2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP earns second career Player of the Month honor
NEW YORK (Friday, June 2, 2023) – Nashville SC midfielder Hany Mukhtar was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Month for May 2023.
Mukhtar led all MLS players with six goals in the month of May and added two assists for eight total contributions, also an MLS-best. Mukhtar had the league’s lone hat trick in the month on May 6 against Chicago Fire FC and had at least one goal contribution in four of the club’s five games in the month of May, while leading Nashville to a 4-0-1 record over the span. Mukhtar contributed to eight of the club’s 11 goals during the month, including the game-winning strikes against Chicago and Charlotte FC (May 20).
The 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP currently leads MLS with 16 goal contributions (nine goals, seven assists) and his nine goals are tied for the second most in the league. With a pair of goals in Nashville SC’s 2-1 victory over Charlotte FC on May 20, Mukhtar became the fifth-fastest player in MLS history to produce at least 50 goals and 30 assists in the regular season, doing so in just his 93rd career game. Since the start of 2022, Mukhtar has contributed to 50 of Nashville’s 74 goals (67.6%), which is the highest percentage for a player contributing to a specific team over a two-season span in league history. The German midfielder is also tied with Dániel Gazdag (five) for the most games with multiple goal contributions this season.
Additionally, Mukhtar helped Nashville win four-straight games at home for the first time in club history and it is currently tied for the second-longest active home winning streak. Due to Mukhtar’s performances, Nashville set a club record for wins (four) and tied their record for points (13) in a single month. Nashville joined FC Cincinnati (5-0-0) and Philadelphia Union (5-0-1) as the only clubs to win at least four games and not suffer a defeat in May.
This is the second time that Mukhtar has been voted MLS Player of the Month after doing so in August 2022. He becomes the first player to win the award in consecutive seasons since Valentín Castellanos for New York City FC in 2020 (August and October/November) and 2021 (October/November). Mukhtar is just the fifth player to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons since the start of 2010, joining Castellanos, Josef Martínez (2017-19), Robbie Keane (2012-13), and Chris Wondolowski (2010-12).
Mukhtar and Nashville SC go on the road to face FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on Matchday 17 on June 3 (8:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass). By scoring one goal against Dallas, Mukhtar would become the first player in club history to score at least 10 goals in three-straight seasons.
MLS Player of the Month is voted upon by a panel of select national media members in a process conducted by MLS Communications.
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