Portland Timbers forward Jeremy Ebobisse was voted the MLS Player of the Week for Week 16 after tallying a brace that included a highlight-reel free-kick golazo in Portland's 6-3 rout of the LA Galaxy on Wednesday..
Ebobisse scored two goals in the same match for the second time in his MLS career, giving him seven goals and two assists on the season, which leaves him tied for seventh in the race to the Golden Boot presented by Audi.
Ebobisse got his first goal of the match with his team already up 1-0 in the 23rd minute after lining up over a free kick from just outside the area. The 23-year-old unleashed a powerful left-footed strike that went over the wall and into the net to push the lead to 2-0. Remarkably, it was his first-ever direct free-kick attempt that gave him his 21st career MLS goal.
Ebobisse got his second of the night in the 80th minute when he finished off a nifty sequence that saw him combine with teammates Eryk Williamson and Jorge Villafana for Portland's final goal of the night. With the emphatic victory, the Timbers are now 8-4-3 and at 27 points through 15 matches, good for second place in the Western Conference.
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.
