As if there was ever any doubt, Cucho Hernández is back.
After overcoming a back injury, the Columbus Crew's star striker scored for his third-straight game, netting a hat trick in Saturday's comfortable 4-0 win over Sporting Kansas City. The Colombian's outburst brought him to nine goals on the season and five in his last three matches.
While Real Salt Lake’s Cristian "Chicho" Arango's 16 goals may be well on top of the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race, Hernández is back in form and making a midseason chase for the title.
He also made a bit of history, becoming the fifth active MLS player to record at least three hat tricks in his career - all three of which came in his last 20 regular season games.
Cucho erupted for 16 goals and 11 assists last year and earned MLS Cup 2023 Most Valuable Player presented by Audi honors as his game-opening penalty kick sparked a 2-1 Crew win over LAFC.
MLS 2024 Golden Boot presented by Audi race
1. Cristian Arango - Real Salt Lake, 16 goals, 10 assists
2. Christian Benteke - D.C. United, 14 goals, 2 assists
3. Denis Bouanga - LAFC,13 goals, 8 assists
4. Lionel Messi - Inter Miami CF, 12 goals, 13 assists
5. Luis Suarez - Inter Miami CF, 12 goals, 5 assists
6. Dejan Joveljic - LA Galaxy, 11 goals, 5 assists
7. Rafael Navarro - Colorado Rapids, 11 goals, 3 assists
8. Andrés Goméz - Real Salt Lake, 10 goals, 7 assists
9. Dániel Gazdag - Philadelphia Union, 10 goals, 1 assist
10. Luciano Acosta - FC Cincinnati, 9 goals, 15 assists
11. Djordje Mihailovic - Colorado Rapids, 9 goals, 8 assists
12. Mateusz Bogusz - LAFC, 9 goals, 5 assists
13 Lewis Morgan - New York Red Bulls, 9 goals, 4 assists
14. Ryan Gauld - Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 9 goals, 4 assists
15. Felipe Mora - Portland Timbers, 9 goals, 3 assists
16. Cucho Hernandez - Columbus Crew, 9 goals, 2 assists
Note: The first Golden Boot tiebreaker is assists, followed by the player with the fewest minutes played
Ben Steiner -@BenSteiner00
