Esmir Bajraktarević earns Player of the Matchday 9 honors for MLS NEXT Pro

FOXBOROUGH, MA– New England Revolution midfielder Esmir Bajraktarević was named MLS NEXT Pro Player of the Matchday following the Revolution II’s 4-3 comeback victory versus the Philadelphia Union II.

Revolution forward Esmir Bajraktarević (10) is named MLS NEXT Pro Player of the Matchday for week 9! Image Courtesy of MLS NEXT Pro.

New England Revolution midfielder Esmir Bajraktarević obtained the honor of MLS NEXT Pro Player of the Matchday 9 following his offensive display versus Philadelphia Union II on May 21st. Bajraktarević, who played the full 90 minutes finished the match with 9.7 match rating according to Fotmob and was the Man of the Match. Offensively, Esmir had 3 goals on 4 total shots on the night with 71 touches and 9 passes into the final third. The midfielder went 38/51 (75%) on accurate passes throughout the match with 3/5 accuracy on long balls (60%) along with 4/6 (67%) on successful dribbles. Esmir defensively was 1/1 (100%) on tackles won with 5 recoveries. He went 7/12 (58%) on ground duels and was 0/0 (0%) on aerial duels won.

Esmir Bajraktarevic and @NERevolution2 strike first off the set piece! pic.twitter.com/WpbadSEobG

— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) May 21, 2023

That run ?

Esmir Bajraktarevic slots it home for the brace and pulls one back for @NERevolution2. pic.twitter.com/tEelT4DQBK

— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) May 21, 2023

THIS MATCH! ?

Esmir Bajraktarevic completes the comeback with the first hat trick in team history! ? @NERevolution2 pic.twitter.com/IyyFPRk8da

— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) May 21, 2023

With the hat trick, Esmir becomes the first player in New England Revolution II history to score a hat trick as the team came back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3.

The New England Revolution II (5-3-1, 17 pts.) return back to Foxborough, MA as the squad is set to face Columbus Crew II (6-1-1, 20 pts) on Thursday, May 25th at Gillette Stadium at 7:00 p.m. All MLS, MLS NEXT Pro matches will be available through the new MLS Streaming Service on the Apple TV app.