Leonardo Campana helped ease pressure on Inter Miami boss Phil Neville after the Ecuadoran delivered a Man of the Match performance on Saturday.
Campana scored his first two MLS goals of 2023 in Inter Miami’s 2-1 road victory over the Columbus Crew. The 22-year-old had found it tough to find the back of the net through the opening weeks of the campaign but rebounded in a big way at Lower.com Field.
Campana broke the deadlock in the seventh minute with a clinical finish following Benjamin Cremaschi’s headed assist. Although the Herons lead did not last long following Cucho Hernandez’s equalizer three minutes later, Campana delivered once again before halftime.
Jean Mota’s corner kick was powered home by Campana, giving Inter Miami a 2-1 lead, it would not relinquish. Campana logged 88 minutes in the Herons first league victory since March 4, snapping a six-match losing streak in MLS play.
Here is a closer look at this week’s Best of MLS:
Team of the Week
Nashville SC came into Week 10 seeking a home win over Atlanta United and Gary Smith’s squad walked away with an important three points on home soil.
Fafa Picault, Teal Bunbury, and Jacob Shaffelburg all celebrated goals in Nashville SC’s 3-1 home triumph, giving the Eastern Conference club two victories over the past week in all competitions. Hany Mukhtar and Walker Zimmerman both registered one assist apiece while veteran goalkeeper Joe Willis needed to only make one save in net.
Nashville SC has gotten their plaudits as one of the best defensive teams in MLS this season with five clean sheets so far. It was another staunch performance from their defense, keeping Atlanta United’s attacking stars quiet from open play in the win.
The Portland Timbers, DC United, and Toronto FC also earned Team of the Week nominations for their Week 10 performances.
Goal of the Week
Christian Benteke’s bicycle kick goal for DC United earned this week’s Goal of the Week honors.
The Belgian forward iced DC United’s 3-0 victory over Charlotte FC by creating enough room for an overhead kick past George Marks. Benteke now has five goals in 10 MLS appearances this season, continuing a positive campaign for Wayne Rooney’s squad.
Ladies and gentlemen, Christian Benteke 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Qo2hh6PdVb
— D.C. United (@dcunited) April 30, 2023
Young Player of the Week
18-year-old midfielder Noel Buck had a massive performance in the New England Revolution’s 1-1 draw with FC Cincinnati.
The homegrown midfielder won nine duels, was completed four of four on long ball passing, and made nine recoveries in the match. Bruce Arena continues to show faith in his young midfielder, and Buck has rewarded Arena by helping the Revs stay atop the Eastern Conference through the opening stages of the season.
Buck has appeared in all 10 of the Revs matches so far.
someone on here was critical of me saying we have graduated pepi, others, and even cowell to the senior side at the expense of the U20s. well, i don’t even know how much cowell has earned it, but he will likely be on the GC team if hudson is still in charge, and off the U20 team. he hasn’t played U20 since last summer. graduation is as graduation does. i wasn’t saying we get it right, i was saying we cream the crop. usually it’s the elite like pulisic. but in recent years a whole swathe of the potential team doesn’t see U20 worlds. i am saying to people who kvetch about U20 that “graduation” outweighs “access.” access was the U23 issue before they combined the qualification. U20 worlds is usually held in may and june and designed to fit a european offseason. occasionally someone says no but the bigger explanation for being good but not great U20 is “graduation,” that our best players may be playing senior ball instead.
Pepi has graduated. Cowell not fully yet. Gold Cup and U20 WC aren’t mutually exclusive. I could see Cowell at both this summer. I could see a few u20’s make the Gold Cup Roster
Possible Gold Cup roster:
GK: Celentano, Callender, Sean John
D: Moore, Fossey, McKenzie, Miazga, Brooks, Neal, Tolkin, Jones
M: Acosta, Buck, Tessman, A.Morris, Pukstas
FWD: Morris, Cowell, Booth, Paredes, Sargent, Ferreira, Vasquez
Wonder if Buck will be released for the u20 WC