The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) has named Fredy Montero MLS Player of the Week. Montero's brace helped to fire the Sounders past bitter rivals the Portland Timbers on Sunday. Montero has won the MLS Player of the Week award twice before, most recently in August of 2010.
In a game that needed a big performance to separate the sides, Montero came up huge for Seattle. Montero's driven free-kick from 27 yards out just shy of the hour mark leveled terms at 1-1 and a perfectly timed run put him in position to tap Mauro Rosales' cross to make it 2-2 in the 74th minute. Montero was a handful for the Timbers defense all day, creating several dangerous chances for teammates and just missing a few others of his own.
It's been a frustrating season at times for Montero; the 23-year-old Designated Player missed three games due to injury and was benched by coach Sigi Schmid just prior to the halfway point due to his poor goal-scoring form. He's enjoyed a resurgence of late however, with his performances since returning from his benching reminiscent of his second-half awakening in the 2010 season.