Cunningham scores two, earns Player of the Week

NEW YORK – The player with the most Player of the Week honors in the history of MLS can now add another to his résumé.

FC Dallas forward Jeff Cunningham was voted Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 19 after scoring the final two goals in a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia Union. FC Dallas are now unbeaten in nine league matches and have the fewest losses of all MLS teams this season.

The recognition takes Cunningham’s running total of Player of the Week awards to 14 all-time, three ahead of Los Angeles Galaxy captain Landon Donovan. His first Player of the Week honor came more than 10 years ago in 1999.

The 2009 Budweiser Golden Boot winner came off the bench at halftime to score two goals in a six-minute span to seal the victory. He gave FC Dallas the lead in the 75th minute with a header [WATCH] and then put the game away by slotting home a David Ferreira through ball in the 81st minute [WATCH].

It has been a trying season for the 33-year-old Cunningham, who lost his place in the FC Dallas starting XI despite being the league’s reigning scoring champion. He has made only 10 starts in 2010, with his last start coming on June 5.

His six goals in 2010 takes Cunningham to 127 career goals, ranking second all-time behind D.C. United’s Jaime Moreno, who has 132.

2010 MLS Player of the Week Winners

Week 1: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)

Week 2: Kenny Mansally (New England Revolution)

Week 3: Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union)

Week 4: Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)

Week 5: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)

Week 6: Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)

Week 7: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)

Week 8: Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake)

Week 9: Emilio Renteria (Columbus Crew)

Week 10: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)