MLS
FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta named 2023 Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player
Despite Lionel Messi joining MLS, another Argentine playmaker is the league’s MVP after leading Cincinnati to the Supporters’ Shield for the first time.
FC Cincinnati playmaker Luciano Acosta has been named 2023 Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player, the league has announced via its website and social media channels. Despite joining Inter Miami in July, Lionel Messi wasn’t voted in the top three after doing his best work for The Herons - so far - in the Leagues Cup.
Acosta leads Cincinnati to MLS Supporters’ Shield and Conference final
The Argentine attacking midfield played a pivotal role as The Orange and Blue won the MLS Supporters’ Shield for the first time in their history and navigated their way through the MLS Cup Playoffs to the Eastern Conference final, where they will take on Columbus Crew. Acosta, who joined the club from Liga MX side Atlas in 2021, had a league-high 31 goal contributions, scoring 17 times and assisting another 14 for his teammates.
It is the second individual award FC Cincinnati have won this season, with Pat Noonan named Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year after 20 wins, nine draws and only five defeats in 34 regular season fixtures.
What percentage of the votes did Acosta earn?
Acosta won the players’ award well ahead of LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and Thiago Almada of Atlanta United. The 29-year-old earned 60.37% of the votes, including 82.66% of media votes, 50.96% of votes from fellow players and 47.5% of club votes.
Second-placed Bouanga, who has scored 37 goals in all competitions for LAFC, received 14.97% of all votes (4.05% from the media, 13.37% from players and 27.5% from clubs), comfortably ahead of Almada, who earned 6.46% (1.73% media, 7.64% players and 10% clubs).