Chucky Lozano jumpstarts his MVP campaign for San Diego FC | OneFootball

After Chucky Lozano suffered a hamstring strain in the first home game in San Diego FC history, the expansion club spent the next few weeks proving they could earn results without him.

Now with Lozano back, he's proving he can be the difference between winning a match and dominating it.

The longtime Mexico national team star and former PSV Eindhoven and Napoli man either scored or assisted on the first four goals of a 5-0 romp past FC Dallas at home on Saturday evening.

It was the second such home match that he nearly took over single-handedly after he powered San Diego to a 3-0 win over a surprisingly impotent Seattle Sounders side with a goal and two assists in his first start back from said hamstring ailment.

We're still only roughly one-third of the way through the regular season, and teams like Lionel Messi's Inter Miami and Denis Bouanga's LAFC are potentially still just finding their footing in the league after spending much of the spring focused on Concacaf play.

But if somehow only 29-year-old Lozano can stay healthy, we may be witnessing the berth of an MVP campaign.

How Lozano's numbers stack up

With four goals and six assists, his 10 goal contributions have him only one back of San Jose's Cristian Espinoza for the MLS lead.

He's produced that output in 441 fewer minutes than the Argentine, averaging roughly 1.64 goal involvements per 90 minutes.

And so far at least, his expected goal (xG) numbers suggest the scoring part of the equation is no fluke, with his four goals coming on 4.3 xG generated, according to the MLS league website.

Since returning to manager Mikey Varas' XI, Lozano has only failed to contribute a goal or an assist once, during a 3-0 loss at Charlotte FC in which San Diego played more than a half down a man.

That's a really good foundation for a potential MVP bid. Now what needs to happen is two-fold:

For all the good in Lozano's effort Saturday, it also has to be put into the context that it merely halted a three-match losing streak.

And there's probably some balance still to be learned between deferring to Lozano when he's in the mood and relying too much on him when he's not as effective.

But there are more than a couple elements of his start to life in MLS that feel very similar to when another Mexico national team star helped the launch of another MLS expansion team. And if he can meet that standard, his star power as an El Tri folk hero could make him the biggest non-Messi presence in MLS.