By Favian Renkel and Justin Ruderman
Welcome back to week three of Justin and Favian’s Weekly MLS Awards, where SBI staff writers Justin Ruderman and Favian Renkel bring you a glimpse at the best of each week in MLS.
From scoreless draws to goal-filled routs, this weekend had a bit of everything.
Here is a look back at the Best of MLS for Week 3:
Player of the Week
Justin Ruderman: Roman Bürki
Whenever Roman Bürki drops a performance like he did on Sunday evening in Carson, I always think about the fans and pundits who criticized his salary upon signing for St. Louis CITY SC nearly three years ago, and he does it a lot.
While STL was good for their 3-0 win, Galaxy should have scored a goal but were denied on eight different occasions by Bürki, most notably two massive first-half stops ten minutes apart. The first tipped a shot onto the post from former Borussia Dortmund teammate Marco Reus and the second was a reaction palm to foil a Reus assist to Christian Ramirez from close range.
Bürki has been the starting goalkeeper for the MLS All-Star team in both of his seasons in the league and three weeks into his third season, he is the early frontrunner again as the only netminder yet to concede a goal.
Favian Renkel: Anders Dreyer (Sam Diego FC)
Andres Dreyer has been quietly having a great start to the season for San Diego FC. With Chucky Lozano stealing all the headlines before the season, Dreyer has been the reason San Diego hasn’t plummeted in Lozano’s absence due to injury. Adding another goal to his tally brings the 26-year-old to three on the season—not a bad way to start life in a new league after just three games. A little bit of magic from the Dane goes a long way.
Young Player of the Week
JR: Kalana Kossa-Rienzi
The young talent in Seattle is overflowing out of Lumen Field like a shaken soda can. So much so that they recently traded away one of their best young talents, Josh Atencio, allowing him to become the MLS starter he deserves to be.
Still an MLS NEXT Pro player on a short-term loan agreement, Kalana Kossa-Rienzi was the latest in the Sounders’ long line of University of Washington products to make headlines on Saturday with his first MLS goal. He opened the scoring in Seattle’s 5-2 drubbing of LAFC by understanding the run that needed to be made in behind the defense and producing the skill necessary to drop his defender to the floor before slamming his finish into the corner.
Time for an MLS contract?
FR: Noah Allen
Noah Allen may just win the Young Player of the Year award now. With support from Javier Mascherano, the 20-year-old is truly flourishing into a spectacular MLS player—even wearing the Inter Miami CF armband for a team that includes legends like Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi. Inter Miami has surprised many fans around the league with its defense this year, and Allen has been a huge part of that.
Goal of the Week
JR: Tadeo Allende
Last week, Tadeo Allende unjustly won the official MLS Goal of the Matchday award over Jacob Murrell’s stunning bicycle kick to equalize at the death for D.C. United.
This week, Allende will deservedly win the award.
Despite going down to 10 men in the first half, Allende’s goal within 20 seconds of the second-half kickoff was enough to secure Inter Miami three points at home. More importantly, when it comes to GOTW honors, the move itself involved six perfect touches, four by Allende.
It began with a long ball from Gonzalo Luján, brought down with a long stride by Allende, cutting inside of the retreating Charlotte FC defenders with the same first touch. As they converged, his second touch was a clever backheel to Luis Suárez, continuing his run to receive an immediate chipped return pass from his striker. Allende calmly chested the ball down and passed it into the far corner to complete the sequence. World-class direct play.
FR: Paul Rothrock (Seattle Sounders)
While very similar to Jovan Lučić’s goal, the moment makes Paul Rothrock’s goal even better. The Seattle Sounders vs. LAFC match was a marquee matchup in a prime-time slot. Both goals were nearly identical—beautiful long-range laser shots—but Rothrock did it against a potential Western Conference champion. Did I mention that now everyone in MLS knows who Paul Rothrock is?
Team of the Week
JR: St. Louis CITY SC
It was not a perfect performance from St. Louis, particularly in the first half, but the impenetrable defense continued as the offense awoke to complete a well-rounded 3-0 away win over reigning MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy for their first victory under new head coach Olof Mellberg.
Cedric Tuechert was particularly impactful offensively, scoring and assisting the first two STL goals of the season either side of halftime, but the story will be defensive. Through three games, CITY is the only team in MLS with zero goals conceded, and it’s hard to lose games that way.
They struggled last season but improved significantly after the summer additions of Teuchert and Marcel Hartel, who Teuchert assisted for the second goal. That trend is clearly carrying over to 2025. Last year, St. Louis only won one away game all season, and it was after the duo’s arrival. This year, they’ve already matched that tally by making LA Galaxy the first defending champs to lose their first three MLS games of the following season.
After the match, Teuchert told me that the away win was key, and if they can continue their defensive success, STL will win lots of games. Seems like a good bet to me.
FR: Seattle Sounders
The best part of having the games more spread out is that when an MLS Cup-contending team dominates another, the entire league takes notice. The Seattle Sounders were heavily rotated—just like LAFC—but they completely outclassed the Black and Gold at home.
This is exactly what the Sounders are built for this season. With involvement in multiple competitions, depth is crucial, and adding Jesús Ferreira and Paul Arriola to an already strong squad can only help.
Best thing we saw this week
JR: Defending
In a league known for chaos and golazos, it is nice to see a week where defense delivers. Matchday 3 did that with 12 clean sheets across MLS, including two scoreless draws, three 1-0 games, and four 2-0 finishes.
I know goals are fun, and I’m sure we will get back to scoring in bunches next weekend, but how often do you get to see a goalkeeper win MLS Player of the Matchday?
FR: Lionel Messi on the bench for Inter Miami Cf
This one surely feels like a joke, but it’s not. The Argentine being healthy—or at least healthy enough—has to be a plus. With eager fans wanting to see the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, his return would bring the league back to the level of buzz it had when he was fully fit. If Luis Suárez is playing every match, this isn’t a matter of Messi not wanting to play—he’s actually injured, and they just don’t want the world to know.