Luca Orellano struck for his first MLS brace to help lead FC Cincinnati to a come-from-behind 4-3 victory at Toronto FC, earning him Player of the Matchday honors for Matchday 16.
The Argentine midfielder, who leveled the match in the 53rd minute and then put the visitors in front 3-2, now has three goals and three assists in his last seven matches. That coincides with FC Cincinnati’s seven-match winning streak, becoming the fourth team in MLS history to do so in a single season (excluding the shootout era).
FC Cincinnati, who set a club record with a fourth consecutive road win, are now 10W-2L-3D on the season, one point behind Inter Miami CF in the Supporters’ Shield race.
Orellano is the first Cincinnati player to earn MLS Player of the Matchday honors since Luciano Acosta did so on Matchday 34 in 2023. Of the first 15 Player of the Matchday awards in 2024, nine of them have been won by players from South America. The 24-year-old is also the youngest player to be named Player of the Matchday this season.
Orellano and Cincinnati will aim to become the second team since 2000 to win at least eight straight games in the same season when they host Nashville SC on Wednesday (7:30 pm | MLS Season Pass) at TQL Stadium.
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
