NEW YORK (Monday, March 6, 2023) – Columbus Crew midfielder Lucas Zelarayán was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire for the second matchday of the 2023 MLS season.
Zelarayán scored a pair of goals in the first half of the club’s 2-0 victory over D.C. United on Saturday, March 4 (Watch Highlights from His Performance Here). Zelarayán has recorded 12 games with multiple goal contributions since the start of the 2021 season, which is the second-most in MLS over the span behind only Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar (17). Since the start of 2020, the Armenian international has produced 53 goal contributions (30 goals, 23 assists), also ranking as the second-most in the league (Mukhtar, 71).
Ten minutes into the match, Juan ‘Cucho’ Hernández played a low pass to Zelarayán in the box, who spun past a defender and fired a right-footed strike into the corner of the net (Watch Here). In the 44th minute, Crew midfielder Alexandru Matan found Zelarayán on a darting run and he did the rest with his shot into the roof of the net from close range to seal the three points (Watch Here).
With his two goals versus D.C., Zelarayán has now totaled 30 goals and 23 assists for Columbus, becoming just the eighth player in club history to hit at least 30 goals and 20 assists. Additionally, Zelarayán produced his fifth career multi-goal game, which is tied for the eighth-most in Crew history.
Zelarayán becomes the first Columbus Crew player to win MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire since he did so in Matchday 34 of 2021. The midfielder is now the ninth player in club history to win the award at least three different times in his career (Matchday 6 and 34 of 2021).
The Crew will look to win consecutive matches when they travel to face Toronto FC at BMO Field on Matchday 3 on Saturday, March 11 (7:30 p.m. 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.
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