St. Louis CITY: João Klauss named Player of the Matchday | OneFootball

By MLSsoccer staff

Player of the Matchday 19: João Klauss

João Klauss made St. Louis CITY SC history during Matchday 19 to earn MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra honors.

Klauss scored St. Louis' first-ever hat trick on Saturday to secure a thrilling 3-3 home draw with the LA Galaxy at Energizer Park.

The 28-year-old Brazilian now has five goals this year, leading the team and matching his 2024 total just past the midway point of the 2025 campaign. The first Designated Player in St. Louis history, Klauss is also the club's all-time leading scorer with 20 regular-season goals.

Thanks to Klauss, St. Louis became the 31st club to record an MLS hat trick. Only the Portland Timbers and San Diego FC have yet to have a player score three goals in an MLS match.

This is the second career Player of the Matchday award for Klauss, who took the honors on Matchday 35 of the 2023 season after scoring a brace in a 4-1 rout of archrivals Sporting Kansas City.

Klauss is St. Louis' second Player of the Matchday of 2025, following goalkeeper Roman Bürki’s eight-save, shutout performance in a 3-0 victory at LA Galaxy on Matchday 3. CITY are the third club with two award winners this season, joining Charlotte FC (Pep Biel and Patrick Agyemang) and San Diego FC (Anders Dreyer and Chucky Lozano).

Klauss and St. Louis return to action on June 25 when they host Orlando City in a midweek clash (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).

The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra 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 an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.

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