Ryan Johnson Wins MLS Player of the Week

Saturday was a good day to be a Portland Timbers player. Pretty much everybody has a stellar game. One player in particular, however, was able to turn that good performance everybody else was having into an actual scoreboard result: Ryan Johnson. As such, it appears that MLS decided it was worthy of MLS Player of the Week honors. Big congratulations to him.

I think more important that Ryan Johnson winning it, is the fact that this marks the second week in a row that the Timbers have earned a player of the week. Those who read our site regularly will remember that Will Johnson won it for his performance against the Colorado Rapids. Two wins in a week speaks more to just a one off fluke win, it speaks to consistency. If the Timbers can keep this sort of pace and performance, we could be seeing plenty more Players of the Week in the future.

What do you think of Ryan Johnson winning MLS's PoTW?

Full press release:

PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Timbers forward Ryan Johnson was named Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 6 of the 2013 MLS season, it was announced today.

Johnson, 28, scored twice, recording the first two-goal performance of his MLS career, in the Timbers' 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at JELD-WEN Field. He becomes the third Timbers player to win the NASR's MLS Player of the Week and the second in consecutive weeks; captain Will Johnson received the honor in Week 5 following his two-goal performance against the Colorado Rapids on March 30.

Johnson struck for the opening goal against Houston in the 55th minute. A build-up from the back led midfielder Diego Chara down the right wing and he delivered a pinpoint cross into the box for Johnson at the back post, whereJohnson one-timed his shot from close range. A leading ball from Darlington Nagbe at midfield led Johnson to his second goal of the match in the 73rd minute. Johnson broke in on goal and calmly finished by Hall from the left side of the side of the penalty area, a strike that has been nominated for MLS Goal of the Week for Week 6.

With three goals and one assist, Johnson is Portland's leading scorer through the first five matches of the regular season. He is one of just seven players in MLS with multiple-goal performances this season and is tied for third in the league in goal-scoring.