NEW YORK (Thursday, June 22, 2023) – Real Salt Lake midfielder Damir Kreilach was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire for Matchday 20 of the 2023 MLS season.
Kreilach scored his second brace of the 2023 season with a pair of second-half goals in a 3-1 road win over St. Louis CITY SC at CITYPARK on Wednesday, June 21. The pair of goals were his 46th and 47th regular season goals for Salt Lake, surpassing Joao Plata (46) for the third-most goals scored for the club. He is two goals away from tying Javier Morales (49) for second all-time in club history. With his brace, Kreliach joined three other players for the second most multi-goal games by a Salt Lake player (five).
The Croatian gave Salt Lake an early second-half lead as he fired a first-touch finish to the back post after an array of inventive passing from midfielder Diego Luna and forward Danny Musovski in the 48th minute (Watch Here). He would double his goal tally on the night in the 66th minute as a cross from defender Andrew Brody found Kreilach in space at the top of the 18-yard box for another first-touch finish past the goalkeeper to put Salt Lake up 3-1 over St. Louis (Watch Here).
Kreilach is the first Salt Lake player to be named MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental since he did so on Matchday 35 of 2021. This is the fourth time Kreilach has earned the honor, joining Jeff Cunningham (five), Javier Morales (four), and Álvaro Saborío (four) as the only other players to accomplish this feat in RSL history.
Salt Lake, who are currently riding a four-game unbeaten run, will look to make it four wins in five matches when they host Minnesota United at America First Field on Matchday 21 this Saturday, June 24 (9:30 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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