St. Louis CITY SC earned their first head-to-head victory over Sporting KC on Saturday with Indiana Vassilev delivering a Man of the Match performance for the expansion side.
Vassilev scored twice in CITY’s 4-0 home triumph over SKC, earning SBI Player of the Week honors for the Best of MLS in Week 13. The former U.S. youth national team player has continued to gel with his new teammates in St. Louis and that continued in a lopsided result for Bradley Carnell’s men.
Edward Lowen’s first-half penalty kick boosted St. Louis in front after 19 minutes before Vassilev extended the hosts lead just six minutes later. It marked Vassilev’s first goal for his new club in league play.
St. Louis CITY SC continued to pile on the pressure in the second half with Nicholas Gioacchini extended their lead to 3-0. Vassilev added his second goal of the night, capping off St. Louis’ seventh league victory of 2023 and their fourth at home this season.
The 22-year-old now has two goals and two assists in 13 league outings, continuing his impressive start for the Western Conference side.
FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta, Philadelphia’s Daniel Gazdag, and Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar also earned Player of the Week nominations.
Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Union earned a statement home win over the New England Revolution in what was their best performance of 2023 to date.
Here is a closer look at this week’s Best of MLS:
Team of the Week
The Philadelphia Union earned a statement home victory on Saturday at Subaru Park, downing the New England Revolution 3-0 on home soil.
Daniel Gazdag scored twice for Jim Curtin’s squad while Julian Carranza added a tally of his own in the shutout result. It was the Union’s first home clean sheet as well since April 1 against Sporting KC.
Gazdag’s opener came in the 56th minute for the Union before the Hungarian doubled the Union’s lead from the penalty spot in the 74th minute. Chris Donovan assisted on Carranza’s final goal of the night, giving the Union a deserved victory and an important result in their quest to move up the Eastern Conference standings.
FC Cincinnati, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Minnesota United also earned Team of the Week nominations.
Goal of the Week
Minnesota United stole all three points at the death at Providence Park with the Loons using a stoppage-time winner from Bongokuhle Hlongwane to do so.
Hlongwane’s clever finish in the 94th minute helped the Loons earn a 1-0 road victory over the Portland Timbers. The result helped Adrian Heath’s squad move to sixth in the Western Conference and claim back-to-back league wins for the first time in 2023.
Good to see Vassilev playing well. Has the talent just needs to be consistent. And he fits in perfectly with St Louis.
It’s OK 2 Think; guess what foot is Vassilev’s preferred foot?