Atlanta United Midfielder Miguel Almirón Voted Alcatel MLS Player of the Week
NEW YORK
(Tuesday, May 1, 2018)
– Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almirón was voted the Alcatel Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for the ninth week of the 2018 MLS season.
Atlanta United extended their season-best unbeaten streak to seven matches with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday, with Almirón scoring two goals in front of the 45,039-person Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd. Over eight starts this season, the 24-year-old is tied for the league-lead with six goals and tied for fourth in MLS with four assists. Atlanta sits second in the Eastern Conference with 19 points (6-1-1 overall record).
The 2017 MLS Newcomer of the Year helped Atlanta overcome an early Montreal goal with a penalty kick in the 70
th
minute to tie the game 1-1. Almirón sent his kick to the right side of goal, putting enough power on the shot to get past goalkeeper Evan Bush’s deflection and sneak into the net (
Watch Goal
).
Almirón then extended Atlanta United’s lead to 3-1 in the 84
th
minute on a beautiful display of give-and-go play with Josef Martínez. Beginning from Atlanta’s half of the field, Almirón dribbled toward goal, sending a pass to Martínez in traffic, with the forward deflecting the ball back to Almirón to set up a left-footed shot from just outside the box to beat Bush (
Watch Goal
). The brace was the second multi-goal performance of the season and fifth in Almirón’s MLS career.
Atlanta United return to action on Saturday, May 5 to face the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park (8:30 p.m. ET, TSN1 / TSN3 / TSN4 / TSN5 / ESPN+).
The Alcatel MLS Player of the Week is chosen each week of the regular season by members of the North American Soccer Reporters. The organization includes print, television, radio and online journalists who cover domestic men's soccer in the United States and Canada. Learn more about the NASR and apply to join at
https://www.facebook.com/soccerreporters/
.
