NEW YORK (Monday, June 12, 2023) – Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire for Matchday 18 of the 2023 MLS season.
Pulido scored two goals and added an assist as part of Sporting Kansas City’s 4-1 victory over Austin FC at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday, June 10. Pulido became the third player to record at least two goals and one assist in a single game for the club since 2020, joining Dániel Sallói (June 23, 2021) and Willy Agada (August 21, 2022). With his brace on Saturday, it marked Pulido’s first multi-goal game since May 16, 2021, and his third overall in MLS play. The Mexican forward also became just the ninth player in MLS to produce a game with multiple goals and at least one assist during the 2023 regular season.
Kansas City opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Robert Castellanos’ header toward goal deflected off an Austin defender and fell to Pulido, who thrashed his volley into the back of the net (Watch Here). Just after halftime, the home side made it 2-0 when Pulido flicked on Erik Thommy’s free kick to Castellanos and the defender slotted it past the goalkeeper with a left-footed finish (Watch Here). Pulido wrapped up the match, scoring his second goal in the 57th minute when Tim Leibold played a bending cross to the Mexican, who collected the pass and poked the ball into the net for a 3-0 advantage (Watch Here).
Since the start of May, Sporting Kansas City has gone 5-1-2 in eight matches and their 17 points are the third most in MLS and the most among all Western Conference clubs. Kansas City has outscored opponents 17 to 10 during that span, with the 17 goals representing most in the league. After missing 2022 due to injury, Pulido has scored in consecutive regular season matches for the first time since 2021 (June 26 – August 4). In the 15 regular season matches that Pulido has scored a goal in, Kansas City has produced a 13-1-1 record.
Pulido is the first Sporting Kansas City player to win MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire since Johnny Russell on Matchday 33 in 2021. This is the second time Pulido has earned the honor in his career after doing so for his performance on Matchday 15 of 2020. He joins Carlos Vela (Matchday 8) as the only Mexican players to win the award this season.
Sporting Kansas City look to keep up their strong form when they host LAFC at Children’s Mercy Park on Matchday 19 on Saturday, June 17 (8:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass).
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire is selected each matchday 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.
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