Alejandro Pozuelo just might want to send New York City FC a thank you note.

After all, it was Pozuelo who took advantage of City’s shoddy defense to strike twice for Inter Miami CF in its 3-2 win on Saturday night. Consequently, he was voted the Major League Soccer player of the week, the league announced on Monday.

He added an assist.

It marked Pozuelo’s first multi-goal game in an Inter Miami uniform and his second of the season after scoring two goals for Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire FC (May 28). The 2020 Landon Donovan MLS MVP became the first player in club history to produce at least two goals and one assist in a single match. Pozuelo last did this in his career on April 19, 2019, against Minnesota United FC. With six goals and eight assists on the season, Pozuelo has now recorded at least 14 goal contributions in three of his four MLS seasons.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, Pozuelo played a quick give-and-go with Bryce Duke that resulted in him firing a terrific curling effort from just outside the 18-yard box and past the NYCFC goalkeeper to tie up the match (Watch Here). In the 63rd minute, the Spaniard added an assist when he flicked the ball on with his head to Gonzalo Higuaín, who chipped a pass for Ariel Lassiter to smash the game-tying goal into the net (Watch Here ). With the game even at 2-2 in the 84th minute, Pozuelo darted to a misplaced NYCFC pass and slotted home a near-post finish to complete Inter Miami’s comeback victory (Watch Here).

In his last four games for Miami, Pozuelo has totaled two goals and three assists, helping the Herons to an unbeaten 2-0-2 record. His goal in the 84th minute was the club’s eighth at home in the last 10 minutes of a match, which is tied for the second most in the league. Of his 28 career MLS goals, 21 have come at home, including all six in 2022.

Pozuelo is the third different Miami player to win MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire in 2022, joining forwards Leonardo Campana (Week 6) and Gonzalo Higuaín (Week 23). This is the second time Pozuelo has earned the honor in his career (Week 8 of 2019). Inter Miami is the first team this season to earn three MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire honors. The last time a team had three different players win the award in the same season was in 2021 with the New England Revolution (Adam Buksa, Carles Gil, and Matt Turner) and the San Jose Earthquakes (Cade Cowell, Chris Wondolowski, and Eduardo López).

Miami will look to stretch their unbeaten run to five games when they host Toronto FC – Pozuelo’s former club – at DRV PNK Stadium on Saturday, August 20 (8 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+).

The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week 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.

2022 MLS Player of the Week
Week Player Club
Week 1 Carlos Vela Los Angeles Football Club
Week 2 Lewis Morgan New York Red Bulls
Week 3 Dayne St. Clair Minnesota United FC
Week 4 Jesús Ferreira FC Dallas
Week 5 Javier “Chicharito” Hernández LA Galaxy
Week 6 Leonardo Campana Inter Miami CF
Week 7 Valentín “Taty” Castellanos New York City FC
Week 8 Cristian Espinoza San Jose Earthquakes
Week 9 Kamal Miller CF Montréal
Week 10 Ronaldo Cisneros Atlanta United FC
Week 11 Sebastián Blanco Portland Timbers
Week 12 Jamiro Monteiro San Jose Earthquakes
Week 13 Sebastián Ferreira Houston Dynamo FC
Week 14 Dejan Joveljić LA Galaxy
Week 15 Luquinhas New York Red Bulls
Week 16 Hany Mukhtar Nashville SC
Week 17 Brenner F.C. Cincinnati
Week 18 Taxiarchis “Taxi” Fountas D.C. United
Week 19 Julián Carranza Philadelphia Union
Week 20 Jhon Durán Chicago Fire FC
Week 21 Emanuel Reynoso Minnesota United FC
Week 22 Michael Bradley Toronto FC
Week 23 Gonzalo Higuaín Inter Miami CF
Week 24 Gyasi Zardes Colorado Rapids
Week 25 Alejandro Pozuelo Inter Miami CF

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.