Among the several standouts in Saturday’s wild goal fest between Sporting Kansas City and the Chicago Fire, one player stood out among the rest.
Felipe Gutierrez continued his excellent start to life in Major League Soccer with a two-goal display at Toyota Park, nodding Sporting KC into an early lead before striking again in the 86th minute to complete a historic comeback and give his side a thrilling 4-3 victory.
Saturday’s win marked the first time ever that Sporting KC erased a deficit after the 80th minute to win a regular-season road game. Gutierrez was instrumental late but also throughout the match, finishing with five tackles won, nine duels won and two chances created.
Not too surprisingly, the Chilean’s comprehensive performance landed him a spot on MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week for Week 2, released on Monday after a wild weekend that produced 38 goals in nine matches.
While Gutierrez was the lone representative from Sporting KC, winger Daniel Salloi was selected to the Team of the Week bench. The 21-year-old tallied a career-high two assists, setting up Johnny Russell's first MLS goal in the 44th minute before slipping a clever back-heeled pass to Gutierrez for the late winner.
Gutierrez, who arrived in Kansas City this offseason after spending six years in Europe, leads MLS after Week 2 in tackles won (12) while ranking third in duels won (22).
