Sacha Kljestan joined MLS back in 2006 after playing at Seton Hall for college. He was taken with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft by Chivas USA. He played 114 matches for the club, making an MLS Best XI in 2008. In 2010, he left the States to join Belgium's Anderlecht. Kljestan starred at Anderlecht, spending many years there, and appearing in 132 total matches. In January of 2015, it was time for him to return to his home country. The New York Red Bulls acquired his services from Anderlecht.
In his fifth match for the Red Bulls, Kljestan smashed home a Bradley Wright-Phillips assist at the back post. In May, he rounded the keeper to score a consolation goal at Gillette Stadium. On June 28th, it was a double-assist match for Kljestan, a player very much known for his playmaking and assisting ability. His first assist at Yankee Stadium was to BWP, while the second was a free kick onto the head of Matt Miazga. In July, he laced a pretty screamer into the upper 90 in Orlando. He scored a penalty kick calmly, rolling it right down the middle. Between August 9th and September 11th, Sacha Kljestan assisted a goal in a whopping five consecutive games. On August 26th, he put a penalty home, then came the famous dribbling off the corner kick play, which was scored by Ronald Zubar in the end. The goal and assist match came against Chicago, who was the opponent again two matches later when Kljestan matched those stats. He assisted BWP, per usual at this point, then scored the winner from the spot. On Decision Day, he scored again against the Chicago Fire. The New York Red Bulls won the Supporters' Shield. In the playoffs, Columbus sent them home. He finished the season with 8 goals and 14 assists.
If you thought 14 assists was a lot for one season, just look towards 2016. Kljestan assisted 20 goals during the season, while adding 6 of his own. Just 22 minutes into the third game of the year, he notched his first goal of the year against Houston. He assisted two goals against Orlando City in April, one to Mike Grella, the other a secondary assist for BWP. Kljestan finished with a diving header on a rebound off the crossbar against FC Dallas. In July, he scored a brace against the Union. The first was an easy finish off a turnover, the second on quite the creative free kick. He scored a penalty kick in the Hudson River Derby, while also adding two assists. He scored one last goal on the year, against Philly. After winning the Eastern Conference regular again, the Montreal Impact sent them packing rather quickly. Kljestan was named to the 2018 MLS Best XI and All-Star Team.
In 2017, it was another incredible assist tally for Kljestan. He put up another 17, while only scoring twice on his own. On July 19th, he had a perfect game against San Jose, scoring in the middle of the box, then assisting two others. He assisted two more in one game against NYCFC a month later. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored on his pass to his assist, then found the exact same result later in the match. His second goal of the campaign was struck into the top right corner again FC Dallas. In one of the last games of the year, he threaded a beautiful ball for Mike Grella to score. He assisted a second goal as he laid it off for a Felipe Martins laser. RBNY finished sixth this time around. In the knockout round, they beat Chicago 4-0, Kljestan tapped one in right in front of goal. It was Toronto FC this time to send the Red Bulls out of the postseason.
On January 3, 2018, Orlando City SC acquired Sacha Kljestan in exchange for Caros Rivas and Tommy Redding. Kljestan opened his Orlando account during a comeback from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 over the Portland Timbers. He slid to push another one into the netting against San Jose. In his first six games in purple, he scored 2 goals and assisted 4. During a road trip to Vancouver, it was another goal for the mustached man. He scored against Columbus in July. His final goal of the year was also versus the Crew, a 96th minute winning penalty. Orlando came in last place in the East. He scored and assisted 6 a piece.
In 2019, Kljestan played one last season with Orlando City. In a visit back to Red Bull Arena, he scored and refrained from posting too much of a celebration. It was his first statistically lackluster season since returning to MLS, with just a goal and two assists. He then made his next move. The LA Galaxy signed him as a free agent. In his first year, 2020, he did not contribute to a single goal in what was a pretty bad year for his team as well.
In 2021, Kljestan returned to his old form for one last solid season. He scored his first Galaxy goal in June from the penalty spot. He did the same against the Timbers, rocketing it down Main Street. Portland felt his wrath again in mid-October with a match-winner. He capped it off with one more against the Houston Dynamo. His 5 goals and 4 assists were still not enough to make the playoffs. In 2022, Kljestan played his final 426 MLS minutes. He scored his last professional goal from the penalty spot as well, the only place he scored goals from for LA Galaxy. On January 5, 2023, Sacha Kljestan announced his retirement from the sport. It was an incredible career for the American midfielder, who has 52 caps for the United States internationally. He is easily one of the best playmakers and assisters that Major League Soccer has ever seen. Now, Kljestan is still seen all the time by fans of the league, as he is one of the most prominent analysts on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass. Sacha Kljestan comes in at #36.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2022 | LA | 426 | 1 | 2 |
2021 | LA | 1,394 | 5 | 4 |
2020 | LA | 769 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | ORL | 1,352 | 1 | 3 |
2018 | ORL | 2,522 | 6 | 6 |
2017 | RBNY | 2,582 | 2 | 17 |
2016 | RBNY | 2,624 | 6 | 20 |
2015 | RBNY | 2,843 | 8 | 14 |
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