Sporting Kansas City defender Tim Leibold was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi on Monday as one of the top 20 players in Major League Soccer for Matchday 23 of the regular season.
Leibold scored his first goal in a Sporting KC uniform -- and his first goal since May 2021 as a member of German club Hamburg -- with the game-winning goal in Saturday's 2-0 win over Austin FC at Children's Mercy Park. The 30-year-old German left back opened his MLS scoring account in the 26th minute with a driven shot that took a deflection through traffic and nestled into the far corner of the net.
Leibold was also part of a defensive effort that held Austin FC to zero shots on goal and two shots total for a 0.28 expected goals value - the lowest of all 28 teams in action on MLS Matchday 23 - as half (15 of 30) of Austin's attacking entries came down Leibold's side of the field.
“I thought he had a solid game," Manager Peter Vermes said in the postgame press conference. "He was good on the ball, which was important. They changed wingers in the second half and they put him under pressure. I thought he handled (Jader) Obrian really well. He's not an easy guy to handle.”
Sporting Kansas City will return to the road to face the Colorado Rapids at 8:30 p.m. CT on Thursday in a Fourth of July match-up at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Western Conference clash will be available to watch on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers and radio broadcasts will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with live audio streams available in the Sporting KC App.
In addition, Pub Partners in the Sporting Pub Network will show all of the action including a watch party at No Other Pub in the KC Power & Light District with food and drink specials for fans.
