Columbus Crew’s Zelarayan named Player of Matchday 2

Columbus Crew Lucas Zelarayan won the Player of the Matchday 2 prize after scoring a first-half brace to pave the way for his team’s 2-0 win over DC United at Lower.com Field.

What a performance from Lucas Zelarayan. #Crew96 pic.twitter.com/5T3CBXKyqC

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 6, 2023

The 30-year-old Armenian International, playing as a shadow striker in Wilfried Nancy’s 3-4-2-1 formation, connected with attacking partner Cucho Hernandez in the 10th minute before hammering home a perfect through ball from Alexandru Matan just before halftime to put the match to bed.

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This is Zelarayan’s third Player of the Matchday award as he also won 2020 MLS Cup MVP honors for his brace in a 3-0 title-clinching win over the Seattle Sounders.

Zelarayan, in his fourth season in Columbus, has 30 goals and 23 assists, becoming just the eighth player in the club history to reach the 30 goals/20 assist milestone.

Saturday’s output also gave him five multi-goal games, which is the eighth-most in Crew history.

Columbus will look to make it two straight wins on Saturday, March 11 when they face Toronto FC at BMO Field in a Matchday 3 Eastern Conference showdown.