NEW YORK (Monday, Sept. 20, 2021) – San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Eduardo López has been voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 26 of the 2021 MLS season.
López scored a pair of goals, the equalizer and the game-winner, to lead the Quakes’ comeback from a two-goal deficit for a 4-3 win against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium on Saturday evening.
López now has 10 goals for the 2021 season, his first in Major League Soccer, tied for ninth place in the standings for the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi. López has five goals in the last two games, after netting a hat trick in a 4-3 loss to Real Salt Lake at PayPal Park in Week 25, the eighth scored by a Mexican-born player in league history which also included the ninth gol olimpico (scored directly from a corner kick) in MLS annals.
On Saturday, with the Quakes still down by a goal, López netted the game-tying goal in the 58th minute when he converted a penalty kick.
López then scored the eventual game-winner just five minutes later. Latching onto a blocked pass in the ATXFC end, López let fly from outside the area with a powerful left-footed drive which was parried by Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver. López was then quickest to the rebound, collecting the ball just inside the penalty area before hitting a low shot that nestled into the back of the net past the goalkeeper’s dive.
López becomes the second player this year to win MLS Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks, after fellow Mexican Javier Hernández did it in the opening two weeks of the season for the LA Galaxy.
López and the Earthquakes return to action on Saturday evening, when they take on Los Angeles Football Club at PayPal Park (10 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.
