FC Dallas striker Tesho Akindele has been voted MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Writers for Week 23 in the 2014 MLS season. Akindele scored a hat trick in Dallas' 5-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday August 16th.
Akindele scored goals in the 43rd, 58th and 87th minutes. His first came after a bit of fancy footwork on the edge of the San Jose box before he turned and scuffed a shot into the far corner. Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch was caught off of his line and the accuracy of Akindele's shot, which caromed in off of the post, was good enough to beat him.
His second came after some very nice work from fellow forward Fabian Castillo, who went on a mazy run which saw him outfox four San Jose defenders before his shot from the corner of the box was saved by Busch. It was hit with pace, but straight at the keeper, who should have held on to the ball. Instead, Akindele pounced. The striker had not given up on the play and he raced into the box, beating both Busch and Earthquakes' defender Brandon Barklage to the ball and finishing coolly past Busch.
The third was the pick of the bunch in this writer's opinion. Michel sent in an out swinging corner that Blaz Perez was the first to reach. His rocket header towards the corner was well kept out by Busch, but the rebound bounced straight to Akindele on the edge of the six yard box, and he rifled the ball into the top corner of the net.
It was a superb showing from the striker, who showed true poacher's instincts to score all three goals. The 22-year-old has seven goals in his rookie season over 16 league appearances. If he continues to show these instincts, he could well prove to be one of the best finishers in the league.