Atlanta United have been looking for a spark in 2019, and Ezequiel Barco seems to be the player supplying it.
The Argentine attacker was named MLS Player of the Week for Week 10 of the 2019 regular season after registering a goal and an assist in a 3-0 road win over Sporting KC on Sunday. It is Barco's second Player of the Week award this season, joining Carlos Vela as the only players to have won multiple Player of the Week awards in 2019.
In Sunday's win, Barco hit a shot in the 39th minute from distance that required a save from Tim Melia, with Atlanta teammate Josef Martinez following up on the rebound to open the scoring. Barco doubled the lead with another shot from distance that nestled in the side netting in the second half, before setting up Martinez's second goal of the game on a counterattack in the 76th minute.
In his second season in MLS, Barco appears to be taking on a more assured role for the Five Stripes. The 20 year old has already matched his 2018 goals total (4) and Atlanta have gotten a result in each of the three games he's scored in this season. After getting off to a slow start following their 2018 MLS Cup triumph, ATLUTD are sitting just a point below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference at present.
Barco will next be joining Argentina's Under-20 national team ahead of the 2019 FIFA World Cup later this month (May 23-June 15).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week 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 a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
