There was no shortage of scoring in MLS fantasy over the weekend with four different games that finished with four goals or more. Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sacha Kljestan led the way for the New York Red Bulls in another convincing win over rivals New York City FC but it was Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco and Montreal’s Didier Drogba who stole the spotlight with a couple of outstanding performances. Here is a quick recap of the top individual fantasy performances by position in MLS fantasy from this past weekend.
GK: Joe Willis, Houston; David Ousted, Vancouver
There were four clean sheet victories recorded in MLS fantasy over the weekend and the top fantasy goalkeeper honors were split with Houston’s Joe Willis and Vancouver’s David Ousted posting identical scores in a 0-0 draw. Both goalkeepers recorded four saves to shut the door in the scoreless tie and that resulted in better MLS fantasy numbers than New England’s Bobby Shuttleworth and Sporting Kansas City’s Tim Melia recorded with clean sheet victories in which they didn’t need to make a single save. On the year, Vancouver has now allowed 35 goals in 22 games.
Honorable Mention: Bobby Shuttleworth, New England; Tim Melia, Sporting Kansas City
D: Saad Abdul-Salaam, Sporting Kansas City
Abdul-Salaam was one of a handful of MLS defenders to find the score sheet over the weekend but the difference was the fact that he also helped his team secure the clean sheet victory while drawing a couple of fouls in a 3-0 win over Seattle. New England’s Chris Tierney and Red Bulls’ defender Ronald Zubar both earned honorable mention for strong fantasy performances at their positions. Sporting KC continues to be a decent defensive team as they’ve allowed just 25 goals in 23 games this season.
Honorable Mention: Chris Tierney, New England; Ronald Zubar, New York Red Bulls
M: Sacha Kljestan, New York Red Bulls
Bradley Wright-Phillips recorded the double for the Red Bulls in their lopsided win over New York City FC but it was Kljestan that finished with three points to earn top fantasy honors at his position over the weekend. Kljestan got on the board with a penalty kick goal in the 41st minute and had two assists for a three-point effort to lead all MLS midfielders over the weekend. The Red Bulls have been an offensive juggernaut all season long. They have now scored 36 goals in 22 games, which is the most in the Eastern Conference to date.
M: Dom Dwyer, Sporting Kansas City
Dwyer registered six shots in total and found the back of the net twice including the game-winning goal in Sporting KC’s 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders. It was a solid effort from the SKC midfielder and in most weeks it would have been enough to clinch the top fantasy honors at his position.
Honorable Mention: Je-Vaughn Watson, New England; Marco Delgado, Toronto FC; Tony Tchani, Columbus
F: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC
Sebastian Giovinco ended his goal drought in epic fashion over the weekend as he delivered an absolutely dazzling performance in a 4-1 win over DC United. Giovinco scored three goals on seven shots and in the process just barely edged out Didier Drogba of the Montreal Impact for top overall fantasy honors regardless of position. Goals have been hard to come by for Toronto this season. They have totaled 25 in 20 games this season, which is the eighth-most in Eastern Conference. They’ll have to do better if they want to climb the standings.
F: Didier Drogba, Montreal
Drogba would have earned the highest overall fantasy score on most nights but his hat trick wasn’t enough this past weekend as he finished with one fewer shot on goal than Giovinco recorded for TFC. Drogba still finished with a hat trick on six total shots as he paced the Impact to a dominant 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Union. Drogba also bumped Red Bulls forward Wright-Phillips to an honorable mention even though the latter clearly would have made this spot most weeks after recording a double in a win over rivals NYCFC.
Honorable Mention: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls; Chris Wondolowski, San Jose; Cyle Larin, Orlando
