The opening weekend of the 2017 Major League Soccer season delivered a decent amount of surprises with wins by the Houston Dynao and San Jose Earthquakes over the Seattle Sounders and Montreal Impact, respectively. Some of the league’s top franchises also made statements with impressive victories over the last three days.
Here’s a closer look at the best of MLS Week 1, as voted on by the SBI Editorial Staff.
Player of the Week
Diego Valeri bagged a brace in the first match of the week, and he provided an assist in the Portland Timbers’ 5-1 victory over expansion side Minnesota United at Providence Park.
The Argentinian nodded home his first tally of the match and the season in the 47th minute and then he silenced any type of Minnesota comeback with a penalty in the 82nd minute. He was one of two Timbers with two-goal performances on Friday. Fanendo Adi found the back of the net twice in stoppage time to earn an honorable mention.
Team of the Week
The Wilmer Cabrera era couldn’t have started any better for the Houston Dynamo. The struggling Western Conference side that suffered through a poor hire of Owen Coyle for the last two years downed the MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders, 2-1, at BBVA Compass Stadium.
Erick “Cubo” Torres opened his Dynamo scoring account in the 20th minute and new signing Romell Quioto followed with his in the 42nd minute. The win was a positive sign for a new-look Dynamo side that is expected to play with more flair and potentially make noise in the West all season.
With the win, the Dynamo edge out the Portland Timbers for SBI MLS Team of the Week honors.
Rookie of the Week
Not only did the San Jose Earthquakes shutout the Impact on Saturday night, they held the Eastern Conference side to zero shots on goal. Full back Nick Lima had a big part in quieting the Ignacio Piatti-led attack.
The 22-year-old homegrown player earned plenty of praise from his teammates for his 90-minute showing that helped the Quakes start a critical year on the right foot by beating out Julian Gressel for SBI MLS Rookie of the Week honors.
Goal of the Week
Anibal Godoy‘s chip over the head of Evan Bush was the highlight of an impressive night for the central midfielder, who bossed the middle of the pitch for Dominic Kinnear’s side.
There were plenty of great goals this weekend, including this one.
All the highlights: https://t.co/tThJ39NjFu https://t.co/g9mwlTb5BK
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 6, 2017
What did you think of this week’s selections? Which player impressed you the most this week?
Share your thoughts below.
Valeri.
Valeri player of the week? Kind of a stretch considering he was not even the best Timber Friday night. Although Adi’s two goals came at the end of the match. Adi drew the penalty that gave Valeri the PK goal and also drew defenders in the box for Valeri’s header goal
I wonder why Adi does not receive much MLS hype? He is a dominant goal scorer! Maybe because he is using MLS as a steppingstone back to Europe?