Cover Photo: Anders Saling
November 27, 2023 (Cincinnati, OH) – FC Cincinnati midfielder Luciano Acosta named the 2023 Landon Donovan MLS MVP on Monday.
2023 Landon Donovan MLS MVP Vote Percentages (%)
| Player Vote | Media Vote | Club Vote | Average Vote | |
| Luciano Acosta (CIN) | 50.96% | 82.66% | 47.5% | 60.37% |
| Denis Bouanga (LAFC) | 13.38% | 4.05% | 27.5% | 14.97% |
| Thiago Almada (ATL) | 7.64% | 1.73% | 10.0% | 6.46% |
Luciano Acosta named the MLS Most Valuable Player for the first time in club history. Acosta finished second in Major League Soccer in goals (17), fourth in assists (14) – that combination good for first in goal contributions in all of the league (31). Acosta directly contributed to half of all goals scored by FC Cincinnati during the regular season (62).
Acosta became the sixth player in league history to record three or more season with 10+ goals and 10+ assists, and led FC Cincinnati to winning their first ever Supporters’ Shield trophy. Acosta led the league with 10 league matches with 2+ goal contributions this season.
Acosta’s MVP award joins a multitude of awards won by FC Cincinnati players for the 2023 season – MLS Defender of the Year (Matt Miazga), Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year (Pat Noonan), MLS Save of the Year (Roman Celentano), and MLS Goal of the Year (Luciano Acosta).
By The Numbers (Stats from OptaAnalyst)
Luciano Acosta ended in the 98th percentile for attack contribution – non-penalty shots + open play chances created. Out of the seven players ahead of him, only Almada played more minutes.
Luciano Acosta ended third in all of MLS in chances created per 90 2.45, only behind Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna (2.70) and Minnesota United’s Emmanuel Reynoso (2.70). Both Luna and Reynoso played about half the minutes Acosta did (2612), with Luna Reynoso logging 1201 and 1369 minutes respectively.
Luciano Acosta recorded 5 carries that resulted in assists this season, second best in all of MLS behind Columbus’ Alexandru Matan (7).
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