Welcome to the first-ever edition of How We Voted in which a New York City FC player actually won the vote and was named MLS Player of the Matchday.
It took a hat trick to get us here but we've finally got a winner intimately familiar to Hudson River Blue readers and it's Alonso Martínez.
This isn't the first time this column, all about the reasoning behind my vote for MLS Player of the Matchday following each round of games, featured a vote for a New York City player – I cast a ballot for Hannes Wolf when he had two goals and one assist against Atlanta United FC – but this is the first time a NYCFC player won the award this year.
Martínez's performance and the central role it played in his team's wild away win in Texas was too good for the voters to ignore, so read on for more on what made Alonso so untouchable against Dallas, and why a two-assist performance from an Orlando City midfielder earned the No 2 spot on my ballot.
We also give you the full Team of the Matchday for this round which again includes NYCFC's Martínez, but also features Maxi Moralez following his two assists in the Dallas win. It's a very New York City-centric version of a usually not New York City-centric column, but the win at Toyota Stadium was too entertaining to deny.
The HRB Ballot, Matchday 27
1. Alonso Martínez, New York City FC
Each of his three goals highlighted a different part of Martínez's attacking repertoire. On his first, Martínez receives a pass from Maxi Moralez and executes a perfect first touch that takes him straight between two Dallas defenders (ex-NYCFC player Sebastien Ibeagha included), then exhibiting some quality close control to settle enough to put his shot past goalkeeper Maarten Paes. It got nominated for MLS Goal of the Matchday, though it wasn't winning the vote last time we checked due to the unparalleled online voting ability of the Atlanta United fanbase.
Second goal caught Paes out at his near post and seemed to surprise the keeper for how quickly Martínez got that shot off after being led into space by a pass from Hannes Wolf, a nice display of why ex-manager Nick Cushing kept calling Martínez "clinical" every time he was asked about him.
The hat trick clincher and win-clincher was a perfectly-timed run behind the Dallas defense picked out by new high-priced NYCFC signing Nico Fernández punctuated by an emphatic finish after Martínez dribbled around Paes. Martínez had been slumping by his standards and his expected goals number far outpaced his actual goals scored number, but the way he finished his chances and the circumstances in which he finished them, to come from behind and win in Dallas, were all good reminders of what he can do at the tip of NYCFC's attacking spear.
Video courtesy @MLS on Twitter.
2. Iván Angulo, Orlando City SC
Ramiro Enrique was the Orlando player who scored the two late second-half goals that helped the Lions pull out a dramatic road win over Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field, but his teammate Angulo was the one putting two perfect passes on a platter for Enrique to finish to earn that win.
Angulo had an influential performance out on the left side of the Orlando midfield, with the assists on the equalizer and match-winner in the 76th and 79th minutes were the clear standouts for him. Each time, he was afforded lots of time and space by the Crew and each time used them to deliver dangerous balls right to the doorstep of the Columbus goal.
Enrique got the finishes right in each instance and he deservedly got his own praise and his own place in the MLS Team of the Matchday's Starting XI, but Angulo was out there for 89 minutes to Enrique's 23 and contributed more in the totality of the game to me, hence why I went for one Orlando player over the other. Angulo had a tidy passing performance, completing 86% of his 29 attempts, won a bunch of ground duels, drew three fouls, and successfully completed two dribbles.
I'm partial to a great performance as an orchestrator, but it's no shade to Enrique: Tap-in goals aren't automatic, but Angulo couldn't have made it much easier for his teammate to get those goals. A solid second-place performance behind the Alonso Martínez hattie.
Official Player of the Matchday: Alonso Martínez
This is the first time a New York City FC player has won this award since...Alonso Martínez, when he was named Player of the Matchday for scoring a brace as part of NYCFC's statement 5-1 away win over the Red Bulls in the Hudson River Derby late last September.
As mentioned by the MLS PR folks in their announcement of Alonso's win, it was his second hat trick in sky blue, but maybe more importantly, his first multi-goal game this season after he had a handful of those kinds of goal binges in 2024. Martínez is at 12 goals now and back in a tie for 10th place in the race for the MLS Golden Boot and could be poised for a nice run now that he's shaken off any effects of being on Concacaf Gold Cup duty, and now that he's got a creative new Designated Player attacker to feed him passes all summer long.
MLS Team of the Matchday
Starters: Pedro Gallese (ORL) - Jack Elliott (CHI), Manu Duah (SD), Mathias Laborda (VAN) - Martín Ojeda (ORL), Owen Wolff (ATX), J.C. Ngando (VAN) - Mikael Uhre (PHI), Alonso Martínez (NYC), Ramiro Enrique (ORL), Kelvin Yeboah (MIN)
Coach: Oscar Pareja (ORL)
Bench: Pablo Sisniega (SD), Benjamin Cremaschi (MIA), Cristhian Paredes (POR), Braian Ojeda (RSL), Maxi Moralez (NYC), Alexey Miranchuk (ATL), Osman Bukari (ATX), Ivan Angulo, Logan Farrington (DAL)
A whole lot of purple players on this team – three Orlando City guys in the Starting XI, plus Oscar Pareja as coach and my No 2 vote-getter Iván Angulo on the bench. Beating Columbus in Columbus is a rare feat and the voters gave Orlando plenty of praise for pulling it off. On the local NYCFC front, Alonso Martínez starts and gets company on the bench from Maxi Moralez, who had two assists, including one to Alonso. The seven-goal thriller in Texas even got an FC Dallas player a spot on the bench, with Logan Farrington rewarded for his brace.
