CARSON, Calif. (Monday, June 25, 2012) – LA Galaxy captain Landon Donovan has been selected as the MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters. Donovan played a major role in a pair of impressive wins for the Galaxy last week, scoring twice and adding an assist in the 3-2 win at Real Salt Lake on Wednesday and then scoring one and setting up another in the 3-0 home win over Vancouver on Saturday night. He now has a team-high five goals in the regular season and four assists.
Donovan received 15 first place votes and three second places votes out of a possible 22 to win the award for the first time this season and the 11th time as a member of the Galaxy.
WATCH: Donovan converts PK vs Vancouver
His performance during the two games last week helped the Galaxy jump to fifth place in the Western Conference with a record of 6-8-2 for 20 points. After missing the club’s final two games of May while with the U.S. National Team, Donovan has led the Galaxy to three straight wins to open the month of June, starting with a 1-0 win over Portland on June 17.
On Wednesday, Donovan scored on either side of halftime and set up LA’s equalizer as the Galaxy overcame a 2-0 deficit to claim a 3-2 win at Real Salt Lake. Donovan scored his first of the game in the 29th minute, latching onto poor back pass and rounding Nick Rimando before slotting the ball into the open net to make the score 2-1 going into the half. (WATCH) Just after the break, Donovan set up Mike Magee for an equalizer (WATCH) before scoring the eventual game-winner in the 68th minute, beating Rimando to a Magee through ball and rolling it into the net for his second goal of the game. (WATCH) The win was LA’s first-ever at Rio Tinto Stadium and their first win in a game that they trailed 2-0 in since May 2001.
Donovan followed up that performance with another starring role on Saturday night in a 3-0 home win over Vancouver. With the Galaxy already leading 1-0 through a Mike Magee strike, Donovan set up Robbie Keane to double his team’s lead. (WATCH) Donovan completed the scoring in the 41st minute, converting a penalty kick to give the Galaxy their biggest win of the season. (WATCH) That goal was the 120th of Donovan’s MLS career, making him the third player in MLS history to reach that plateau.
Donovan and the Galaxy will be back in action this Saturday, June 30 when they travel north to face his former club, the MLS-leading San Jose Earthquakes. That game, which will be played at Stanford Stadium, kicks off at 7 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes with a capacity crowd of more than 50,000 is expected. The club will return to The Home Depot Center on Wednesday, July 4 when the club hosts their annual fireworks extravaganza against the Philadelphia Union. That game, which is presented by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by one of the biggest fireworks displays in all of Southern California.
2012 MLS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week 16: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
Weeks 13-15: Patrice Bernier (Montreal Impact)
Week 12: Emilio Rentería (Columbus Crew)
Week 11: Dwayne De Rosario (D.C. United)
Week 10: Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution)
Week 9: Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 8: Steven Lenhart (San Jose Earthquakes)
Week 7: Chris Pontius (D.C. United)
Week 6: Dan Kennedy (Chivas USA)
Week 5: Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)
Week 4: Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)
Week 3: Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)
Week 2: David Estrada (Seattle Sounders)
Week 1: Kalif Alhassan (Portland Timbers)
