NEW YORK (Monday, April 22, 2024) – Real Salt Lake forward Cristian Arango was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday for Matchday 10 of the 2024 MLS season.
Arango scored two goals and added two assists in Real Salt Lake’s 4-0 road victory over Chicago Fire FC (Watch MLS Wrap-Up Discuss Arango’s Performance Here). The Colombian forward became the first player in club history to produce at least two goals and two assists in a regular-season match. The only other Salt Lake player to record four goal contributions in a regular-season game was Javier Morales (three goals, one assist) on May 11, 2014. Arango currently leads the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race with eight goals and also has the most goal contributions in the league (14). The four-goal road victory for Salt Lake marked the first time since August 25, 2018 at Colorado that the club scored four or more goals away from America First Field.
Salt Lake took the lead in the 24th minute as Arango sprung the attack with a diagonal ball to Alexandros Katranis who found 21-year-old Andrés Gómez at the top of the box, and the young winger placed his finish in the bottom corner (Watch Here). Arango doubled the advantage in the 33rd minute when he pounced on a Chicago giveaway and slotted home his shot through the goalkeeper’s legs (Watch Here). The visitors added a third goal four minutes later through an intricate set piece as Arango peeled off multiple defenders and headed home the third goal off the corner kick (Watch Here). In second-half stoppage time, Arango logged his second assist by finding Diego Luna on the counterattack, who did the rest with a right-footed shot to complete the 4-0 victory (Watch Here).
This marks the second time Arango has earned MLS Player of the Matchday honors this season after taking home the award for his performance on Matchday 7. Arango is the first Salt Lake player to earn two Player of the Matchday awards within the first 10 Matchdays of a season since Nick Rimando in 2014 (Matchdays 1 and 7). Since the start of 2021, Arango is one of four players to win the award at least four different times, joining Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar (seven), Philadelphia’s Julían Carranza (four), and Seattle’s Raúl Ruidíaz (four).
Salt Lake will look to extend their five-game unbeaten run this Saturday, April 27 (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV) when they travel to face the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park for the first time since 2018.
The MLS Player of the Matchday 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 an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
2024 MLS Player of the Matchday Winners
Matchday
Player
Club
Matchdays 1 and 2
Christian Benteke
D.C. United
Matchday 3
Luis Suárez
Inter Miami CF
Matchday 4
Giorgos Giakoumakis
Atlanta United
Matchday 5
Luis Suárez
Inter Miami CF
Matchday 6
Lewis Morgan
New York Red Bulls
Matchday 7
Cristian Arango
Real Salt Lake
Matchday 8
Raúl Ruidíaz
Seattle Sounders FC
Matchday 9
Lionel Messi
Inter Miami CF
Matchday 10
Cristian Arango
Real Salt Lake
