami players dominating the list of standout players, it was a more standard, routine victory for the Florida side this weekend — 1-0 against DC United —  meaning the notable names in Matchday 15 came from elsewhere.

In the Eastern Conference there’s a team challenging Miami at the top of the table, and another that is resurgent after a poor season in 2023.

In the West, a team takes the top spot in the conference and one of their players does the same in the goalscoring chart.

But first, here are my NASR votes for this week.

The Top Two

9.7 FotMob rating: Federico Bernardeschi, Toronto FC

Toronto continued to show improvement this year under new coach John Herdman with a convincing 5-1 win against CF Montréal.

Italian Designated Player, Bernardeschi, has emerged as the star of the team and one of the stars of the league, and he netted a hat-trick in this big win in an all-Canadian clash.

Carrying the ball down the right ahead of scoring his first goal, it looked like he would try to fire one left-footed inside the far post. 

Montréal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois may have thought the same, but Bernadeschi went high with power inside the near post to give Toronto a second goal inside the opening 15 minutes.

The 30-year-old’s second and third goals came within two minutes of each other around the hour mark in the second half.

One was a cross that evaded everyone and sneaked in at the far post, and the third was finished from close range following a direct Toronto attack.

The team that finished rock bottom of the overall standings last year are now fifth in the Eastern Conference — a big improvement under Herdman.

9.4 FotMob rating: Luciano Acosta, FC Cincinnati

The 2023 MLS MVP is continuing his form into the new season for defending Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati.

A 3-1 win against St Louis this weekend kept them in touch with Inter Miami at the top of the table.

Having played a game less than Miami, Cincinnati actually have a better points-per-game ratio than the league leaders.

Acosta stepped up to take a penalty he had won to open the scoring against St Louis, which was his 150th goal contribution in MLS.

He then assisted a goal for Yuya Kubo with a clever through ball into the area and then assisted another, crossing for Sergio Santos to make it three.

Three more standout performers

9.3 FotMob rating: Cristian Arango, Real Salt Lake

The Rocky Mountain Cup produced an eight-goal thriller as Real Salt Lake ran out 5-3 winners against Colorado Rapids.

It might come as no surprise that Arango was the star of the show given his performances already this season.

He scored twice at key moments in the game, overtaking Christian Benteke and Luis Suárez in the goalscoring charts in the process.

He now has 13 in total for the season and also added an assist in what was a match-winning performance 

His first goal came after his side had gone 2-0 down within 20 minutes when he followed up a Braian Ojeda shot. His second came in the 85th minute with the score at 3-2 to Colorado.

His assist was also impressive, feeding a nice pass in the area to Andrés Gómez to make it 4-3 and finally give RSL the lead and the impetus to go on and seal the win.

9.3 FotMob rating: Daniel Gazdag, Philadelphia Union

It has not been the best of seasons so far for the Union, but their 3-0 win at New England Revolution this weekend was one of their best performances so far.

Much of the focus around the Union in 2024 has been on their 14-year-old wonderkid Cavan Sullivan, who recently signed a record-breaking homegrown MLS contract with the club, and already has a pre-arranged transfer to Manchester City.

They were helped in New England by an early sending-off for the Revs after last-man Ryan Spaulding felled Mikael Uhre who was otherwise through on goal.

Gazdag was then on hand twice to secure the win against ten men, scoring two from close range, picking up the pieces in the area and being in the right place at the right time.

The Hungarian attacking midfielder finished the game with 96% pass success, having completed 54 of 56 attempted passes.

8.7 FotMob rating: Jader Obrian, Austin FC

Linking up with the also-excellent Daniel Pereira, Colombian forward Obrian scored twice in Austin’s 3-2 win against Sporting Kansas City.

The pair capitalised on Sporting KC’s error while trying to play out from the back with some neat footwork from Pereira setting up Obrian to fire one in.

Then, the ever-involved Pereira found Obrian in the box from the right, as the forward showed some good footwork of his own to create space for the shot and add his second.

Austin continue to climb up the Western Conference table, where they now sit third, ahead of LA Galaxy.

(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 15

FotMob’s MLS expert James Nalton picks five standout players from Matchday 15, including his two votes for the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) MLS Player of the Matchday.

