NEW YORK
(Monday, June 24, 2019)
– Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for the 16
th
week of the 2019 MLS season.
Valeri scored one goal and registered three assists in Portland’s 4-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at Providence Park. On the season Valeri has now scored four goals and is tied for the league lead with 10 assists in 14 matches played. Portland sits in 11
th
place in the Western Conference with 17 points (5-7-2 overall record).
Portland scored its first goal in the 39
th
minute when Valeri sent a long range pass into the box, ultimately leading to a Marvin Loria goal to give the club a 1-0 lead (
watch assist
). Valeri then converted a penalty kick opportunity in the 61
st
minute to push Portland’s lead to 2-0 (
watch goal
).
The Argentine garnered his second assist of the match to give the Timbers a 3-0 lead in the 63
rd
minute when freeing up Brian Fernández behind the defense with a pass from midfield (
watch assist
). Valeri capped his day with a third assist in the 75
th
minute, finding Jeremy Ebobisse on the left side of the box to complete Portland’s dominant performance (
watch assist
). The three assists in one match tie Valeri’s MLS career high which he accomplished previously on three separate occasions.
Portland returns to action on Wednesday when traveling to face the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo (7:30 p.m. ET, TVA Sports / ESPN+), before hosting FC Dallas at Providence Park on Sunday (11 p.m. ET, UniMás / Twitter).
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.
