My choice for Atlanta United’s man of the match following Wednesday’s win against Philadelphia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:
JULIAN GRESSEL
Midfielder
Why? Playing attacking midfielder in place of the injured Miguel Almiron, Gressel scored his fourth goal and notched his ninth assist.
The rookie took a pass from Leandro Gonzalez Pirez in the 28th minute, shook off a tackle from Warren Creavalle, and toe-poked a right-footed shot across the goal and into the lower right corner.
A few minutes later, he hit a diagonal pass that Kevin Kratz smartly dummied, which allowed Josef Martinez to run onto it and hit a left-footed shot for his 18th goal.
With the assist, Gressel moved into second in league history for assists by a rookie. Atlanta’s Clint Mathis holds the record (10).
Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino and midfielder Jeff Larentowicz both said they think Gressel is deserving of the MLS rookie of the year award.
“He totally deserves it,” Martino said. “I thought he played an excellent game tonight. Not just by looking at what he did on the field, but you have to understand what we ask of him as a coaching staff. Today, he did everything exactly how we asked him. I think looking at all of the players who are in their first season of the MLS that he definitely deserves the award. ”
Gressel said it would be a nice individual accomplishment, but he’s more interested in the playoffs and the team advancing as far as it can.
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