The rich got richer this round, as BL4CKnRED‘s 146 points set the pace for the league, and helped grow their overall lead to 61 points.
Positional Leaders
Goalkeepers
Matt Freese (NYC, $6.0) kept one clean sheet on the way to a position-leading 14 points. Not far behind him were Drake Callender, (MIA, $6.9) with a clean sheet and 13 points, and Dayne St. Clair (MIN, $8.6) with a clean sheet and 12. For DCU, Alex Bono ($7.0) scored 9 points.
Defenders
Brayan Vera (RSL, $7.7) tallied a goal, an assist, and a clean sheet for 23 points, leading the defenders. On his heels were Jordi Alba (MIA, $10.1), with two clean sheets, and Kai Wagner (PHI, $10.7), with three assists, who scored 22 points each. The United defense was led by Andy Najar ($5.5) with 10 points, followed by Steven Birnbaum ($6.3) with 9, the duo of Brendan Hines-Ike ($4.9) and Eric Davis ($7.5) with 8, Ruan ($7.7) with 4, and both Derrick Williams ($5.9) and Pedro Santos ($8.1) with 1.
Midfielders
Minnesota’s Emanuel Reynoso ($11.0) combined two goals with an assist on the way to 24 points, leading the midfielders and all players. Ryan Gauld (VAN, $13.1) paired a goal with an assist on the way to 20 points, while Cristian Espinoza (SJ, $12.9) had an assist and 16 points. The D.C. midfield featured Mateusz Klich ($7.9) and Ted Ku-Dipietro ($5.4) with 9 points each, Chris Durkin ($5.9) with 5, and both Russell Canouse ($6.0) and Gabriel Pirani ($7.4) with 4.
Forwards
Cucho Hernandez (CLB, $11.5) scored a hat trick and 23 points, leading the forwards well ahead of DCU’s Christian Benteke ($7.3), added an assist to his two goals for 17 points. Minnesota’s Teemu Pukki ($8.9) rounded out the top three with 15 points on two goals. The other scoring United forward was Cristian Dajome ($4.4) with 2 points.
Looking Ahead
This next round will cover the next two weekends. Nashville is on bye, while St. Louis, New England, LAFC, Miami, DCU, San Jose, the Galaxy, Portland, Kansas City, and Minnesota play twice. In goal, I’m looking really hard at Earl Edwards (NE, $5.6), whose low salary and games @ Minnesota and @ Colorado are enticing. I like San Jose teammates, Rodrigues ($10.0) in defense, and Cristian Espinoza in the midfield, @ DCU and vs. RSL, and Denis Bouanga ($11.6) looks good @ Portland and vs. the Galaxy.