We are back for a Matchday 2 edition of How We Voted, again ready to discuss the top performers from another Major League Soccer weekend come and gone. Since this is only the second installment, I'll again provide a refresher at the top: After every round of MLS matches, soccer writers like me – and other members of the North American Soccer Reporters – vote for MLS Player of the Matchday.
There are two ballot spots available so I'm essentially ranking the top two players from the 15 matches played across the entirety of Matchday 2. I'll break down why I chose each player who got my vote, then you can see who officially won Player of the Matchday in the final vote as well as the players who earned spots in the MLS Team of the Matchday.
The HRB Ballot, Matchday 2
1. Tai Baribo, Philadelphia Union
It's hard to not vote for a player who scores a hat trick, though not every hat trick is created equal and there might be a time when I don't vote for a three-goal scorer. That won't be this week, as Philadelphia Union striker Tai Baribo gets my vote after scoring three times in the first half of the Union's big 4-1 home win over FC Cincinnati.
Philadelphia had lowered expectations entering this season after missing the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2024 and parting with longtime Head Coach Jim Curtin while not adding any big-name players to their roster. In came ex-St. Louis City SC coach Bradley Carnell to run things, and so far through two competitive matches, the Union have looked like an unstoppable high-pressing force.
The lopsided win over FC Cincinnati felt especially surprising given how strong Cincinnati usually is defensively, and was driven by the top-tier poacher work of Baribo. Let's not sugar coat it, none of the three Tai Baribo goals would qualify as "bangers" or examples of great individual brilliance, but that's not how you always have to judge a striker. Sometimes strikers stand out because of the timing of their runs, the awareness they display in manipulating defensive lines, and the connections they have with their teammates.
Tai Baribo is off to a ✨ FLYING START ✨#DOOP pic.twitter.com/2HQbgZYuLX
— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) March 2, 2025
Baribo's first goal was a perfect redirection of a perfect cross from left-wingback Kai Wagner, while the Union's No 10 Dániel Gazdag provided assists on Baribo's second and third of the match, each more of the tap-in variety following complete defensive breakdowns by Cincinnati. The quality of the finish was highest on Baribo's first goal, but his and his teammates' runs at the Cincy backline tore that usually-stingy group apart.
Baribo scored twice in the Union's first match of 2025 so the hat trick on Matchday 2 brings him up to five goals, putting him atop the way-too-early MLS Golden Boot standings. It's a historic start to a season, as per MLS, Baribo is now the fourth player in league history to score five goals in the first two games of a season, joining Chicharito Hernández (2021), Ayo Akinola (2020), and Brian Ching (2006).
The Union are one of two Eastern Conference teams (alongside Columbus Crew) to earn two wins in their first two games, and they have Baribo to thank for a lot of that early success – though the team has been creating chances left and right, with three players (Wagner, Quinn Sullivan, and Gazdag) already ranked in the leaguewide Top 10 for most goal-creating actions through two games.
2025 🇺🇸 Major League Soccer Goal-Creating Actions Leaders Jayden Nelson (5) Quinn Sullivan (4) Kai Wagner (4) Martín Ojeda (3) Petar Musa (3) Dániel Gazdag (3) Telasco Segovia (3) Cristian Espinoza (3) https://fbref.com/en/comps/22/gca/Major-League-Soccer-Stats
— FBref (@fbref.com) 2025-03-03T18:01:09.359Z
2. Luis Suárez, Inter Miami CF
Is there some cognitive dissonance to the fact that I voted Vancouver Whitecaps forward Jayden Nelson as Player of the Matchday last week but placed Luis Suárez second on this week's ballot with an identical stat line – one goal, three assists? Yes, but this is an opinion exercise and I gave Baribo the top honor in part because of the competition he faced and the way he ruthlessly picked apart Cincinnati.
Suárez deserves his flowers, though, because he was the Lionel Messi stand-in for Miami's trip to take on Houston Dynamo on the second-ever Sunday Night Soccer primetime broadcast. Yes, Messi was already out of action in Houston, a victim of the dreaded "load management" already here at Matchday 2 with Miami balancing between MLS and Concacaf Champions Cup commitments. The Dynamo felt it necessary to put out an official statement about Messi's absence and offer make-goods to their fans, such is life when the Messi circus comes to town, or is scheduled to come to town.
The three assists were nice teamwork on display from Suárez, but he wasn't really pulling the strings and breaking lines with his passing. One of those assists was more about Tadeo Allende's ridiculous far-corner finish from some distance, the other two leading to well-taken goals by Telasco Segovia.
Suárez's goal, though, was an impressive individual moment of "I've still got it" from the 38-year-old striker. Bad knees and all, Suárez dribbles his way smoothly through that Dynamo defense and powers his finish into the roof of a helpless Andrew Tarbell's goal.
One of the best strikers ever! 💥
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 3, 2025
Luis Suarez cuts up the defense for his first goal of the season. pic.twitter.com/0Z7XnnnxZm
It made it a 0-4 lead for visiting Inter Miami and was an exclamation point atop an excellent second game for Suárez, after his only notable involvement vs. NYCFC on Matchday 1 involved grabbing Birk Risa's neck and earning himself a fine.
Oliver Strand
Official Player of the Matchday: Tai Baribo
It only took two weeks for my ballot and the official results of the MLS Player of the Matchday voting to converge, and here we are. MLS says this is Baribo's second time as Player of the Matchday, making him the fourth Union player to earn this honor multiple times.
Official MLS Team of the Matchday
Starters: Chris Brady (CHI) - Ryan Hollingshead (LAFC), Michael Boxall (MIN), Mohamed Farsi (CLB) - Wilfried Zaha (CLT), Emil Forsberg (RBNY), César Araújo (ORL), Telasco Segovia (MIA) - Brian White (VAN), Tai Baribo (PHI), Luis Suárez (MIA)
Coach: Bradley Carnell (PHI)
Bench: James Pantemis (POR), Alex Freeman (ORL), Jeppe Tverskov (SD), Quinn Sullivan (PHI), David Da Costa (POR), Kelvin Yeboah (MIN), Rafael Navarro (COL), Petar Musa (DAL), Hugo Cuypers (CHI)
Ryan Hollingshead only entered that LAFC win over New York City FC in the 62nd minute, but that was plenty of time for him to be left unmarked and alone at the back post to score that 86th-minute winner, and thus it was enough game time to earn him a spot in the Starting XI of Team of the Matchday. Eight starters and the Coach all hail from the Eastern Conference, so a big Matchday for this side of the league.
