35 goals were scored in opening week of the 2022 MLS campaign
It was quite an opening week for the 2022 Major League Soccer regular season and only two matches ended with a scoreless draw.
Major League Soccer is officially back and for the 2022 campaign 28 teams will be fighting to reach the final that is scheduled to be played 16 days before the start of the 2022 World Cup. There were a lot of exciting games during the opening week in MLS that left fans wanting more and a total of 35 goals were scored in week 1.
The Latin American players were the ones who scored more goals (18), followed by the Americans (8) and the Europeans (7). The player with the most goals scored on the opening weekend was the Mexican international Carlos Vela, who scored a hat-trick to give LAFC a 3-0 victory against Colorado Rapids and earn himself the MLS Player of the Week award.
Another player to highlight is Alexandre Pato because he scored his first MLS goal in Orlando City’s 2-0 win against CF Montréal. The Brazilian only played four regular season games last year due to injuries, but he wants to redeem himself in his sophomore year with the Lions.
Latin American players who scored in week 1
Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández (1) - LA Galaxy
Javier ‘Chofis’ López (1) - San Jose Earthquakes
Jáder Obrian (1) - FC Dallas
Dairon Asprilla (1) - Portland Timbers
Yimmi Chará (1) - Portland Timbers
Cecilio Domínguez (2) - Austin FC
Michael Estrada (2) - DC United
Alexandre Pato (1) - Orlando City
Carlos Vela (3) - LAFC
Luiz Araújo (1) - Atlanta United
Sebastián Driussi (1) - Austin FC
Luis Díaz (1) - Columbus Crew
Cory Burke (1) - Philadelphia Union
American players that scored during week 1
Meanwhile, the native players in Major League Soccer were also important for their respective teams during opening weekend. The American players to find the back of the net were Derrick Etienne (1) from Columbus Crew, Omir Fernandez (1) and Tom Barlow (1) from NYRB, Brandon Bye (1) and Sebastian Lletget (1) from NE Revolution, Benji Michel (1) from Orlando City, Dom Dwyer (1) and Caleb Wiley (1) from Atlanta United.
European players that scored during week 1
The European players in MLS also made a statement during the first week. The ones who were able to score in their team's season opener were Robin Lod (1) and Alexander Ring (1) from Austin FC, Miguel Berry (1) and Lucas Zelarayán (1) from Columbus Crew, Patryk Klimala (1) from NYRB, Ola Kamara (1) from DC United and Dániel Sallói (1) from Sporting KC.