MLS Team of the Week: Keane, Martins, Maidana Thrive in Week 24
Week 24 in Major League Soccer offered us plenty of skillful goals, a pair of dramatic comebacks and some standout performances by the league's best.
After sitting out most of the summer with injuries, Obafemi Martins and Robbie Keane delivered two goals each for their respective sides as the fight for play-off positions in the Western Conference heats up.
Over in the Eastern Conference, a pair of under-the-radar attackers shined in the wild six-goal affair between Philadelphia and Chicago on Sunday night.
Despite our shift to a 3-4-3 formation to accommodate as many terrific attackers as possible, three quality center-backs put their respective sides in position to win this weekend due to their tremendous efforts at the back. We even witnessed a phenomenal display of skill in net, which made our choice for goalkeeper quite easy.
Continue reading to see which 11 players featured in our latest MLS Team of the Week.
GK: Sean Johnson, Chicago Fire
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Rarely do we reward a goalkeeper who concedes on three occasions with a spot in the Team of the Week, but rarely do we witness a performance late in a match like the one Sean Johnson had on Sunday night.
Johnson delivered an otherworldly display during the final 10 minutes of the Fire's 3-3 draw with Philadelphia at PPL Park. The United States international started his run of absurd saves with a stop on a Cristian Maidana shot in the 81st minute.
He went on to make four more denials on a few different Union players before the hosts finally broke him down in the 90th minute. Fortunately for the owner of eight saves in Week 24, Kennedy Igboananike scored in stoppage time and handed Chicago a point on the road.
“I thought Sean was outstanding tonight. Sean’s a good goalkeeper, and if the ball’s there to be saved, he’ll make the save. It’s not surprising when he makes those saves, he’s in there, he’s a good goalkeeper and he makes the saves when he should," Fire boss Frank Yallop said, per MLSSoccer.com's Shane Murray.
CB: Nat Borchers, Portland Timbers
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Nat Borchers was understandably emotional after he nodded in a stoppage-time winner for the Portland Timbers against his former side Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The center-back broke the scoreless deadlock with a perfectly placed header that was one of the last touches of the match. As the ball bounced into the net, Borchers went to his knees in a heap of emotion.
Not only did Borchers put a dagger in the playoff hopes of his former club, he also handed the Timbers a boost into fourth place in the Western Conference on 39 points, which is only three back of the first-place Galaxy.
"I got a little emotional.Didn't really want to score on my former team and take points from them, but happy for us. And I thought we really played a good game," Borchers said in an on-field interview after the match, per MLSSoccer.com's Dan Itel.
CB: Matt Miazga, New York Red Bulls
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For the second consecutive week, United States U20 center-back Matt Miazga silenced a world-class striker in a win by the New York Red Bulls.
After shutting down David Villa in Week 23, Miazga limited the pair of Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore to one shot on goal in the Red Bulls' 3-0 win on Saturday night.
The 20-year-old racked up five interceptions, five clearances and four tackles during his impressive outing in front of the home fans.
CB: Omar Gonzalez, LA Galaxy
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It should not come as a surprise that the LA Galaxy are beginning to trend upward at the right time in the season. With plenty of big names in attack and a sturdy defense in front of new goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, the Galaxy have moved into first in the Western Conference.
A big part of the club's success on Saturday night against FC Dallas can be attributed to the center-back duo of Omar Gonzalez and Leonardo, both of whom were worthy of nods for the Team of the Week.
We chose Gonzalez because of his massive role disrupting the dangerous FC Dallas attack in the 2-1 victory. The United States international made 18 interceptions and won three aerials among many other statistical contributions in his side's 12th win of the year.
AM: Kekuta Manneh, Vancouver Whitecaps
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Before his defense imploded in the final 10 minutes at Sporting Park, Kekuta Manneh put in a Man of the Match performance for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Manneh put Carl Robinson's side in good position to hand Sporting Kansas City their first home defeat of the season with a pair of strikes in the ninth and 41st minutes that saw him exploit gaps in the back four with his tremendous speed.
Saturday's brace marked the first time Manneh netted more than one goal in a MLS game since his hat-trick on October 9, 2013 versus Seattle.
