If you like goals, Major League Soccer is certainly delivering so far this season. We saw 41 of them on the opening weekend of the season, and Matchweek 3 was even better, with 47 scored in 12 games.
Wayne Rooney got three of them in D.C. United's 5-0 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday. It was his first MLS hat trick, but the goals were only part of what was an incredible fantasy performance from the Manchester United and England legend.
Rooney also had an assist in the game, took 11 of his team's 22 shots (with five them on target), and had five chances created. He finished with 60.0 fantasy points all by himself!
To be fair, RSL lost Jefferson Savarino to a red card just before halftime, and then went down to nine men following Marcelo Silva's second yellow card in the 67th minute. But D.C. were already up 2-0 when Savarino was sent off, with both of those goals scored by Rooney.
It had been a relatively quiet start to Rooney's first full season in MLS. He'd gone without a goal or an assist in their 2-0 win over Atlanta United and their scoreless draw at NYCFC, taking only four shots in those two games combined.
But Rooney was excellent when he arrived from the Premier League midseason last year, with 12 goals in 21 appearances, finishing fourth overall in fantasy points per game. And thanks to his monster performance this weekend, he's up to second overall in points so far this season.
The only player with more points than Rooney is Carlos Vela, who scored both of LAFC's goals in their 2-2 draw at NYCFC on Sunday. One of them was from the penalty spot (one of Rooney's goals was, too), but Vela also had an all-around great performance. He took six shots, had five chances created, and finished with 34.6 points.
Vela didn't have a goal or an assist in LAFC's 2-1 season-opening win over Sporting Kansas City, but took five shots in that game. And he followed that up with one goal, two assists and six shots in a 4-1 victory over the Portland Timbers. Vela's averaging 25.7 points per game so far this season.
These two players should be among the top Tier 1 forward and captain options all season long. Vela was excellent last year too, in his first season in MLS, with 14 goals in 29 appearances, finishing second behind only Zlatan Ibrahimovic in points per game.
D.C. United and LAFC are off to very good starts, each with two wins and a draw in their first three games. But one team has been even better so far this season. The Seattle Sounders are the only team to have played three games and won three, outscoring their opponents 10-3 in the process.
After home wins over FC Cincinnati (4-1) and the Colorado Rapids (2-0), the Sounders went on the road and defeated the Chicago Fire on Saturday, 4-2.
Seattle had four different goal-scorers in the game: Victor Rodriguez, Jordan Morris, Nicolas Lodeiro and Raul Ruidiaz. This was no fluke. All four of these players are among the top 11 in fantasy points so far this season.
Morris and Ruidiaz each already have scored three goals. Lodeiro only has one goal, but has two assists and nine chances created, and is tied for 16th in passes completed (186). And Rodriguez also only has one goal, but has two assists and seven chances created, and is tied for fourth in shots (12).
The Sounders were widely expected to be at or near the top of the Western Conference, so these players should continue to produce - particularly Lodeiro, who was sixth overall in fantasy points last season, and Ruidiaz, who scored 13 goals in 16 appearances after moving to Seattle midseason last year.
Ruidiaz is a Tier 1 forward, and both Lodeiro and Rodriguez are Tier 1 midfielders. Morris provides the most value right now, given that he's a Tier 2 forward, at least for now. He's certainly off to a great start -- Morris also had an assist on Saturday. But don't forget that Morris missed all of last season due to injury, and it's also worth noting that he's scored his three goals on only four shots ... Morris' xG (expected goals) total is only 0.70.