Mukhtar was named MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire for the second time in a row after scoring a brace in Nashville’s 3-0 win over Austin FC. Mukhtar now has five goals in his past two games and leads the league with 21 goals on the season. His 32 goal contributions (21 goals, 11 assists) are also the highest in MLS, five more than Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi, who has 27. Mukhtar’s 32 accomplishments already tie him for eighth most in a single season in league history. Furthermore, the German midfielder has contributed at least one goal in 12 of his last 13 games, with numerous contributions in six of those. Additionally, Night Mukhtar made Major League Soccer history by becoming only the fourth MLS player to score 12 goals in just one month.
Mukhtar’s 37 goals since the start of 2021 top all MLS players, while his 23 assists rank third beside the New England Revolution’s Carles Gil (31) and FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta (26). The midfielder is the first player since LAFC’s Carlos Vela (76) and the LA Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (79) in 2018-19 to contribute at least 60 goals in a two-year timeframe. Since the start of last season, he has contributed 60 goals, which is 18 more than the next closest player (Valentin Castellanos, 42). During the previous two seasons, the German has scored or assisted on 58.3 per cent of Nashville’s 103 goals. Nashville SC is on a late-season roll in the MLS standings, having won four straight games with at least three goals and scoring at least three times in each of those games.
Each week of the regular season, MLS Communications selects the MLS Player of the Week sponsored by Continental Tire through media and fan voting. A panel of reporters from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) counts for 75% of the vote, with a Twitter fan vote accounting for the remaining 25%. Members of NASR come from print, television, radio, and online media. Anyway, when you contribute to 66% of your team’s goals, I believe we can proclaim you incredibly useful. Without Mukhtar, Nashville just would not be a danger in attack.
Mukhtar started playing football at a young age, first for FC Stern Marienfelde. At the age of seven, he was enrolled on the youth academy of then-Bundesliga club Hertha BSC. He rose through Hertha’s levels and led the club’s U-17 squad to the Championship championship in 2012. The following season, he joined Hertha’s reserves before being called up to the first squad after Israeli international Ben Sahar missed a Yom Kippur match. Mukhtar came in as a replacement for Ronny in the final minute of Hertha’s match against Dynamo Dresden, becoming the club’s second youngest professional début.
