Luciano Acosta continued his dominant offensive streak in D.C. United’s 5-0 win against the Montreal Impact on Saturday night. With one goal and three assists, Acosta sustained his recent run of form that has seen the Argentine score eight goals and add nine assists since Audi Field's opening on July 14, and emerge as the Black-and-Red's primary playmaker.
Acosta opened the scoring against the Impact in the 17th minute, when Yamil Asad slipped a ball in behind the defense and Acosta stepped up and struck the ball into the far corner. He went on to assist three out of the remaining four goals of the night, including two goals for Paul Arriola and one for Wayne Rooney.
“It was incredible," Acosta said after the match. "It was a great effort. We were playing beautiful soccer, it was a beautiful game. We scored some great goals. We had to win this game and we won it.”
Acosta’s efforts helped his team earn a critical three points at home, but it also made him the league leader in assists for 2018 with 16, jumping the Red Bulls' Kaku, Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco, NYCFC's Maximiliano Moralez, and Philadelphia's Borek Dockal for the lead. The Argentine's production rate has taken off in the second half of the season—in the last five games alone, Acosta has four goals and six assists, and he is now just one goal away from becoming only the fifth player in Black-and-Red history to record 10+ goals and assists in a single season.
And he’s not slowing down.
“I do feel like I’m at a great level. I’m playing at a very high level,” Acosta said. “Obviously, there are still things we can improve and there are always things you should think to improve.”
Acosta’s growth has coincided with the team’s growth, and Head Coach Ben Olsen credits part of the midfielder's success to his team giving him better, and more, opportunities to finish off plays. The shift in the Black-and-Red's success has helped change the trajectory of Acosta's development, and as an already-star player with additional potential still to unlock, Acosta is only getting better as the season continues.
“If you look at when he came to the summer, his growth was slow," Olsen said after the Montreal game. "He was growing, but he certainly changed the trajectory of his growth over the last couple months. He’s been a lot of fun to watch.”
