It was an abbreviated schedule due to the June international window, with just 12 teams in action on Saturday. But Matchday 19 wasn’t short on sensational goals, including yet another candidate – and maybe the favorite – for AT&T 5G Goal of the Year.
A week after Lucas Zelarayan won Goal of the Matchday for Matchday 18 with a frozen-rope shot from beyond midfield in second-half stoppage time, Pablo Ruiz somehow may have one-upped the Columbus Crew midfielder.
With D.C. United goalkeeper Tyler Miller off his line, the 24-year-old Argentine decided to try his own luck near the left sideline. Ruiz stood 68.24 yards from goal, compared to Zelarayán's 60.98 yards, and delivered a speculative rip that was perfectly placed beyond the outstretched arm of a diving Miller and into the top corner to open the scoring for Real Salt Lake in a 2-1 victory at Audi Field.
Hany Mukhtar scored his fourth MLS hat trick to power Nashville SC to a 3-1 win over St. Louis CITY SC, becoming just the third player in league history to notch 50 goals and 30 assists in a three-year stretch, joining Toronto FC's Sebastian Giovinco (2015-17) and LA Galaxy's Robbie Keane (2012-14, 2013-15). The reigning Landon Donovan MLS MVP winner saved his best for last, a first-time finish tucked inside the side netting in the 75th minute off an audacious back-heeled assist by Dax McCarty.
The New England Revolution scored three times in a 3-1 victory over Orlando City SC, a win that extended their home unbeaten streak to nine matches, tying a club record. Two of their goals make up half the nominees this week.
The first came from Gustavo Bou in the 69th minute, a goal that increased the Revs’ lead to 2-0. Taking a pass from Noel Buck at the top-right edge of the 18-yard box, the Argentine first faked a cross, which gave him enough room to cut inside, and then finished clinically with his left foot. Carles Gil then put the finishing touches on the victory in the 85th minute. The 2021 Landon Donovan MLS MVP took Bou's pass and fired a low laser inside the far post to cap a deadly counter-attack.
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