Sporting Kansas City needed a lift, and Johnny Russell duly delivered for his side on Sunday.
The winger scored three goals to give Sporting a 3-2 win over the Seattle Sounders at Children's Mercy Park, a performance which garnered him MLS Player of the Week honors for Week 13 of the 2019 MLS regular season.
The Scottish international opened the scoring on Sunday in the 29th minute with his league-leading third goal from outside the penalty area as he tucked a shot inside the far post from 20 yards out.
Russell doubled Sporting’s lead just before the half with a 30-yard dribbling display as he weaved through the Sounders defense before beating Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei with a clinical finish. He then completed his hat trick in the 68th minute with a curling first-time strike into the lower left corner of the net to push Sporting’s advantage to 3-1.
The hat trick is Russell's second in MLS play, and he now has seven goals and three assists in league play this season, to bring his career total to 17 goals and 13 assists in MLS. The Player of the Week award is his second, to go with his Week 8 selection in the 2018 season.
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week 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.
