United States teen prodigy Cavan Sullivan made more history on Wednesday night, but the Philadelphia Union midfielder insisted he was less than happy with his performance.
Sullivan, who turned 17 last month, picked up his 14th assist of the season to set up Bruno Damiani's game winner in the Union's 3-1 victory at the Chicago Fire FC.
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Together with his seven goals, Sullivan now has 21 goal contributions in his breakout year, the most ever by a teenager in a single MLS season.
The 14 assists put him second in MLS, level with Inter Miami's Lionel Messi and behind only Son Heung-Min of LAFC (15). Sullivan has a goal contribution in 10 straight MLS games, registering 16 in that span.
Sullivan had already broken the mark for most goal contributions in an MLS season for a player under 17, besting the mark set by former U.S. soccer phenom, Freddy Adu.
Yet he was in a less than celebratory mood after his latest achievement.
"I played sort of terrible tonight, so I'm not really focused on any records or stats like that, to be honest," Sullivan said.
"I'm happy with the win, but I've sort of got to look in the mirror and watch some film and see what I have to do better. I'm not really happy with my personal performance, but, like I said, great win."
Union interim coach Ryan Richter, though, was more positive about his young star.
"It seems like every week something else is popping up for him," Richter said.
"I'm so happy for him, and a big emphasis for him is to continue to be decisive in games, and when he's chipping in with goals and assists, the way that he has over this last stretch, he's making the difference."
Sullivan's form has carried Philadelphia to eight straight wins and a club-record 14-match unbeaten streak to move up to sixth place in the Eastern Conference with five games of the regular season remaining.
Sullivan, who ESPN has reported has an agreement to join Manchester City when he turns 18, recently made history with the U.S. men's national team.
He became the youngest player to start a game for the USMNT since Adu 20 years earlier when he made his debut still aged 16 last month. He followed that up by becoming the youngest scorer ever for the USMNT with a stunning long-range goal in a victory over Mexico.