A pair of star strikers stole the show in the MLS over the weekend with a pair of hat tricks that set the tone for the weekend. There was certainly plenty of scoring across the board but a handful of goalkeepers stood tall and delivered clean sheets with one in particular doing an excellent job in a lopsided victory for his team at home. Here is a look at the top individual MLS fantasy performances by position from this past weekend.
GK: Luis Robles, New York Red Bulls
Robles was one of four MLS goalkeepers that recorded clean sheets over the weekend and while the Red Bulls would have been just fine had he allowed a goal his final fantasy score was clearly the most impressive of the weekend. Robles stopped all seven shots he faced to preserve the clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over Toronto FC as New York moved in to a tie for second in the Eastern Conference standings following its third straight win.
Honorable Mention: Bill Hamid, DC United; Chris Seitz, FC Dallas; David Bingham, San Jose
D: Taylor Kemp, DC United
DC United was the lone other team to record a clean sheet victory over the weekend and Kemp was instrumental in the 1-0 win over Sporting KC. Kemp assisted on Alhaji Kamara’s game-winning goal and was instrumental in keeping Sporting KC off the scoreboard at the other end of the pitch in a close win in which he delivered the best MLS fantasy score of the weekend at his position.
Honorable Mention: DaMarcus Beasley, Houston; Frederic Brillant, New York City FC
M: Lee Nguyen, New England
Nguyen opened the scoring for the Revolution on a penalty kick in the 24th minute and then assisted on the eventual game-winning goal by Femi Hollinger-Janzen in the 80th minute to help New England clinch an important three points. Nguyen also had three shots on goal in the 2-1 win over Seattle to complete the best MLS fantasy performance of the weekend at his position. New England is now in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and that’s mostly because they can’t stop their opponents from scoring. The 25 goals that they’ve allowed this season are the second-most in the East.
M: Sash Kljestan, New York Red Bulls
Bradley-Wright Phillips was the star of the Red Bulls’ lopsided win over Toronto but Kljestan certainly played an integral role as well with a pair of assists in the victory. Kljestan added to his impressive point total to begin the year as he now sits at two goals and eight assists in 14 games this season. As for the Red Bulls, they have scored 24 goals in 14 games this year, which is the most in the Eastern Conference.
Honorable mention: Luke Mulholland, Real Salt Lake; Kevin Molino, Orlando City SC
F: Ola Kamara, Columbus
It took a monster performance from a Columbus forward to bump Wright-Phillips out of the top spot over the weekend as Kamara delivered the best MLS fantasy score regardless of position over the weekend. Kamara’s hat trick was hard earned as he fired a total of 10 shots on target in the 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake including the eventual game-winning goal in the 74th minute that stood as the difference in the win over Real Salt Lake. Columbus is in second-last place in the Eastern Conference.
F: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls
It didn’t take long for Wright-Phillips to get on the score sheet with a goal in just the fourth minute of play versus Toronto FC and it was a sign of things to come as he scored twice more in the 25th and 27th minutes to seal the victory. His three goals came on as many shots on target and raised his goal total to eight in 14 games this season. The Red Bulls now have 19 points on the season, which puts them one shy of Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference standings.
Honorable Mention: Joao Plata, Real Salt Lake; David Villa, New York City FC; Ignacio Piatti, Montreal
