With a pair of Fabian Espindola goals at the forefront, Real Salt Lake put the rest of MLS on notice on Saturday night with a dominanting showing against Chivas USA.
Espindola was a threat each time that he touched the ball on Saturday and ended the match with two goals in RSL's 3-0 victory over the Rojiblancos to earn SBI MLS Player of the Week honors for Week 15.
The Argentine attacker got on the board in the 40th minute when he found himself on the receiving end of a Kyle Beckerman pass from 35-yards-out that was set up after a Chivas' defensive error. Espindola completed his brace in the 54th minute as a Ned Grabavoy through-ball cut through the defense putting him in considerable space. With the ball at his feet, Espindola calmly manuvered around defender Rauwshan McKenzie before slotting in his second goal of the night and sixth of the season.
Espindola beat out the likes of Columbus goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, who made seven saves to earn his fifth draw in a 0-0 draw with the New England Revolution; Montreal Impact midfielder Patrice Bernier, whose three assists and fine holding midfield performance helped the Impact to an emotional 4-1 win over the Seattle Sounders at the renovated Stade Saputo; and Patrick Nyarko, who notched a goal and an assist in the Chicago Fire's 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls.
What did you think of Espindola's performance? Which player did you think stood out the most in Week 15?
Share your thoughts below.
I was out of the country for the last two weeks and missed this game. I did catch the highlights and Espy’s performance certainly seemed to merit this award.
Espindola is a very talented one-on-one player and has skills that separate him from many strikers in MLS. At times he plays with too much passion. He can also get way too focused on getting his own and can display a negative attitude and body language towards his teammates at times.
But when he is clicking on all cylinders, he is as dangerous a goal scorer as there is in MLS. The combination of Espindola, Saborio and Morales as an attacking trio is really hard to beat in MLS. They are all skilled but they just work so well together and complement each other well.
I am an RSL fan too and I disagree with you…the guy is class….oh and he makes $125K….all salaries are on the MLS Palyers Union website….
Espindola will draw a lot of attention and hopefully LA’s defense can’t cover both him and Saborio. Javi should get more playing time. RSL maybe starting to hit on all cylinders.
I am an RSL fan and I like Fabian but he often keeps the ball too long or kicks at the goal without any speed. With all of that he is still a very talented player and is well worth what he is paid (around $100,000, I believe). He was on fired on Sat night. Well deserved honors.
Montreal’s Felipe had an outstanding game.
I completly agree! Had Jason not taken him out, I bet he would have had a hat trick. However, I do believe in Kreis and his decisions. It’s probably good he was taken off, more rest to get his hat trick against LA.