Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi was selected to MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi on Monday for Matchday 15 of the 2023 MLS regular season. In addition, Sporting KC midfielder Erik Thommy was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday bench after he opened the scoring in Sporting Kansas City's 4-1 win over the Portland Timbers.
Salloi contributed the game-winning goal in Sunday's victory at Children's Mercy Park, striking in the 66th minute for his third goal of the campaign and the 41st of his regular season career. Salloi, a Sporting KC Academy product, has now scored or assisted on half of Sporting's 16 goals in all competition this year (four goals, four assists) and Sunday's goal moved Salloi atop Kansas City's all-time chart with 14 career game-winning goals.
"I’m very proud. It means a lot," Salloi said postgame. "I look at these records and I always talk about them. This is something that I'm very proud of. I remember I scored in the Open Cup final and that was a game winning goal. And I remember (Zoran Savic), our assistant coach, told my dad that takes a clutch player to score game-winning goals and it's a big part of someone's career. I kept that with me. I think that's important to go for those goals because those are the ones that help the team a lot and it's very special for me."
Sporting Kansas City fell behind in the eighth minute on Sunday before Thommy sparked the comeback with a spectacular solo effort capped off by a world-class goal in the 33rd minute to pull Sporting level. Receiving a pass near the corner flag, the German dribbled around the perimeter of the box and, with the ball on his weaker left foot, unleashed a jaw-dropping strike into the far left corner from 25 yards out. The 28-year-old now has two goals and two assists in Sporting’s five league matches this month.
"It always feels good to score," Thommy told reporters in the postgame press conference. "It was perfect timing. I think we needed that goal at that time. It turned the game a little bit, but in the end, I think I have said this a lot of times before, I don’t care who scores the goals because we just need three points. On Wednesday, I don’t care again who scores. Hopefully we win the next game as well."
Riding back-to-back home wins, Sporting Kansas City will host FC Dallas at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets for the mid-week match-up are available online at SeatGeek, including the Sporting U Pass featuring $15 Supporters' Stand tickets for college students and the Coca-Cola Friends & Family 4-Pack featuring four Domino's pizzas, four 20-ounce Coca-Cola products and four tickets for $100. Wednesday's match will kick off Pride Month as the club celebrates Soccer For All in collaboration with the Kansas City Pride Community Alliance.
The Western Conference clash will be broadcast live on the Apple TV app for MLS Season Pass subscribers and fans can sign up for a one-month free trial . Local radio coverage will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with streams available in the Sporting KC app.
