Alan Pulido is here to stay.
The star striker said it himself this week when he signed a new Designated Player contract with Sporting Kansas City that will keep him at Children’s Mercy Park through 2026.
For Sporting to secure the long-term services of arguably the most prolific striker in club history is nothing short of significant. Indeed, a host of numbers would suggest that Pulido stands firmly among the best goal scorers to don the Sporting Kansas City uniform.
In the newest edition of By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals, we take a statistical look at Pulido’s torrid tenure in the Heartland.
Climbing the Charts
Among players with at least 20 regular season appearances for Sporting Kansas City, Pulido ranks among the club’s all-time leaders in the following categories:
- 1st in goals per match (0.48) – 27 goals in 56 matches
- 2nd in goals per 90 minutes (0.58) – 27 goals in 4,207 minutes
- 2nd in goal contributions per match (0.68) – 38 in 56 matches
- 3rd in goal contributions per 90 minutes (0.81) – 38 in 4,207 minutes
Also worth noting:
- Pulido’s 0.48 goals per match is the sixth-best scoring rate in MLS since the start of 2020 among players with at least 50 games played.
- Pulido’s 0.63 goals per game in 2023 (13 goals in 23 matches) are fifth best in a season in Sporting history.
- With 14 goals in all competitions in 2023, Pulido is three goals shy of becoming the fourth player in club history to eclipse 17 goals in a single season (Dom Dwyer in 2014, Preki in 1996 and Miklos Molnar in 2000).
Clinical Finisher
- According to Opta, Pulido has outperformed his expected goal total by 6.02 goals in 2023, the most of any player in MLS this season (13 goals, 6.98 xG).
- Pulido has a scoring percentage rate of 27.7% this season, bagging 13 goals on 47 shots. That’s the fourth best scoring percentage in a single season in club history (minimum five goals).
- Pulido ranks second in club history in career scoring percentage in the regular season at 19%, bagging goals on 27 of his 142 total shot attempts.
- Among players with 25 MLS goals since 2020, Pulido ranks third in both shot conversion rate (27.8%) and shooting accuracy (60.8%).
- Among players with 25 MLS goals since 2020, Pulido ranks third with a big chance conversion rate of 60%, scoring goals on 15 of his 25 big chances in the regular season.
- Pulido is a perfect 6-for-6 on penalty kicks in his Sporting career. Only Benny Feilhaber (12-for-12) had more conversions at a perfect rate in club regular season history.
- Also of note, and for good measure: Pulido ranks second in passing accuracy (84.2%) among players with 25 MLS goals since 2020.
Summer Surge in 2023
- Since the start of June, Pulido has become the second player in Sporting history to score 12 goals in a stretch of 12 regular season matches.
- Pulido’s 12 goals since the start of June are three more than any other MLS player. He has scored over half of Sporting’s 23 goals during that time.
- Since the start of June, Pulido has become the first player in club history to score four braces in a 10-game stretch of the regular season, doing so from June 10 to Sept. 3.
- Pulido’s six goals during the month of June were tied for the most by a Sporting player in a single month of the regular season.
- Pulido was named MLS Player of the Month for June and has five selections to MLS Team of the Matchday since the summer began.
- Pulido has quickly risen to fourth in club history with six multi-goal games in the regular season, having played half as many matches as everyone else above him in the list (Dom Dwyer 10, Digital Takawira 8, Preki 7)
MLS Comeback Player of the Year Candidate
- Pulido is the first player in MLS history to score 10 or more regular season goals after missing the entire previous season due to injury.
- Pulido ranks second on the MLS Golden Boot leaderboard with 13 goals, one behind leader Hany Mukhtar. Pulido is looking to become the first MLS Golden Boot winner since Preki in 2003 and the first player in club history to finish as the league’s top goal scorer.
