Carlos Vela named MLS Player of the Week in opening weekend
The Mexican international scored his third career hat-trick in MLS during Los Angeles FC’s home opener win against Colorado Rapids.
Carlos Vela wants to prove that he can still be the most valuable player in Major League Soccer and win the trophy with LAFC, even though his future with the club is up in the air. The Mexican international talked about the changes that he made during the off season and how great he felt coming into the 2022 MLS campaign.
Outstanding performance from Vela in week 1
Carlos Vela was named week 1 MLS Player of the Week after a perfect performance in LAFC’s season debut. Also, the 32-year-old has now scored 64 goals and provided 38 assists in 91 appearances across all competitions for the Black & Gold since arriving in 2018.
The Los Angeles FC had their home opener at the Banc of California stadium on Saturday against Colorado Rapids and Vela was on point since the beginning of the match. It took him 29 minutes to find the back of the net when he scored from the penalty spot and gave LAFC the lead early in the match.
Before the break, José Cifuentes gave a long ball to Carlos Vela and finished off the breakaway opportunity with his right foot to beat Colorado’s goalkeeper William Yarbrough to make it 2-0 for the Black & Gold. The former 2019 MVP came back in the second half wanting more and further his legacy in MLS.
In the 50th minute Vela ran down the right flank and from inside the box he made a perfect strike with his left foot to the far post to give LAFC the 3-0 victory and the three points. This was his third-MLS career hat-trick and the seventh by a player from LAFC. His last one came against the Rapids on 6 October 2019, when he broke all individual records in the league.