CM: Paulo Nagamura, Sporting Kansas City
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At the center of the madness over the final 10 minutes at Sporting Park on Saturday night was midfielder Paulo Nagamura.
In the 87th minute, with his side still in need of a result at home, Nagamura powered a right-footed shot into the net to level the match with Vancouver at three goals apiece.
More than three minutes into stoppage time, Nagamura struck for the winner as he headed a Soni Mustivar cross past Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted.
The late brace marked the first match since March 2009 in which Nagamura scored twice in a MLS contest, per Opta.
CM: Kwadwo Poku, New York City
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After his stellar showing on Thursday night, Kwadwo Poku should start every game for the rest of the season for New York City FC.
Poku brought another dimension to the NYCFC attack that the club was looking for over the last few weeks with Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo in the starting 11. Poku provided a goal and an assist in NYCFC's 3-1 win over D.C. United without Lampard in the squad.
In the 50th minute, Poku found Thomas McNamara in the middle of the box for the club's first goal of the Eastern Conference showdown and he put home NYCFC's third strike after a marauding run through the right side of the box.
AM: Cristian Maidana, Philadelphia Union
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Cristian Maidana was the main catalyst in the Philadelphia attack on Sunday night as he handed out three assists in the 3-3 draw against the Fire.
The Argentinian distributed assists to Fernando Aristeguieta, Fabinho and Sebastien Le Toux during his overall spectacular performance in the final third for Jim Curtin's side.
Thanks to his third-career three-assist game in MLS, Maidana climbed into the league lead in the stat category with 14, which is one ahead of Sporting Kansas City's Benny Feilhaber.
Maidana also finished the match with nine key passes, three shots on target and a game-high of 75 touches.
FW: Obafemi Martins, Seattle Sounders
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Obafemi Martins announced his return to the pitch with a pair of goals in a statement win by the Seattle Sounders over Orlando City.
Martins opened the scoring in the 17th minute following a brilliant team move in tight quarters in the middle of the pitch. In the 62nd minute, the Nigerian displayed a cheeky bit of skill as he chipped the ball to himself and avoided Orlando goalkeeper Tally Hall.
Not only did Martins shine in his first start back from injury, the Sounders as a whole impressed on Sunday, which could be bad news for the rest of the league.
"Welcome to the last ten games of the season," remarked Sounders boss Sigi Schmid after the match, per the club's official Twitter account.
FW: Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy
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A night before Martins flexed his attacking muscle for one of the top teams in the league, Robbie Keane did the same at Toyota Stadium for the LA Galaxy.
Keane equalized the match with FC Dallas in the 51st minute with a wide-open header off a Robbie Rogers cross. Three minutes later, Keane combined with Giovani Dos Santos on a deadly counter to put the Galaxy ahead for good.
"I always want to win, you know? I always want to be successful. I keep saying every year, I always want to better myself every year. This year might be a little bit difficult [to better my numbers from 2014], in terms of I was out for two months [with a groin injury], but if you look at goals per game and assists, it's probably up there with the best I've had," Keane told Scott French of MLSSoccer.com.
Since joining the Galaxy in 2011, Keane has contributed 66 goals and 40 assists in 100 regular-season matches.
FW: Kennedy Igboananike, Chicago Fire
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Kennedy Igboananike popped up in the right place at the right time in two key situations for the Chicago Fire at PPL Park on Sunday night.
In the 10th minute, the Nigerian netted the first strike of the six-goal contest as he connected with a cross from Patrick Nyarko. After returning the favor to Nyarko in the 54th minute, Igboananike placed another vital goal into the back of the net in stoppage time.
With his two goals and assist in the 3-3 draw, Igboananike doubled his season totals in both stat categories.
Bench
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GK: Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
LB: Anthony Wallace (New York Red Bulls)
LB: Robbie Rogers (LA Galaxy)
RM: Patrick Nyarko (Chicago Fire)
CM: Erik Friberg (Seattle Sounders)
LM: Thomas McNamara (New York City FC)
FW: Quincy Amarikwa (San Jose Earthquakes)
Joe Tansey covers MLS for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from MLSSoccer.com and WhoScored.com.
