NEW YORK (Monday, Nov. 8, 2021) – Real Salt Lake midfielder Damir Kreilach has been voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 35 of the 2021 MLS season.
Kreilach scored the dramatic game-winning goal in RSL’s 1-0 win against Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park on Decision Day – which secured the club’s place in the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs.
As Sunday’s match in Kansas City moved past the 90:00 mark, the teams were locked in a scoreless draw – and Real were outside of the top seven in the Western Conference and outside of the playoffs, needing a victory to book their postseason ticket.
Then five minutes deep in added time, a cross put into the SKC penalty area was punched out. The ball was pumped back into the box and Justin Meram sent an overhead kick toward goal – and Kreilach was perfectly placed to deflect the ball home from close range and send the RSL bench into wild celebration.
The goal was the 16th of the season for Kreilach, tying him for fifth place for the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi, and his eighth goal over the final 12 games of the season. Kreilach was named the MLS Player of the Week for the third time in his four seasons in the league and the second time in 2021, also winning in Week 12.
Kreilach and Real Salt Lake will now move on to the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, where they will take on Seattle Sounders FC at Lumen Field in Round One.
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
