NEW YORK (Monday, May 8, 2023) – Nashville SC midfielder Hany Mukhtar was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire for Matchday 11 of the 2023 MLS season.
Mukhtar recorded his third career MLS hat trick, scoring all three goals in the club’s 3-0 victory against Chicago Fire FC on Saturday, May 6 (Watch Highlights From His Performance Here). Since the start of the 2022 season, Mukhtar has produced seven multi-score games, which are the most by an MLS player over that period. Of Mukhtar’s three career hat tricks, two of those have been against Chicago (July 17, 2021), becoming the eighth player in MLS history to score multiple hat tricks against the same opponent. The German midfielder now has 11 goal contributions (six goals, five assists) in 2023, which is tied for the most in MLS.
After Nashville earned a penalty kick in first-half extra time, Mukhtar stepped up from the spot and slotted his effort into the roof of the net to take a 1-0 lead (Watch Here). In the 70th minute, Mukhtar scored his second penalty kick of the match, firing a low effort just past the outstretched arms of the Chicago goalkeeper (Watch Here). The 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP completed his hat trick in second-half extra time when Fafa Picault’s saved shot fell to Mukhtar, who placed his one-timed volley perfectly at the near post and into the net for the 3-0 victory (Watch Here).
In his last six matches, Mukhtar has scored six goals and added three assists, helping Nashville to a 3-1-2 record. Of Nashville’s 66 goals in the past two seasons, Mukhtar has either scored or assisted on 45 of those (68.2%), which is the highest percentage in MLS. In Saturday’s win, the German star scored twice from the penalty spot – the first time he had produced multiple penalty-kick goals in a single match in his MLS career. In his career, Mukhtar has 49 regular season goals, sitting one score shy of becoming the first player in club history to score 50 times.
Mukhtar is the first Nashville player to win MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire since he did so in consecutive Matchdays in 2022 (28-29). Since the start of 2021, Mukhtar has won the award six times, which is double the number of any other player in the league, and he now has seven overall in his career. Mukhtar’s seven Player of the Matchday honors are tied for the second most by an active player, trailing only LAFC’s Carlos Vela (nine). He is the fifth player in MLS history to win Player of the Matchday in four straight seasons.
Nashville will look to win three consecutive games in the regular season when they travel to face D.C. United at Audi Field on Matchday 12 on Saturday, May 13 (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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