Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) forward Diego Rossi was voted the Alcatel Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for the second week of the 2018 MLS season.
In LAFC’s second ever match, Rossi dazzled with two goals and three assists, leading his club to a 5-1 victory over Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday. The 20-year-old leads MLS in goals and assists this season, recording three apiece in his two career regular season matches, with Rossi factoring in to every goal in LAFC history thus far. LAFC sits atop the Western Conference standings with six points (2-0-0 record).
A native of Uruguay, Rossi scored in the 30th minute to bring the match level at 1-1 when he found space directly in front of goal, calmly finishing with a right-footed strike.
Rossi then assisted on a pair of goals, first on a Latif Blessing score in the 33rd minute, followed by a Benny Feilhaber meg of goalkeeper Nick Rimando to bring LAFC’s lead to 3-1 in the 47th minute.
Rossi recorded his first career MLS brace in the 81st minute, outpacing the RSL defense in open space and finishing with a shot from the top of the box to push LAFC’s advantage to 4-1.
The young forward put the finishing touches on LAFC's dominant day by splitting the defense with a perfectly placed pass to setup a Carlos Vela goal in the 86th minute. It was only the sixth time in MLS history a player was involved in five goals in a single game for his club.
LAFC returns to action on Saturday, March 31 to face the LA Galaxy at StubHub Center in the first ever matchup between the intracity rivals (8:30 p.m. ET., MLS LIVE).
The Alcatel MLS Player of the Week is chosen each week of the regular season by members of the North American Soccer Reporters. The organization includes print, television, radio and online journalists who cover domestic men's soccer in the United States and Canada. Learn more about the NASR and apply to join at https://www.facebook.com/soccerreporters/.
