Jeremy Ebobisse Who? MLS’s leading scorer has come from nowhere

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Major League Soccer has a way of surprising fans from season to season. In the opening months of the 2022 campaign, one of the surprises is leading goalscorer Jeremy Ebobisse.

The San Jose Earthquakes forward leads the league in goals with nine. The big question is, will Ebobisse continue firing in goals or trail off as the season continues?

San Jose are currently one of MLS’s worst teams and do not look like getting better. In fact, San Jose’s woes have occurred for years. The Earthquakes qualified for the playoffs just twice in the last eight seasons.

At the moment, the Quakes do not look likely of making the postseason even with Ebobisse scoring goals. San Jose have picked up 14 points from 14 games. Although just four points separate them from the playoffs, the Quakes look miles away.

Ebobisse has been the club’s bright spot. Signed in 2021 from Portland Timbers, Ebobisse was a victim of MLS’s strict salary cap. The Timbers wanted to keep Ebobisse, but with a lack of playing time and needing a roster place, Portland moved on the Paris-born player.

The striker has nine goals in 14 appearances for San Jose this season. He has accounted for 36% of San Jose goals. Ebobisse averages a goal every 133 minutes in MLS.

Remarkably, Ebobisse’s goals come in pairs. He has four games in which he scored two goals. Just one game this season saw Ebobisse score one of his nine goals.

Ebobisse didn’t join San Jose Earthquakes until August 2021. The MLS regular season and qualification to the playoffs was already beyond the Quakes at the time of Ebobisse’s arrival.

He made 11 appearances in MLS for the Quakes at the end of 2021, scoring a mere one goal. Prior to joining the club, Ebobisse had scored four goals in 13 appearances for the Timbers.

Ebobisse show a lot of promise in front of goal, but looks to finally be achieving some of his potential. The worrying aspect of Ebobisse’s goals in 2022 is the fact that he has four two-goal games. If he can keep up the current rate of scoring, Ebobisse could finish the season as the leading scorer.

Although Ebobisse was born in Paris, he moved to the United States at a young age, making him eligible to play for the US national team. So far, he has made just one appearance for the US national team playing 66 minutes.

If Ebobisse can continue his excellent form for the Quakes, he will likely get another call up to the national team with the World Cup just around the corner.