Luciano Acosta voted MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire for Matchday 14

FC Cincinnati midfielder Luciano Acosta was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire for Matchday 14 of the 2023 MLS season, the league announced Monday.

Acosta is the second player ever for FC Cincinnati to win MLS Player of the Matchday, joining Brenner, who did so three times in 2022 (Matchdays 17, 30, and 34). The honor marks the third time Acosta has earned the recognition in his career, his first time since Matchday 31 of 2018 while he was with D.C. United.

Acosta scored two goals, the 11th multi-goal performance in club history, as part of FC Cincinnati’s 3-2 victory in the Hell is Real derby against the Columbus Crew on Saturday. With the win, FCC became the third team in MLS history (excluding the shootout era) to begin a season 8-0-0 at home, joining the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes (10 consecutive wins) and 2020 Philadelphia Union (nine consecutive wins). 

The Argentine has now scored five goals in each of the last six seasons and has contributed to 37 goals (15 goals, 22 assists) since the start of 2022. The midfielder’s brace was his first since he scored two goals for D.C. United against Atlanta United on September 2, 2018. 

Since joining FC Cincinnati in 2021, Acosta has produced 54 goal contributions (22 goals, 32 assists), which is tied for the second most in MLS during that span, behind only Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar (76). With five goals now this season, Acosta is the first player in club history to score at least five goals in three different seasons. Since the start of 2017, the Argentine is the only player in the league to produce at least six different seasons with at least five goals scored. 

Cincinnati’s captain has scored in three-straight league games, his second three-game goal streak with FC Cincinnati (April 24 – May 4, 2022: vs LAFC, at TOR, vs TOR). On Saturday at the Colorado Rapids, Acosta could match the club-record goal streak (four-straight games, Brandon Vazquez – 2022). 

The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.