NEW YORK (Monday, September 30, 2024) – New York City FC forward Alonso Martínez was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 35 of the 2024 MLS season.
Martínez scored two goals as part of New York City FC’s 5-1 victory against their cross-city rivals, the New York Red Bulls, which helped them clinch a berth in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs (Watch MLS Wrap-Up Discuss Martínez’s Performance ). The brace was Martínez’s fourth multi-goal game of the season and he has now accumulated 14 goals and three assists in just 1,262 minutes of action for New York City FC. Among all qualifying players (min. five goals), Martínez’s 1.00 goals per 90 minutes average this season ranks second in the league, behind only Inter Miami CF’s Lionel Messi (1.01). New York City’s 5-1 win over the Red Bulls was the club’s largest margin of victory in a Hudson River Derby. By clinching a spot in the postseason with the result, New York City FC has now made the playoffs in eight of their last nine seasons.
After Maxi Moralez opened the scoring in the fifth minute, Martínez doubled the advantage two minutes later as he intercepted a misplaced pass from a Red Bulls midfielder and slotted his right-footed finish into the side netting (Watch Here). With the visitors leading 3-1 in first-half stoppage time, Martínez added his second goal of the night, collecting a cross from Kevin O’Toole, taking one touch, and then volleying his effort past the diving goalkeeper for a 4-1 halftime lead ( Watch Here).
Martínez is the first New York City FC player to be named MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra since Valentín ‘Taty’ Castellanos on Matchday 7 of 2022. Martínez and Nashville SC’s Randall Leal (Matchday 22, 2023) are the only Costa Rican players in the last decade to earn the honor.
New York City FC will continue their chase for a top-four seed and home-field advantage in the Round One Best-of-3 Series on Matchday 36 when they host FC Cincinnati on Wednesday, October 2 at Red Bull Arena (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra 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.
