MLS

Bradley Wright-Phillips just surged ahead of David Villa in the Golden Boot race

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:54 p.m. ET

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It's a two-man race for the Golden Boot in MLS, and Bradley Wright Phillips has taken the lead going into the final week of the season.

The New York Red Bulls' Wright-Phillips and New York City FC's David Villa went into Sunday tied at 21 goals and both helped their causes, but Wright-Phillips two quality finishes have him in the lead on 23 goals for the season now.

Of the first goal, Wright-Phillips said after the match: "When I got the opportunity to go one-on-one, I just did what I thought was right." He's being doing things right all season long now.

The Englishman has been perhaps the Red Bulls' most productive player over the past three years, including when the team won the Supporters Shield last year. He tied the league's record for single-season scoring in 2014 with 27 goals, good enough for the Golden Boot, and he is the Red Bulls' top goal-scorer in club history.

Though he won't match what he did back in 2014, it's been another excellent season from the man who joined the Red Bulls in 2013 as a trialist and relative unknown. It's not just his finishing that has been excellent, but his movement off the ball and his runs that allow him to be in a position to score goals.

Villa also scored on Sunday, his goal the result of a penalty kick. While none of Wright-Phillips' goals have come from penalty kicks, five of Villa's have come from the spot.

Here's a look at Villa's 22nd goal of the season, that left him one behind his Red Bulls rival as Sunday's Eastern Conference matches wrapped up:

Now both men enter the final week of the MLS regular season one goal apart in the race for the Golden Boot. Their teams are also in a heated race for first place in the Eastern Conference, with the Red Bulls holding a one-win edge heading into their final match of the season against the Union, while NYCFC host the Crew.

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