This column could have looked different if Anders Dreyer didn't almost singlehandedly win San Diego FC another big California rivalry match late Sunday night on the road against LAFC.
Gabriel Pirani of DC United was the proverbial leader in the clubhouse for my latest MLS Player of the Matchday vote, which is the focus of each and every edition of this How We Voted column.
Pirani's brace to beat New York City FC and get DC their first win in any competition since May 31 hit close to home for this column, but Dreyer managed to one-up DC's scorer. The fact that Dreyer spoiled the home LAFC debut of Son Heung-min and extended San Diego's lead atop the Western Conference with a classy assist and an even better match-winning goal gave him the slight edge, which I explain in more detail below, while also catching you up on Team of the Matchday.
The HRB Ballot, Matchday 31
1. Anders Dreyer, San Diego FC
The match-winning goal Dreyer scored to beat LAFC on the road was so good.
The long diagonal pass from Jeppe Tverskov to get Dreyer in behind the defense was pinpoint, then Dreyer gets all his touches just right as he cuts to the very front of Hugo Lloris's goal and blasts a deflected strike past the French keeper. Some top-notch counterattacking, and it followed up on Dreyer lofting a perfectly-weighted pass over the LAFC defense to Hirving Lozano, who scored San Diego's opening goal.
Dreyer's pass got LAFC center-back Nkosi Tafari all turned around and twisted on Lozano's goal, then Dreyer dropped LAFC's Artem Smolyakov to his knees with a feint and made another defender, Eddie Segura, miss before scoring. The Danish attacker was the reason San Diego got a seventh straight road win and ruined the home debut of Son Heung-min for LAFC.
Dreyer now leads all MLS players with 30 combined goals (14) and assists (16) so far this regular season, and he's second (behind Lionel Messi) with 0.98 non-penalty goals plus assists per 90 minutes played. He's in the MLS-wide top 10 for almost every major attacking statistic this season and has propelled San Diego to one point off the lead for Supporters' Shield behind Philadelphia Union at this late stage in the season.
Expansion teams aren't usually this good in Major League Soccer, but San Diego FC looks like an exception to the rule because they got their Designated Player pick extremely correct with Anders Dreyer.
2. Gabriel Pirani, DC United
Pirani stole the show at Yankee Stadium and got DC United their first-ever win in the Bronx with two goals, but more importantly, his brace snapped a 12-match DC winless streak across all competitions.
The first of his two goals was the best of the pair, with Pirani showing excellent composure and technical ability from outside the box. This column is a fan of goals scored off long throw-ins, and that's what set Pirani up. Mountain of a man Christian Benteke fended off multiple New York City FC defenders to head the ball back out to an unmarked Pirani, whose deft first touch sent Alonso Martínez past him and allowed the DC attacker to settle and strike with his right foot.
Ridiculous hit from that spot and given it was almost immediately after the touch to settle and shake off Martínez. Pirani kissing it off the far post meant that Matt Freese had no chance to keep it out of the NYCFC goal, and the finish swung this match ultimately in DC's favor.
Pirani would get the winner late in the second half with Benteke, again, central in the lead-up. The Belgian striker sent Pirani streaking behind NYCFC's last two defenders, and Pirani confidently slotted the match-winner into the corner. Huge performance from DC as they're still in the early days under new Head Coach René Weiler, who got his first win – one of the few things DC can celebrate, given they're already eliminated from playoff contention and stuck in last place in the Eastern Conference.
NYCFC had been one of the toughest teams to score goals against in MLS this season, but Pirani, with the help of Christian Benteke, was unstoppable and had a great case for a vote for Player of the Matchday. Anders Dreyer's game had more significance, and the overall performance of the San Diego star was slightly better than Pirani's, resulting in the DC goal-scorer placing second on this ballot.
Official Player of the Matchday: Anders Dreyer
San Diego have now won all five matches they've played against fellow California clubs this season, thanks in big part to the play of Dreyer. Beating LAFC away this season is one of the tougher of the many California Derbies played by San Diego, so Dreyer's individual influence in the 2-1 result likely swayed voters, just as it swayed me. As the official MLS website points out in their write-up of Dreyer's Player of the Matchday win, Dreyer is now up to a total of six game-winning goals and seven game-winning assists, so his Clutch Gene has been present and active in his first year in MLS. You might be looking at an MLS MVP shortlist that includes Dreyer, Messi, and Evander this season.
Official MLS Team of the Matchday
Starters: Jayden Hibbert (ATL) - Dylan Nealis (RBNY), Ronald Hernández (ATL), Kai Wagner (PHI) - Owen Wolff (ATX), Jonathan Osorio (TOR), Jeppe Tverskov (SD), Ondřej Lingr (HOU) - Anders Dreyer (SD), Dejan Joveljić (SKC), Gabriel Pirani (DC)
Coach: Bradley Carnell (PHI)
Bench: Patrick Schulte (CLB), Justin Haak (NYC), Robin Lod (MIN), Steven Alzate (ATL), Ashley Westwood (CLT), Ezequiel Ponce (HOU), Bruno Damiani (PHI), Osman Bukari (ATX), Dániel Sallói (SKC)
Dreyer and Tverskov combined on that San Diego match-winner and each start in Team of the Matchday, as does Pirani. Dejan Joveljić was another player with a good case for Player of the Matchday vote, having scored a brace in a 4-2 Sporting Kansas City win over Colorado Rapids, and he also earned a place in the Starting XI. Even in defeat, NYCFC's Justin Haak nabbed a spot on the bench of Team of the Matchday, with the center-back rewarded for scoring in a losing effort against DC. Haak's goal was nice but I'm not sure that bench spot is much consolation after conceding two and losing to a team that hadn't won since May.
