Starting an MLS match for the first time since Sept. 10, 2017, Jordan Morris is back. And he didn't have much rust, notching a brace in the Seattle Sounders' 4-1 win over FC Cincinnati.
On Monday, Morris was named MLS Player of the Week for his efforts. Not a bad return to action.
Morris' first goal was a deflected effort, giving the Sounders a lead they wouldn't relinquish. The home crowd erupted for their hometown hero, while his teammates celebrated enthusiastically with a player who missed the entirety of 2018.
"This game is something I’ve been waiting for so long,” Morris told reporters after the game. “I didn’t have any expectation of going out and scoring a goal and stuff like that, I just wanted to be out with my teammates and help them, so it was icing on the cake to get a couple goals. It was a similar emotion to [my first MLS goal], a little bit different in the sense that obviously last year was so long and I was still playing my rookie year, but similar in the sense of the lead-up to it, and it felt great.”
Morris' second goal came much more decisively, firing a first-time effort with his left foot into the top corner. It didn't take long, but the US men's national team forward is back.
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week 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 a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
