Montreal Impact Midfielder Lassi Lappalainen Voted MLS Player of the Week

Montreal Impact Midfielder Lassi Lappalainen
Voted MLS Player of the Week
NEW YORK
(Monday, July 29, 2019)
– Montreal Impact midfielder Lassi Lappalainen was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for the 21
^st
week of the 2019 MLS season.
After arriving to Montreal on Thursday via loan from Seria A club Bologna, Lappalainen had an immediate impact in his MLS debut, scoring two goals to lead the Impact to a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union at Stade Saputo on Saturday. Montreal sits sixth in the Eastern Conference with 33 points (10-11-3 overall record).  
A member of the Finland National Team, Lappalainen scored four minutes into his Impact debut. After collecting a pass in the box from Zachary Brault-Guillard, Lappalainen fooled the goalkeeper with a deft touch and cutback, finishing with an open shot into the net to give Montreal an early 1-0 lead (
watch goal
).
Entering the half with a two-goal lead, Lappalainen then scored his second goal of the match in the 46
^th
minute to give Montreal a 3-0 advantage. The 20-year-old dispossessed a Philadelphia defender at midfield and dribbled down the left flank into the box before finishing with a right-footed shot just inside the far post to cap a tremendous debut (
watch goal
).
Montreal returns to regular season action when facing the Colorado Rapids at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park on Saturday, August 3 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN+ / TVAS).  
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week 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 a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.