by Brian Turrel
Though Sporting Kansas City has been eliminated from MLS playoff contention, its late season run of good form continued Saturday evening with a 4-1 home win over Minnesota United.
Willy Agada celebrated his 23rd birthday with a pair of goals, and the home side looked convincingly better than the Loons throughout the match.
Kansas City had some dangerous chances in the first 30 minutes, but didn’t break through until a Johnny Russell hot shot from the right side bounced off Minnesota defender Michael Boxall for an own goal in the 31st minute.
Sporting finished the first half with a flourish, getting a goal from Erik Thommy in the 41st minute off a feed from Russell.
Just 4 minutes later, Agada got his first goal of the night, finishing off a build-up from Roger Espinoza to left back Ben Sweat. Agada headed in Sweat’s perfectly placed cross for the 3-0 halftime lead.
Kansas City kept the intensity up after halftime, but Minnesota’s Mender Garcia scored for the visitors on a counter-attack in the 57th minute.
Agada finished off the visitors’ hopes with his second goal in the 81st minute. Daniel Salloi dribbled in from the left side then crossed to Agada just in front of goal.
Major League Soccer has a break for international play, providing Sporting’s Marinos Tzionas (Cyprus) and Logan Ndenbe (Belgium) the opportunity to play for their countries.
Sporting Kansas City will play its final home match of the season on Oct. 2, facing the Seattle Sounders. The game will kick off at 4 p.m. The season concludes with an away game at Dallas on Oct. 9.
