NEW YORK (Monday, Oct. 18, 2021) – Columbus Crew forward Gyasi Zardes has been voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 30 of the 2021 MLS season.
Zardes scored a pair of goals, both from headers, in the Crew’s 4-0 win against Inter Miami CF at Lower.com Field on Saturday evening.
Zardes got his first for the Crew opener in the 39th minute, getting onto the end of a Pedro Santos ball played from the right side of midfield and nodding it home inside the far post.
The U.S. international made it 3-0 for the Crew in the 64th minute, rising up to powerfully head home on a full run from another service from Santos, this from the right corner.
Zardes has been named the MLS Player of the Week for the second time in four weeks and for the fifth time in his career, after netting a brace in the Crew’s 2-0 win against CF Montréal in Week 27.
This week marked the 15th multiple-goal game of his MLS career and his third this season. At midweek, Zardes won his 65th cap for the U.S. national team at the Crew’s own Lower.com Field, coming on as a late substitute in the USA’s 2-1 win against Costa Rica in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Zardes and the Crew will face a crucial match in their next contest, traveling to take on Nashville SC at Nissan Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 20 (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+).
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.
