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Real Salt Lake Midfielder Damir Kreilach Voted MLS Player of the Matchday Presented by Continental Tire for Matchday 20

June 22, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


NEW YORK - 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. 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.

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.

2023 MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire Winners

Matchday Player Club

Matchday 1 Thiago Almada Atlanta United

Matchday 2 Lucas Zelarayán Columbus Crew

Matchday 3 Caleb Wiley Atlanta United

Matchday 4 Thiago Almada Atlanta United

Matchday 5 Jordan Morris Seattle Sounders FC

Matchday 6 Simon Becher Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Matchday 7 Dénis Bouanga Los Angeles Football Club

Matchday 8 Carlos Vela Los Angeles Football Club

Matchday 9 Mikael Uhre Philadelphia Union

Matchday 10 Leonardo Campana Inter Miami CF

Matchday 11 Hany Mukhtar Nashville SC

Matchday 12 Evander Portland Timbers

Matchday 13 Brandon Cambridge Charlotte FC

Matchday 14 Luciano Acosta FC Cincinnati

Matchday 15 Julián Carranza Philadelphia Union

Matchday 16 Carles Gil New England Revolution

Matchday 17 Julián Carranza Philadelphia Union

Matchday 18 Alan Pulido Sporting Kansas City

Matchday 19 Hany Mukhtar Nashville SC

Matchday 20 Damir Kreilach Real Salt Lake

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Major League Soccer Stories from June 22, 2023


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