How We Voted, the column all about MLS Player of the Matchday voting, returns from the international break* and tries to sort out a Matchday that featured four different players scoring hat tricks.
A ridiculous 57 goals got scored on Matchday 33 by all MLS teams combined, a round of games that featured a 5-4 scoreline as well as an always-eye-catching 7-0 demolition. If you were a MLS defender or a goalkeeper this weekend, you probably had a bad time out there.
Two players who did not have a bad time are the Western Conference attackers who received my votes. Did one assist added atop the hat trick make the difference for the newly-arrived European star of the Vancouver Whitecaps who got my vote? It might have also helped that his four goal contributions came in a 7-0 win against the Eastern Conference's top team. It certainly helped the Whitecaps as it pertained to Team of the Matchday, as they had six members of the squad included in there.
*Voters named FC Dallas goalkeeper Jacob Jackson Player of the Matchday for an odd Matchday 32 the league held right smack-dab in the middle of the international break, with just four matches played. The league did not name a Team of the Matchday; this column did not publish an installment, as a result of the limited schedule and weirdness of the whole thing.
The HRB Ballot, Matchday 33
1. Thomas Müller, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
A hat trick from Müller for the seventh time in his storied career, and on his 36th birthday, no less? I normally hesitate to hand out votes when a player's case is built heavily on penalty kick conversions, but Müller added a smooth assist and scored one from the run of play and was plenty involved in all the good things the Whitecaps did in their 7-0 rout of the Philadelphia Union.
Voting for Müller also at least partially is a vote for the rest of the Vancouver squad that just relentlessly picked apart the Union. Sebastian Berhalter (two assists), Ali Ahmed (one assist), Matias Laborda (one goal), and Emmanuel Sabbi (two goals) all put together standout performances at once for the Whitecaps, but Müller stood out the most and gets the nod here.
Diego Rossi of Columbus Crew and Denis Bouanga of LAFC had hat tricks entirely free of penalty kicks, but Rossi came off injured in the 42nd minute, and I think Bouanga was just one tick below Müller for total influence on the win. Bouanga's performance came in a California Derby and at a special oversized NFL venue, but Müller did it against a theoretically tougher team, and with the added bonus that he provided an assist along with all the goals.
Video of all Müller goal involvements via @MLS on Twitter.
2. Denis Bouanga, LAFC
Still, Bouanga put together an incredible performance of his own at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, in front of an announced crowd of 50,978 fans. LAFC put three goals past San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel inside the first 15 minutes, with Bouanga's first two strikes following a second-minute opener from Son Heung-min.
LAFC had Bouanga this whole time, but adding Son at midseason makes them a frightening proposition, especially when they're clicking and when they're facing a porous defense like that of the Quakes. Watching Bouanga in this game, you saw him constantly making direct, threatening runs, and you saw him causing San Jose endless problems en route to the three goals.
Bouanga could have a case for inclusion in the MLS MVP conversation, if not for the vote outright, as he's up to third place in the Golden Boot race with 18 league goals – three behind Sam Surridge of Nashville SC at the top of the standings, and one behind Lionel Messi's 19 goals in second place. His supporting cast remains strong, though LAFC sit in 5th Place in the tough-at-the-top Western Conference.
Diego Rossi of Columbus matched Bouanga's three non-penalty goals, but didn't have an assist, and didn't make it the full length of his match due to an unfortunate injury.
Official Player of the Matchday: Thomas Müller
That such a big-name player filled up the stat sheet the way Müller did, and in such a lopsided win, made this one feel somewhat inevitable. It was also the first time a player ever scored a hat trick on their birthday in the history of Major League Soccer, which has to count for something. Müller has four goals already in a brief time spent in MLS and certainly looks like he's getting on the same page, quickly, with his new Vancouver teammates. The Whitecaps have two games in hand and only sit four points behind Western Conference leaders San Diego FC – with Müller and a bunch of his teammates in form and Ryan Gauld on the way back from a long injury absence, Vancouver might be poised to peak at the exact right time late in the MLS season.
MLS Team of the Matchday
Starters: Dayne St. Clair (MIN) - Bernard Kamungo (DAL), Miki Yamane (LA), Alex Freeman (ORL) - Emmanuel Sabbi (VAN), Evander (CIN), Nectarios Triantis (MIN), Diego Rossi (CLB) - Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Idan Toklomati (CLT), Thomas Müller (VAN)
Coach: Jesper Sørensen (VAN)
Bench: Kristijan Kahlina (CLT), Mathías Laborda (VAN), Conrad Wallem (STL), Sebastian Berhalter (VAN), Ali Ahmed (VAN), Dániel Gazdag (CLB), Zavier Gozo (RSL), Jamal Thiaré (ATL), Danny Musovski (SEA)
Six members of the Whitecaps listed here and it feels exactly right based on the spread-the-wealth nature of their beatdown of Philly. Apologies to Idan Toklomati of Charlotte FC as he was my fourth-ranked player to score a hat trick in my voting, though he and his Charlotte team won't care as they've won nine consecutive matches and have soared up the Eastern Conference standings into 3rd Place and just four points off the lead of the Supporters' Shield standings. Will they ever lose again? Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was the player who didn't score a hat trick who might have had the best case for a Player of the Matchday vote, as he made a ridiculous 12 saves in Minnesota's big 3-1 away win over San Diego. Maybe in a different round of matches, St. Clair walks away with the award, but there were simply too many goals scored on this Matchday.
