Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell was voted MLS Player of the Week and was also selected to the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi for a third time in 2021 after his brace propelled Sporting to a 2-0 home win last night against the LA Galaxy, Major League Soccer announced on Thursday.
Russell earned the honors for Week 33 of the 2021 Major League Soccer season following his sixth career multi-goal match and second brace of the season. The forward netted his first goal in the 40th minute in which he skipped a shot past the keeper from inside the penalty area and then sealed the match in the 82nd minute by blasting a shot into the upper corner of the far post from a tight angle.
Russell claims the title of MLS Player of the Week for the second time in his four-year MLS career and is the second Sporting player to be named MLS Player of the Week in 2021. The 31-year-old has 14 goals and seven assists this year, which places him in the top 10 in total goal contributions in MLS this season. His streak of eight straight matches with a goal is the longest in MLS in 2021 and longest all-time in Sporting Kansas City history. He is also the first player in Sporting history to score 10 goals over an eight-game span.
With 39 career MLS goals, Russell is the highest-scoring Scottish-born MLS player of all time. He surpassed John Spencer with his goal in the 40th minute of Wednesday’s match. His 39 career regular-season goals place him fifth in club history.
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 comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. Team of the Week presented by Audi is voted on by the MLSsoccer.com editorial staff.
Sporting KC All-Time MLS Players of the Week
- 2021: Daniel Salloi (Week 28) & Johnny Russell (Week 33)
- 2020: Alan Pulido (Week 15)
- 2019: Johnny Russell (Week 13)
- 2018: Tim Melia (Week 6) & Johnny Russell (Week 8)
- 2015: Paulo Nagamura (Week 24), Benny Feilhaber (Week 29) & Tim Melia (Week 31)
- 2014: Graham Zusi (Week 4) & Benny Feilhaber (Week 19)
- 2013: Graham Zusi (Week 10)
- 2011: Omar Bravo (Week 1) & Graham Zusi (Week 23)
- 2009: Josh Wolff (Week 5, Week 9 & Week 25)
- 2008: Claudio Lopez (Week 30)
- 2007: Eddie Johnson (Week 2, Week 8 & Week 9) & Scott Sealy (Week 24 & Week 29)
- 2006: Scott Sealy (Week 12), Davy Arnaud (Week 24), Josh Wolff (Week 27) & Jose Burciaga, Jr. (Week 28)
- 2005: Josh Wolff (Week 7 & Week 20)
- 2004: Davy Arnaud (Week 14)
- 2003: Chris Klein (Week 2 & Week 27), Preki (Week 9 & Week 12) & Igor Simutenkov (Week 15)
- 2002: Chris Klein (Week 4) & Tony Meola (Week 21)
- 2001: Chris Klein (Week 2) & Chris Brown (Week 3)
- 2000: Peter Vermes (Week 10) & Tony Meola (Week 15)
- 1999: Chris Klein (Week 19)
- 1998: Vitalis Takawira (Week 10)
- 1997: Preki (Week 12 & Week 14)
- 1996: Preki (Week 8) & Mark Chung (Week 12)
