Mike Meredith/Club and Country
It should come as no surprise, on the heels of the week’s only hat trick and a massive win over Colorado Rapids, that Hany Mukhtar is the MLS Player of the Week. Mukhtar scored in the 29th, 54th, and 75th minutes to lead the Boys in Gold to a comfortable victory in what could have been considered a playoff-line six-pointer.
He also had four other shots (two on target), completed 19/23 passes, drew won foul, and succeeded on one of his two attempts to dribble an opponent. Mukhtar was previously Player of the Week in Week 16. He was also Player of the Week for Weeks 13 and 23 last year (the campaign in which he finished runner-up as league MVP to New England Revolution’s Carles Gil), and in Week 18 of 2020.
He was a near-unanimous selection for the media, capturing all but one first-place vote in North American Soccer Reporters member ballots. He took 62.75% of the media vote (the maximum is 67%), and 19.13% of fan votes to land at 51.84 of the weighted voting. That placed him easily ahead of LA Galaxy’s Riqui Puig, who totaled 19.43% of the vote, with Orlando City’s Facundo Torres and Philadelphia Union’s Mikael Uhre trailing.
Naturally, his selection as Player of the Week also came with a nod for team of the week. He was joined by teammate Randall Leal, who earned the penalty kick that Mukhtar converted, assisted on Mukhtar’s second goal, and took the shot that Mmukhtar rebounded home for the third.
Mukhtar becomes the 17th representative for Nashville SC this season – after previously being named in Weeks 8, 12, 14, 16, and 26. Dave Romney was on the list in Weeks 6 and 10, Randall Leal in Weeks 10 and 20, Gary Smith in Weeks 1 and 14, while Aníbal Godoy (1), Walker Zimmerman (4), CJ Sapong (13), and Jack Maher (27) have one honor apiece.
Club and Country 