Atlanta United Forward Giorgos Giakoumakis voted MLS Player of the Matchday for Matchday 4

Atlanta United forward Giorgos Giakoumakis was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday for Matchday 4 of the 2024 MLS season.

Giakoumakis scored his first career MLS hat trick as part of Atlanta’s 4-1 victory over the New England Revolution on Saturday, March 9 (Watch Highlights from His Performance Here). The Greek international became the fifth player in club history to score at least three goals in a game and the first to do so since Juanjo Purata on Sept. 10, 2022. With his hat trick, Giakoumakis produced his 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th career goals, becoming 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 now the fourth-most in club history and is trailing only Miguel Almirón and Héctor Villalba (21) by one goal for the second-most.

After Thiago Almada opened the scoring for Atlanta just before halftime, Giakoumakis doubled the advantage from the penalty spot by sending the New England goalkeeper the wrong direction in the 55^th minute (Watch Here). Just five minutes later, Giakoumakis added his second goal of the match, powering home a strong header from Brooks Lennon’s cross (Watch Here). The forward wrapped up his hat trick in spectacular fashion as he controlled a deflected shot from a tight angle and struck his volley into the top corner of the net for a 4-0 Atlanta lead in the 74^th minute (Watch Here).

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. With the award, Giakoumakis becomes the fifth player in club history to be named Player of the Matchday multiple times, along with Thiago Almada (3), Miguel Almirón (3), Ezequiel Barco (2), and Josef Martínez (9).

Atlanta hosts Orlando City SC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, March 17 (7 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, FS1, 92.9 The Game, La Mejor).

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.