João Klauss helped St. Louis CITY SC make history in Matchday 35, and now he’s been recognized as the Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire.
The Brazilian striker scored twice in a 4-1 rivalry victory over Sporting Kansas City at CITYPARK, a result that made CITY SC the first expansion club to record 17 wins in their inaugural season (excluding the shootout era). After other results, the club also clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and a spot in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.
João Klauss, with the second brace of his MLS career, is the first player in St. Louis history to reach 10 goals in a season. His 0.75 goals per 90 minutes ranking as the second-best mark in MLS behind Atlanta United striker Giorgos Giakoumakis at 0.87 (minimum seven goals).
The 26-year-old is also the first player in St. Louis history to be named Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire. He, alongside midfielder Eduard Löwen, is a Designated Player for the Midwest-based club.
St. Louis will look to continue their record-setting inaugural season when visiting Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Wednesday evening (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass). With a win, they will set a new expansion club record for single-season points. LAFC earned 57 points in 2018, while CITY SC are on 56 points with two games remaining (17W-10L-5D).
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
