MLS Team of the Week: Larin, Villa Star After Scoring Outburst at Yankee Stadium
Just a few weeks after we witnessed a scoring duel between two high-profile sides at Yankee Stadium, we were treated to another eight-goal outburst at the home of New York City FC on Sunday.
In the 5-3 NYCFC win, one current superstar was outdueled by a rising star who should take home the Rookie of the Year award. David Villa netted two strikes for the hosts, while Cyle Larin scored a hat-trick for visiting Orlando City.
Elsewhere across Major League Soccer, a few young stars rose to the occasion to power their respective sides to the victory and a pair of powerful center backs scored vital goals.
Since we saw solid performances from every position on the pitch in Week 21, we opted to keep things traditional and shape our MLS Team of the Week in a 4-4-2.
Continue reading to see which 11 players were named to our latest MLS Team of the Week.
GK: Jeff Attinella, Real Salt Lake
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In what is arguably the most heated rivalry around in MLS, Jeff Attinella helped Real Salt Lake preserve a key victory over the hated Sporting Kansas City on Friday night.
The RSL backup, who was filling in for Nick Rimando while he was at the Gold Cup, made five saves in the 2-1 win at Rio Tinto Stadium. Two of the denials came against Jacob Peterson during crucial stretches of the game.
With the game level at one goal each in the 65th minute, Attinella came off his line and deflected Peterson's shot from close range over the net. Eleven minutes later, the RSL goalkeeper raced to the right post to knock away Peterson's potential equalizer.
The big win for RSL set the tone for August 12, when the two sides will meet in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal at Sporting Park.
RB: Chris Korb, D.C. United
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Chris Korb produced two assists from the right wing during D.C. United's come-from-behind win over Philadelphia on Sunday night at RFK Stadium.
With his side down by two, Korb delivered a strong cross to the foot of Alvaro Saborio, who netted his first goal in Black and Red in the 37th minute.
After Nick DeLeon netted the equalizer in the 66th minute, Korb found Fabian Espindola in the box in the 79th minute to create the game-winning goal.
The win pushed D.C. into a tie with FC Dallas on points at the top of the Supporters' Shield standings. FC Dallas has the edge currently on a tiebreaker.
CB: Kendall Waston, Vancouver Whitecaps
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The Vancouver Whitecaps closed out the weekend with a 3-1 win over San Jose at BC Place. Center back Kendall Waston notched the second tally of the match for Carl Robinson's side in the 32nd minute.
The Costa Rican, who is known for his presence in the air, leaped over Victor Bernardez and nodded home Mauro Rosales' corner kick to hand the Whitecaps a two-goal advantage in front of the home crowd.
Waston won a total of six aerial duels in the victory and made five clearances for the second-place side in the Western Conference.
CB: Laurent Ciman, Montreal Impact
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Montreal took three points at home against Seattle on Saturday thanks to the head of Laurent Ciman.
The Belgian center back, who impressed at the back as well, headed home Marco Donadel's free-kick in the 88th minute to hand the Impact a big result over the depleted Sounders at Stade Saputo.
The goal was the second of the season for Ciman, who also contributed five clearances and four interceptions while holding the Sounders to zero shots on target.
LB: Christian Dean, Vancouver Whitecaps
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Christian Dean put together an impressive 90 minutes on the left side of defense in Vancouver's victory over the Earthquakes.
The 22-year-old made six tackles, two interceptions and a pair of clearances in his side's 11th win of the 2015 campaign.
He was part of a back four that held San Jose to three shots on goal and diminished the influence of Matias Perez Garcia and Chris Wondolowski, who both struggled to gain a foothold in attack.
RM: Michael Barrios, FC Dallas
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FC Dallas is used to seeing its young talent thrive week in and week out, but on Saturday the club received more than it usually does in the 4-1 win over Portland.
Michael Barrios netted the first two goals at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night in a match that helped solidify the Hoops' status as one of the teams to beat in the Western Conference.
In the 12th minute, Barrios fired his shot into a small pocket of space on the right side of the goal. Ten minutes later, the 24-year-old nailed a shot off a defender and past Portland goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey.
Over the last four weeks, Barrios has netted three goals in 274 minutes for Oscar Pareja's team.
CM: Kellyn Acosta, FC Dallas
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While we're on the topic of FC Dallas youngsters, let's discuss the recent output of United States U20 international Kellyn Acosta.
After scoring his first career goal against D.C. a week ago, Acosta used a brilliant individual effort to cut through the Portland defense and net FC Dallas' third goal of the match.
The defensive midfielder also racked up 51 touches and two tackles for a FC Dallas side that has won five straight matches and has showed no signs of slowing down.
CM: Kwadwo Poku, New York City FC
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In his third start of the season, Kwadwo Poku provided New York City FC with three assists in a 23-minute span in the second half.
The powerful midfielder's first two assists came on similar plays as he received a pass from Andrea Pirlo on both occasions before surging forward. In the 67th minute, he found David Villa, while in the 71st minute he dished the ball over to Tommy McNamara.
Poku's final assist of the match came in stoppage time as NYCFC looked to close out the game. After an Orlando City set piece, Poku, Villa and Mix Diskerud sprung a counter down the pitch. Poku eventually dumped the ball to Diskerud, who sealed the 5-3 result at Yankee Stadium.
LM: Brad Davis, Houston Dynamo
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Brad Davis' trademark left foot helped Houston get off to a hot start on Saturday in its 3-0 victory over the LA Galaxy at BBVA Compass Stadium.
In the ninth minute, the United States international curled in a terrific ball from the left to feed Will Bruin for Houston's first strike of the night. In the 27th minute, Davis lashed a shot into the back of the net to hand the Dynamo a crucial early two-goal lead against the defending champion.
The 33-year-old totaled four shots on target and four key passes as Houston earned its seventh win of the year.
FW: Cyle Larin, Orlando City
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Cyle Larin scored his first professional-career hat-trick in the wild eight-goal affair at Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Canada international used his physical nature to earn space in the 50th minute to score the Lions' first goal. He then netted goals in the 61st and 85th minutes in Orlando's attempt to level the match during the high-flying second half.
Despite the 5-3 loss for the Lions, Larin proved that he is ready to be the man up top for Orlando as it searches for a playoff berth in its expansion season.
FW: David Villa, New York City FC
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David Villa started the rampage of scoring at Yankee Stadium with a nice bit of skill right before halftime to put New York City FC in the lead.
As the wild second half went on, the Spaniard was able to add a second to his tally in the 67th minute on a deflected shot from the just outside the top of the penalty area.
Villa left the field with six shots to his name and a well-deserved win in Andrea Pirlo's first contest in sky blue.
Bench
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GK: Tyler Deric (Houston Dynamo)
LB: Chris Tierney (New England Revolution)
RM: Ethan Finlay (Columbus Crew)
CM: Razvan Cocis (Chicago Fire)
CM: Nathan Sturgis (Houston Dynamo)
CM: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)
FW: Fabian Espindola (D.C. United)
Joe Tansey covers MLS for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from MLSSoccer.com and WhoScored.com.
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