It took slightly longer than everyone involved hoped, but Portland Timbers midfielder Evander announced himself to MLS (and then some) in Matchday 12 to earn Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire honors.
Evander, signed in the offseason for a reported club-record $10 million transfer from Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland, produced his first career MLS brace in a 3-1 Cascadia Cup victory against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
After scoring in the 18th and 54th minutes, Evander became the first player in Timbers history to produce a multi-goal game following a multi-assist game, which he had accomplished on Matchday 11 vs. Austin FC.
The 24-year-old Brazilian currently leads Portland in goals (four) and goal contributions (six) this season, despite only starting seven of 12 matches. He is the first Timbers player with multiple goal contributions in consecutive games since Sebastián Blanco from Nov. 3-7, 2021.
Evander is the first Timbers player to win Player of the Matchday honors since Blanco did so on Matchday 11 in 2022. He is also the first Timbers player to be named Player of the Matchday during his debut season since Fanendo Adi in 2014 (Matchday 14).
Portland will look to extend their unbeaten run to four games when visiting Real Salt Lake for a Matchday 13 test Wednesday evening (9:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire 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 a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