By James Nalton

After several weeks of Inter Miami players dominating the list of standout players, it was a more standard, routine victory for the Florida side this weekend — 1-0 against DC United —  meaning the notable names in Matchday 15 came from elsewhere.

In the Eastern Conference there’s a team challenging Miami at the top of the table, and another that is resurgent after a poor season in 2023.

In the West, a team takes the top spot in the conference and one of their players does the same in the goalscoring chart.

But first, here are my NASR votes for this week.

The Top Two

9.7 FotMob rating: Federico Bernardeschi, Toronto FC

Toronto continued to show improvement this year under new coach John Herdman with a convincing 5-1 win against CF Montréal.

Italian Designated Player, Bernardeschi, has emerged as the star of the team and one of the stars of the league, and he netted a hat-trick in this big win in an all-Canadian clash.

Carrying the ball down the right ahead of scoring his first goal, it looked like he would try to fire one left-footed inside the far post. 

Montréal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois may have thought the same, but Bernadeschi went high with power inside the near post to give Toronto a second goal inside the opening 15 minutes.

The 30-year-old’s second and third goals came within two minutes of each other around the hour mark in the second half.

One was a cross that evaded everyone and sneaked in at the far post, and the third was finished from close range following a direct Toronto attack.

The team that finished rock bottom of the overall standings last year are now fifth in the Eastern Conference — a big improvement under Herdman.

9.4 FotMob rating: Luciano Acosta, FC Cincinnati

The 2023 MLS MVP is continuing his form into the new season for defending Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati.

A 3-1 win against St Louis this weekend kept them in touch with Inter Miami at the top of the table.

Having played a game less than Miami, Cincinnati actually have a better points-per-game ratio than the league leaders.

Acosta stepped up to take a penalty he had won to open the scoring against St Louis, which was his 150th goal contribution in MLS.

He then assisted a goal for Yuya Kubo with a clever through ball into the area and then assisted another, crossing for Sergio Santos to make it three.

Three more standout performers

9.3 FotMob rating: Cristian Arango, Real Salt Lake

The Rocky Mountain Cup produced an eight-goal thriller as Real Salt Lake ran out 5-3 winners against Colorado Rapids.

It might come as no surprise that Arango was the star of the show given his performances already this season.

He scored twice at key moments in the game, overtaking Christian Benteke and Luis Suárez in the goalscoring charts in the process.

He now has 13 in total for the season and also added an assist in what was a match-winning performance 

His first goal came after his side had gone 2-0 down within 20 minutes when he followed up a Braian Ojeda shot. His second came in the 85th minute with the score at 3-2 to Colorado.

His assist was also impressive, feeding a nice pass in the area to Andrés Gómez to make it 4-3 and finally give RSL the lead and the impetus to go on and seal the win.

9.3 FotMob rating: Daniel Gazdag, Philadelphia Union

It has not been the best of seasons so far for the Union, but their 3-0 win at New England Revolution this weekend was one of their best performances so far.

Much of the focus around the Union in 2024 has been on their 14-year-old wonderkid Cavan Sullivan, who recently signed a record-breaking homegrown MLS contract with the club, and already has a pre-arranged transfer to Manchester City.

They were helped in New England by an early sending-off for the Revs after last-man Ryan Spaulding felled Mikael Uhre who was otherwise through on goal.

Gazdag was then on hand twice to secure the win against ten men, scoring two from close range, picking up the pieces in the area and being in the right place at the right time.

The Hungarian attacking midfielder finished the game with 96% pass success, having completed 54 of 56 attempted passes.

8.7 FotMob rating: Jader Obrian, Austin FC

Linking up with the also-excellent Daniel Pereira, Colombian forward Obrian scored twice in Austin’s 3-2 win against Sporting Kansas City.

The pair capitalised on Sporting KC’s error while trying to play out from the back with some neat footwork from Pereira setting up Obrian to fire one in.

Then, the ever-involved Pereira found Obrian in the box from the right, as the forward showed some good footwork of his own to create space for the shot and add his second.

Austin continue to climb up the Western Conference table, where they now sit third, ahead of LA Galaxy.

(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.