Best free-kick of 2023? Thiago Almada's rocket for Atlanta Utd vs Portland | OneFootball

Atlanta United's Thiago Almada may have scored the best free-kick we'll see this year in his side's 5-1 MLS victory over Portland Timbers on Saturday night.

The 21-year-old, who was part of Argentina's victorious 2022 World Cup squad, heaped misery on a struggling Portland outfit with an outstanding individual performance at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

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In addition to contributing two assists for his teammates, Almada helped himself to two goals as Atlanta cruised to three points in front of their home faithful.

Left-winger Caleb Wiley opened the scoring for Atlanta after 25 minutes when he capitalised on a superb pass from Almada to notch his third goal of the campaign.

The Argentine also turned provider for Luiz Araujo in the second-half, with his well-weighted long ball setting up the Brazilian to score United's fourth of the evening.

The highlight of Almada's night, though, surely has to have been the thunderbolt of a free-kick that he lashed home in first-half stoppage time.

From 35 yards out, the young star managed to perfectly find the top right corner of the net, having bent the ball perfectly around the Portland wall.

Visiting goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic could do nothing but admire the effort as it sailed past his despairing dive.

You can check out Almada's incredible strike below.

Video: Thiago Almada scores an early front-runner for free-kick of the year v Portland Timbers

Fans on Twitter were quick to praise Almada for his brilliance, with many declaring the free-kick the best goal they've seen in MLS this season.

Read on for a sample of the best reaction.

Almada then rounded off a special night four minutes from time when he found the back of the net for a second time.

After receiving the ball from Derrick Etienne Jr just inside the penalty area, Almada spun around and expertly picked out the bottom right-hand corner to send the majority of the 42,648 supporters in attendance home in great spirits.

Atlanta are in action again next Saturday when they travel to take on Columbus Crew.

However, they'll have to make do without their star man Almada, who will instead be joining up with the Argentina squad for their upcoming friendly matches against Panama and Curacao.

Judging by the absolute masterclass he put on during Saturday's win, he'll be sorely missed by his Atlanta colleagues.