Who were the best young-player performers in MLS Week 24?

Speaking frankly, Miami are a telenovela of a club and perhaps always will be, given their location, culture, ownership and other circumstances – and that’s not inherently a bad thing! We simply say all this to urge you to wrench your eyes away for a moment from compelling stories like Gonzalo Higuain’s late-career fortunes, Phil Neville’s capacity for headline-generating soundbytes and other IMCF plot lines, and take note of what Duke is doing this season.

The 21-year-old is putting in important shifts in the heart of midfield for a playoff-chasing team, competing with older and more experienced teammates to earn his minutes and contributing significantly. Duke is doing the dirty work, and squeezing in some end product – and some sauce – as well.

The Herons did pretty well with their grueling cross-continental road trip from Florida to San Jose to Montréal this week, snatching a 1-0 win off the Earthquakes before batting back to take a 2-2 draw home from Quebec over the weekend. After coming off the bench to help salt away the first – only a tight offside call prevented him from bagging an assist there – Duke was key from the start against CFM on Saturday.