After dominating the New York Red Bulls with a hat trick that accounted for all of his team's goals, LA Galaxy forward Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez is taking home MLS Player of the Week honors for a second straight week to start the 2021 season.
The 32-year-old striker put on a ruthless display in the Galaxy's 3-2 home win over RBNY at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday, striking for goals in the 9th, 41st and 60th minutes. It continued a red-hot start to the 2021 season for Hernandez, who is now the second player in MLS history to score five goals in his team's first two games of the season, joining former Houston Dynamo FC standout Brian Ching.
Hernandez becomes the first player to win Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks since the feat was accomplished by crosstown rival Carlos Vela, who won the award in each of the final two weeks of his MVP season of 2019 for LAFC. He's also the first Galaxy player to strike for a hat trick since Zlatan Ibrahimovic did so in a 7-2 win over Sporting Kansas City on September 15, 2019.
Hernandez got the scoring started before 10 minutes had elapsed on Sunday, running down a deflected shot from teammate Ethan Zubak at the far post and cashing home a sliding finish from point-blank range.
After RBNY equalized courtesy of a goal from Andrew Gutman, Hernandez added his second as the contest approached halftime with a finish off a gorgeous assist from Victor Vazquez that saw the Spaniard find the striker in the box with a longball in between both opposing center backs.
Hernandez then struck for what turned out to the decisive finish right on the hour mark with his prettiest goal of the day. After a cross from Julian Araujo was popped into the air in front of goal, Hernandez pounced for an acrobatic finish to extend the lead to 3-1, which ensured the Galaxy would take a second straight win to start their 2021 campaign.
Hernandez will look to keep it rolling as the Galaxy return to action on Saturday with a Western Conference road matchup against the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field (9 pm ET | FS1, FOX Deportes).
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.
