The final decision for my latest MLS Player of the Matchday ballot came down to the very last fixture of the Matchday.
This How We Voted column seemed destined to be the fourth one of the season focused on a vote cast for Inter Miami CF star Lionel Messi, who scored two goals and added an assist in a 3-2 win over DC United.
Then LAFC star Denis Bouanga scored a hat trick, the second time he's done that in his last three matches as he and Son Heung-min continue to establish themselves as the new most dangerous duo in MLS.
So this column becomes about the two players, Messi and Bouanga, now tied at the very top of the Golden Boot standings, each with 22 goals scored in the MLS regular season. The loser as it pertains to my ballot turned out to be Evander of FC Cincinnati, who had a hat trick of assists, but who got bumped by this latest breakout performance from Bouanga.
Team of the Matchday had all the aforementioned players in it, but also went heavy on New York City FC, which we'll go over along with more about Bouanga, Messi, and the state of the Golden Boot and MVP races.
The HRB Ballot, Matchday 35
1. Denis Bouanga, LAFC
LAFC had to come back to beat Real Salt Lake, and they did it because Bouanga combined with Son Heung-min to pick apart RSL's defense while busting out with four unanswered goals.
Bouanga scored three of them, with Son directly assisting him on the first in what was a fluid and precise bit of combination play between LAFC's two most lethal attacking players. Son got a secondary assist on Bouanga's second goal, which was a deft chip over RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral to extend LAFC's lead to 3-1 with only around 15 minutes left in the match.
He'd complete his hat trick by powering a shot off Cabral and into the back of the net in the 86th minute, helping LAFC make it three straight matches in which one of their players scored a hat trick, the first time that's ever happened in MLS history. Two of those hat tricks belonged to Bouanga, sandwiching a midweek trio of goals from Son.
Adding Son to Bouanga this summer is helping LAFC immensely, but Bouanga's season has been MVP-worthy even without the added help from South Korea's star attacker. Bouanga has 22 league goals, tying him for first with Messi, and leads MLS in total shot attempts while placing in the top-5 for nearly every other big attacking category.
2. Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
Miami was locked in a surprisingly tight match with lowly DC United, with Christian Benteke scoring a 53rd-minute equalizer to possibly spoil a home win for Miami after Tadeo Allende had opened the scoring, assisted by Lionel Messi.
It looked dicey for Miami up until Messi did what he has done for most of his career and took over. Two left-footed strikes past DC goalkeeper Luis Barraza gave the Herons their lead back and they'd hold onto it, just barely, helping them climb up to 5th Place in the Eastern Conference standings, though with only 28 matches played as they catch up with the league calendar after playing both Concacaf Champions Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this season.
The packed schedule of matches, in MLS and out, hasn't stopped Messi from putting up best-in-MLS numbers yet again this season. He and Bouanga, plus Nashville SC striker Sam Surridge, are neck-and-neck for the Golden Boot. Messi has the most goals+assists, 32, in the league, and he's got a healthy five-goal lead in terms of the most non-penalty goals scored in the league this season. He's going to get so many MVP votes yet again, even if players like Bouanga, Anders Dreyer of San Diego FC, and Evander of FC Cincinnati have excellent cases themselves.
Official Player of the Matchday: Denis Bouanga
Winning this was deserved, and the hat trick helped Bouanga make some more MLS history. He became the first MLS player in history to hit 20 goals in three consecutive seasons, so this is normal terrain for Bouanga. He's been one of the league's most dangerous players and now has the added bonus of playing alongside one of the best forwards from the recent years of the English Premier League, and one who has acclimated to MLS much better than LAFC's previous big-name EPL-related import. Bouanga probably won't win MLS MVP but he's certainly valuable to LAFC, and his form during these early days playing alongside Son Heung-min make it very hard to deal with LAFC, a troubling prospect for the Western Conference as the MLS Cup Playoffs get closer and closer.
MLS Team of the Matchday
Starters: Brad Stuver (ATX) - Richie Laryea (TOR), Joel Waterman (CHI), Édier Ocampo (VAN) - Brendan McSorley (STL), Evander (CIN), Martín Ojeda (ORL), Denis Bouanga (LAFC) - Lionel Messi (MIA), Alonso Martínez (NYC), Son Heung-Min (LAFC)
Coach: Pascal Jansen (NYC)
Bench: Matt Freese (NYC), Tim Parker (RBNY), Christian Cappis (DAL), Jack McGlynn (HOU), Miguel Almirón (ATL), Marcel Hartel (STL), Myrto Uzuni (ATX), Christian Benteke (DC), Brenner (CIN)
The goalkeeper position is all New York City FC, past in the Starting XI and present on the bench. Brad Stuver of Austin FC made five saves and conceded only once while being credited with preventing nearly two goals, based on xG. That kept Matt Freese on the bench despite his clean sheet against a potent Charlotte FC attack, a performance that also included a penalty-kick save on Wilfried Zaha. While Freese didn't start, Pascal Jansen got the nod as the coach of Team of the Matchday for guiding NYCFC past Charlotte and snapping that nine-match winning streak. It's the second time Jansen has earned this honor, not long after he was Coach of the Matchday on Matchday 30. Jansen's star striker Alonso Martínez got into the Starting XI thanks to his pair of penalty kick conversions, and also because he's now scored 10 game-winning goals this season, only the third player in league history to hit double figures in that category in one year.
