Category: Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City (3-8-4, 13 points) will play host to reigning Supporters’ Shield holders New England Revolution 4-5-4, 16 points) at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

The cross-conference clash will be nationally televised on ABC and ESPN Deportes with local radio coverage airing on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Tickets are available online at SeatGeek.com.

A pre-match ceremony will feature the induction of Davy Arnaud into the Sporting Legends hall of honor.

Sunday’s match will also mark the return of the club’s annual Soccer For All theme match as Sporting Kansas City celebrates Pride Month by teaming up with the KC Pride Alliance for ongoing support of the LGBTQ community. Players will wear adidas Love Unites training tops and jersey numbers in the colors of the progressive flag. The national anthem will be sung by 2022 American Idol contestant Teddy B and the halftime show will be highlighted by a check presentation from match sponsor Tito’s Handmade Vodka to nonprofit organization Our Spot KC.

In anticipation of high temperatures, all ticket holders will be permitted to bring one bottle of water into Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday. The bottle must be sealed and no larger than 20 ounces, and the bottle’s cap will be removed at the gate upon entry.

A pair of MLS charter clubs, Sporting and New England return to action for the first time in two weeks as the teams meet for the first time since a 4-4 thriller at Children’s Mercy Park in April 2019.

Sporting leads the all-time regular season series with a 25-18-12 record and manager Peter Vermes’ side has gone 5-1-3 against New England at Children’s Mercy Park.

However, the Revolution leads the league with 19 road wins since the start of 2020. New England is the top scoring road team in Major League Soccer this season, averaging an MLS-best two goals per away match thanks in large part to 2021 MLS MVP Carles Gil. The Spanish playmaker led MLS in assists a year ago and once again leads the league with seven assists and 49 chances created in 2022.

Among all players and coaches in league history, Vermes and New England Revolution manager Bruce Arena have the most wins in MLS matches (regular season and postseason). Vermes, who won 99 matches as a player and 183 matches as a head coach in his MLS career, holds the narrow advantage over Arena, the winningest coach in MLS and USMNT history.

Arena’s resume boasts five MLS Cup titles, four MLS Coach of the Year honors and four Supporters’ Shield trophies after the Revolution finished atop the league table in 2021 with a record-setting 73 points in the regular season. Alongside Arena on the New England technical staff is Vermes’ predecessor Curt Onalfo, who served as head coach of the Kansas City Wizards from 2007 to 2009 and is now in his fourth season as the Revolution technical director.

New England arrives in Kansas City unbeaten in its past five MLS matches and amid a time of transition for two key players. Forward Adam Buksa, who scored in his last seven matches for the Revolution across all competitions, completed a transfer to French club RC Lens this week while goalkeeper Matt Turner is currently with the U.S. Men’s National Team ahead of his move to English Premier League side Arsenal FC later this month.

Djordje Petrovic, a 22-year-old Serbian international signed in April, is expected to make his MLS debut in net against a Sporting Kansas City squad that ranks last in the league in goals and will be missing four key attacking options on Sunday. Designated players Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido are sidelined for the season with knee injuries, and wingers Daniel Salloi (Hungary) and Marinos Tzionis (Cyprus) are on international duty participating in the UEFA Nations League in Europe.

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Sporting Kansas City (3-8-4, 13 pts.) saw its five-game home unbeaten streak in all competitions come to an end Saturday with a 1-0 setback against Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4-7-2, 14 pts.) at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Vancouver star Lucas Cavallini scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the 24th minute as Sporting was unable to find a way back into the game.

Sporting made one change from the team’s last MLS match – the 1-1 draw at San Jose last Sunday – as Andreu Fontas came in at center back in place of Robert Voloder.

With 2021 MLS MVP finalist Daniel Salloi suspended, Cypriot winger Marinos Tzionis coming off a knee injury and five other attacking options sidelined through injury, Sporting once again started with versatile midfielder Cam Duke and central midfielder Remi Walter on the wings, either side of captain Johnny Russell.

Sporting almost went ahead just 58 seconds into the match, as Ben Sweat met Felipe Hernandez’s corner kick at the far post but thudded his header over the bar with Vancouver goalkeeper Cody Cropper stranded.

The first major flashpoint came in the 22nd minute when Vancouver earned a penalty kick after Uri Rosell brought down Lucas Cavallini on the edge of the area just moments after producing a spectacular sliding challenge to deny Cristian Dajome a run at goal. Cavallini stepped up himself and dinked a composed penalty into the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

In the 31st minute, Vancouver spurned a golden opportunity to add a second as substitute Deiber Caicedo sprung in behind the Sporting backline and with only Tim Melia to beat, Caicedo lobbed a bouncing effort inches wide of the post.

Sporting threatened to equalize in the 35th minute when Walter cut away from his man 20 yards from goal but struck his curling effort over the bar.

