No surprise: Atlanta United striker Giorgos Giakoumakis has won MLS Player of the Matchday honors for Matchday 4 of the 2024 MLS season.
The Greek international scored his first career MLS hat trick in Atlanta’s 4-1 victory over the New England Revolution on Saturday, ensuring a Mercedes-Benz Stadium party before 67,727 fans.
Giakoumakis first scored from the penalty spot (55’), then powered home a header (60’) from Brooks Lennon’s cross. He then wrapped up the scoring barrage with a top-corner volley (74’).
With his hat trick, Giakoumakis became the fifth player in MLS history to record 20 career goals in under 2,000 career minutes, joining Stern John, Josef Martínez, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Mamadou Diallo. Giakoumakis’ 20 goals are also now the fourth-most in club history, trailing only Miguel Almirón and Héctor Villalba (21) by one goal for the second-most.
This is the second time Giakoumakis has been named MLS Player of the Matchday after winning the award for his performance on Matchday 27 of 2023. He had 17g/3a a season ago, finishing as runner-up in the Golden Boot presented by Audi race.
This Sunday, Atlanta will look to win consecutive matches when they host Orlando City SC (7 pm ET | Apple TV - Free).
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday 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 an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
