Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell received a nod to the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi after bagging a brace in a 2-0 Sporting KC victory over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday night at Children’s Mercy Park.
Russell, in his fourth year with the club, is having a career season and has now earned four MLS Team of the Week selections. He set a new all-time career-high in goals and total goal contributions with 14 goals and 21 combined goals and assists. With 39 career MLS goals, Russell surpassed former Colorado Rapids forward John Spencer for most goals by a Scottish player in MLS history.
The Sporting captain has scored in eight straight matches, the first player to do so in Sporting KC history. That is also the longest scoring streak in MLS this year. The streak is the fifth-longest in MLS history and makes him one of only four players to score in eight straight MLS regular-season games.
Russell’s Team of the Week performance lifted Sporting past the LA Galaxy and into the top spot in the Western Conference. His goal in the 40th minute, assisted by Gadi Kinda, put Sporting on top, and his 82nd-minute goal, also assisted by Kinda, effectively iced the match.
Team of the Week (3-4-3, left to right): Bill Hamid (DC) – Kai Wagner (PHI), Henry Kessler (NE), Kim Moon-hwan (LAFC) – Randall Leal (NSH), Lucas Zelarayan (CLB), Latif Blessing (LAFC), Justin Meram (RSL) – Luiz Araujo (ATL), Dairon Asprilla (POR), Johnny Russell (SKC)
Russell and Sporting Kansas City (17-7-7, 58 points) travel to the twin cities Sunday for a matchup with Minnesota United FC (12-11-9, 45 points) at Allianz Field. The contest will kick off at 12 p.m. CT with live coverage on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN app as well as ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM.