Sporting’s best chance of the first half fell to Russell in the 41st minute when Duke found a nice pocket of space down the left wing and cut the ball across the face of goal for Russell, but the Scotsman couldn’t add to his recent goalscoring form as he skewed his effort well wide of the post when well positioned.

Russell continued to threaten in the early stages of the second half, heading over the bar from inside the six-yard-box after being picked out expertly by Walter’s free kick wide on the right wing.

Hernandez created a turnover high up the field in the 63rd minute and fed Russell on the edge of the area, but the Sporting captain could only muster a tame effort straight into the arms of Cropper in the Vancouver goal.

With the game ticking into the latter stages, Hernandez tried his luck from 20 yards with a first-time effort in the 81st minute, but it sailed over the bar.

Sporting almost found a last-gasp equalizer in the 94th minute when Hernandez’s corner found substitute Nicolas Isimat-Mirin who thundered a header on frame, but Vancouver’s Javain Brown was on hand to clear the ball off the line and clinch three points for the visitors.

Saturday’s match concluded a stretch of seven games in 22 days, with Sporting now having a break in the schedule and returning to action on Saturday, June 12, when Sporting plays host to 2021 MLS Supporters’ Shield winners the New England Revolution at Children’s Mercy Park in a nationally televised contest on ABC. Kickoff for that match is set for 2 p.m. with tickets available via SeatGeek.com.

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Sporting Kansas City (3-7-4, 13 points) will play host to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3-7-2, 11 points) at 8 p.m. Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, in a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup Playoffs encounter.

Tickets are available online at SeatGeek.com and Saturday’s match will mark the return of the club’s annual Sporting Sustainability theme night featuring the newly-released adidas Primeblue uniforms.

The Western Conference clash will be locally televised on 38 The Spot with three hours of coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. The broadcast will stream live on SportingKC.com and in the Sporting KC app for viewers in Kansas and Missouri (excluding St. Louis area per MLS policy), as well as ESPN+ for out-of-market subscribers. Radio commentary will also air on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).

Sporting KC has won three straight home matches during a stretch in which the team has lost just once in eight games across all competitions since April 23.

Meanwhile, Vancouver is the only team in MLS without a road point in 2022. The Whitecaps have lost the club’s last seven MLS road matches — a streak that began in Kansas City last November with a 3-1 defeat at Children’s Mercy Park in the MLS Cup Playoffs — and is winless in the past 10 games away from home across all competitions.

Occupying the bottom two positions in the Western Conference, both clubs are concluding a congested schedule in which each team will be playing its seventh match in a three-week span. Sporting is coming off a 2-1 comeback victory over Houston on Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16, while the Whitecaps prevailed in penalties against Cavalry FC after playing 120 minutes on Wednesday in the Canadian Championship quarterfinals.

Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell scored both goals in Wednesday’s win and leads the team with six goals this season in all competitions, five of which have come in the past month. Russell has four career goals against the Whitecaps, highlighted by a hat trick in 2018, and his next tally will see him become only the fourth player in team history to score 50 goals in all competitions for the club.

Teammate Roger Espinoza is also on the cusp of a major milestone as the World Cup veteran’s next regular season appearance will be the 300th of his Sporting KC and MLS career. Among one-club players in Major League Soccer, only three have accomplished the feat: LA Galaxy legend Cobi Jones (306), Timbers midfielder Diego Chara (322) and Sporting KC defender Graham Zusi (330).

Sporting leads the all-time regular season series against the Whitecaps with an 11-5-4 record, including a 6-1-2 mark at home where SKC hasn’t lost to Vancouver since 2017, however Sporting fell in Vancouver in the previous meeting this year as Ryan Raposo scored in the 73rd minute in a 1-0 result on April 2 at BC Place.

Thomas Hasal made four saves in the shutout, however the 22-year-old goalkeeper is currently injured and is one of six players expected to miss Saturday’s match for Vancouver. Head coach Vanni Sartini will also be without defender Tristan Blackmon (injured), captain Russell Teibert (injured), forward Brian White (health and safety protocol) and designated player Andres Cubas (international duty), while midfielder Ryan Gauld (injured) and forward Brian White (health and safety protocol) are both doubtful on the team’s player availability report.

Sporting is in a similarly shorthanded situation, missing designated players Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido to long-term knee injuries as well as MLS All-Star Daniel Salloi due to a suspension handed down by the MLS Disciplinary Committee. A further six players are questionable due to injuries: starting defenders Logan Ndenbe and Graham Zusi, as well as a foursome of forwards in Russell, Khiry Shelton, Marinos Tzionis and Nikola Vujnovic.

Following Saturday’s match, Sporting KC and adidas are teaming up on a sustainability initiative on the Mazuma Plaza at Children’s Mercy Park. Fans can pick up an adidas reusable tote as well as a mailer to take home and fill with donations to send to the adidas Give Back program, which accepts gently used clothes and shoes from any brand and rewards participants with adiClub points and vouchers to use on adidas.com.

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