FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta named MLS MVP

Acosta was the top scoring contributor with 17 goals and 14 assists in 32 regular season appearances for Cincinnati, which won the Supporters’ Shield with the best record (20-5-9, 69 points) and is one step from its first appearance in the final.

Cincinnati will welcome the Columbus Crew to TQL Stadium on Saturday in the Eastern Conference final. The winner will host reigning champion LAFC or the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup on Dec. 9.

Ben Olsen shook up a ‘nice, comfortable life’ in D.C. He’s glad he did.

Cincinnati was the worst team in the league in each of its first three seasons before qualifying for the playoffs last year. Since joining the club in 2021, Acosta has 34 goals and 43 assists in 93 regular season appearances.

The 5-foot-3, 135-pound midfielder arrived in MLS at 21, joining D.C. in 2016 on loan from Argentine club Boca Juniors. After that promising first season, United acquired him on a permanent transfer.

He remained an inconsistent performer until 2018, when he forged a lethal partnership with English striker Wayne Rooney and earned Best XI all-league honors with 10 goals and 17 assists.

After a transfer to French power Paris Saint-Germain failed to materialize, Acosta struggled in 2019. His contract expired, and he signed with Mexican club Atlas for 14 unremarkable months.

With Acosta seeking to return to MLS, Cincinnati acquired his league rights from United for a modest fee ($250,000 in general allocation money and financial incentives). United has not advanced to the playoffs since Acosta and Rooney departed after the 2019 season.

Acosta is the 10th consecutive foreign-born player to win MLS’s top award. The most recent American winner was Chicago Fire forward Mike Magee in 2013.

Two others from Cincinnati won awards: Pat Noonan (coach) and Matt Miazga (defender). Bouanga won the Golden Boot for most goals (18), and the 22-year-old Almada, a member of Argentina’s World Cup championship squad last year, was named top young player.

St. Louis’s Roman Bürki won goalkeeper of the year honors, and Atlanta’s Giorgos Giakoumakis (17 goals) beat out Lionel Messi, Inter Miami’s celebrated midseason signing, for newcomer of the year.

Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido, who missed the 2022 season with a knee injury, was voted comeback player of the year after recording 14 goals and three assists.