FC Dallas homegrown star Jesus Ferreira is ensuring he’ll have a say in this year's Golden Boot presented by Audi race.
The 21-year-old scored FCD’s lone goal in Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Union, moving him into a tie for second place in 2022’s battle to be Major League Soccer’s top scorer.
Ferreira’s 15th of the year came in the 34th minute, using quick feet to beat Philadelphia center back Jakob Glesnes on the dribble and capitalize on a feed from fellow US men’s national team attacker Paul Arriola.
In the sprint to Decision Day on Oct. 9, here’s the Golden Boot’s top five midway through Week 26:
- 1. Sebastian Driussi (Austin FC): 17g/7a
- T-2. Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas): 15g/5a
- T-2: Brandon Vazquez (FC Cincinnati): 15g/4a
- T-4: Jeremy Ebobisse (San Jose Earthquakes): 14g/2a
- T-4: Hany Mukhtar (Nashville SC): 14g/8a
Ferreira is now three goals off Kenny Cooper and Jason Kreis’ club record for the most goals scored in a season. They netted 18 goals during the 2008 and 1998 Dallas seasons, respectively, and give the Young Designated Player something to strive toward.
“I’m always trying to break records here at the club, it’s the club I watched growing up,” Ferreira said. “To be able to be in the history books for the club that I love and grew up watching would be amazing.”
With Ferreira and Vazquez both at 15 goals, they’re the first two Americans to concurrently hit that mark in a single MLS season since 2017 (Jozy Altidore, C.J. Sapong). And Ferreira himself is nearly at the combined goals total he reached before 2022, totaling 18 across the 2017-21 campaigns.
“Jesús is such a key player for our team, scoring so many goals for us [and] doing a lot of things,” Arriola said of his fellow 2022 MLS All-Star. “I always talk about what he does on and off the ball.”
Non-conference victory
The win kept FC Dallas at third place in the Western Conference table, though they’ve played twice more than those bordering them (Austin FC, Minnesota United FC) while collecting 42 points through 27 matches.
Undefeated in eight games when hosting Philly, they’re also getting hot at the right time (4W-1L-1D in their last six games).
“It boosts our confidence, it proves something we already know that we can play against the top teams and beat them,” midfielder Sebastian Lletget said of the result. “We can use our style of play and show our character.”
