He's done it again.
Coming off yet another brilliant effort to help his team to a resounding 3-0 victory over Austin FC, Nashville SC star Hany Mukhtar has taken home MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire for Week 29 of the 2022 season. It's the second straight week Mukhtar has garnered the honors after he also earned the accolade in Week 28, when he scored a hat trick in a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids, and the league-leading sixth time he's won Player of the Week since his 2020 arrival to MLS.
The dynamic German now has five goals in his last two matches after notching a brace against Austin, which saw him strike for two late goals in the 82nd minute and the first minute of second-half stoppage time. The torrid run of form has helped spark a late-season surge for Nashville SC, who have now won four straight matches by at least three goals, finding the net at least three times in all those matches.
That's helped the Coyotes vault into the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference, where their 45 points (12W-9L-9D) currently has them one point off the pace of third-place FC Dallas.
Mukhtar becomes the first player to win back-to-back Player of the Week honors since Seattle Sounders forward Raul Ruidiaz, who managed the feat in Weeks 19-20 in 2021. Ruidiaz, LA Galaxy forward Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, LAFC attacker Carlos Vela and former Atlanta United standout Miguel Almiron are the only players since 2016 to win the award two consecutive weeks.
The two strikes give Mukhtar 37 goals since the start of 2021, which leads all MLS players. He also has 23 assists over that span, third-most in MLS behind only New England Revolution standout Carles Gil and FC Cincinnati's Lucho Acosta. For the 2022 season, he's now racked up an MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi-leading 21 goals, to go along with 11 assists in 29 appearances (28 starts) across 2,475 minutes.
Mukhtar and Nashville SC will look to win their fifth consecutive match for the first time in club history when they return to action in Week 30, which will see them take on the LA Galaxy at GEODIS Park on Saturday (3:30 pm ET | Univision, Twitter, TUDN).
The MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire 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.
