Category: Sporting KC

by Brian Turrel

Sporting Kansas City gave up two second-half goals to Nashville FC in a 2-1 loss Saturday evening at Children’s Mercy Park.

Kansas City’s defensive lapses on Nashville set pieces allowed the visitors to overcome an excellent first-half score from Remi Walter and a penalty kick save from Tim Melia.

Kansas City had the best early opportunities, taking advantage of wide open real estate down the right side. Johnny Russell hit a scorcher in the fourth minute, but it was just wide of the far post.

Nashville pushed back and put together a string of opportunities. After a save from Tim Melia in the seventh minute, a potential Nashville goal by Alex Muyl was waved off for offsides in the twelfth.

Hardly a minute later, Melia was forced to defend a penalty kick earned by Nashville on a soft foul by Nicolas Isimat-Mirin. The career leader in penalty save percentage knocked away Hany Mukhtar’s attempt and snapped up the rebound.

Kansas City got on the board in the 25th minute on a well executed build-up. Daniel Salloi played the ball to overlapping Ben Sweat on the left. Sweat beat his defender to the end line and then crossed the ball back to the middle into the path of charging Remi Walter who knocked the ball in from near the penalty spot.

Nashville equalized the score not long after halftime. The team played a free kick short and got a cross into the box that Dave Romney headed in from close range, unmarked as he crashed in toward the back post.

In the 68th minute, Nashville took the lead off a long throw-in deep in the Kansas City end. The throw found the corner of the 6-yard box, and a ricochet found C.J. Sapong eight yards out with a clear view of the goal.

Kansas City got some late offensive energy from substitutes Marinos Tzionis and Nikola Vujnovic, and Russell, Salloi, and Graham Zusi all had shots in the last 20 minutes that narrowly missed or were parried by Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis.

Kansas City has yet to score more than one goal in a match this season, but it was the defense that head coach Peter Vermes called out in his post-game press conference.

“Terrible mentality,” the head coach said, not sparing his words. “Terrible defending mentality. Just terrible. Horrendous. At the end of the day, we should never have given those situations away in the game.”

Though this was Kansas City’s first home loss of the season, its overall record stands at an unpromising 2 wins and 5 losses, and Vermes hinted at changes to come.

“If other guys go out, don’t want to play, don’t want to fight for it,” Vermes warned, “we’ve got other guys that have to step up and give them a chance.”

Kansas City will play next in an Easter game at Los Angeles FC, and the next home match at Children’s Mercy Park is April 23, starting at 7:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

Sporting Kansas City (2-4-0, 6 points) will welcome Western Conference newcomers Nashville SC (2-2-1, 7 points) to Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Tickets for the Midwestern match are available online at SeatGeek.com and former Sporting KC defender Aurelien Collin will be in attendance to sign autographs for fans on the Mazuma Plaza.

Saturday’s showdown will be locally televised on 38 The Spot with three hours of coverage beginning at 7 p.m. The broadcast will also 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. In addition, radio broadcasts will be available on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Sporting enters Saturday as just one of two teams in MLS with a perfect home record in 2022 with 1-0 victories over Houston and Real Salt Lake in March. It marks the first time since 2013 – when Sporting went on to win MLS Cup – for the team to record shutouts in their first two regular season home matches of a campaign.

Meanwhile, Nashville will continue an eight-game road trip to start the season while awaiting the club’s highly anticipated home opener at Geodis Park next month.

Nashville, which has the most shutouts (15) and fewest losses (6) of any team in Major League Soccer since the start of 2021, opened the year with a 1-0 win at Seattle and is coming off a 1-0 win at Columbus last weekend.

An expansion team in 2020, Nashville SC and Sporting KC have played only once previously with SKC coming from behind to win 2-1 at Children’s Mercy Park during Nashville’s inaugural season.

Like Sporting KC, Nashville SC has reached the Conference Semifinals of the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the past two years. In doing so, Nashville became the first expansion team in MLS history to advance in the postseason in each of its first two seasons.

Nashville’s roster is headlined by U.S. Men’s National Team starter Walker Zimmerman, who has claimed MLS Defender of the Year accolades in each of the past two seasons, and playmaker Hany Mukhtar, who finished runner-up in MLS MVP voting last season with 16 goals and 12 assists.

Gary Smith’s squad also features two former Sporting KC forwards in Teal Bunbury (2010-2013) and C.J. Sapong (2011-2014). Both players were drafted by Sporting and played the first four seasons of their professional careers in Kansas City with Sapong winning MLS Rookie of the Year honors in 2011.

Bunbury, however, will be one of three players out for the visitors on Saturday due to a knee injury along with defender Robert Castellanos (ankle) and midfielder Dax McCarty, who has played the fifth most matches in MLS history but was suspended by the MLS Disciplinary Committee. Conversely, designated players Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido remain sidelined for Sporting with long-term injuries.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition will serve as the title night sponsor for Saturday’s match, highlighted by an adoption showcase at halftime featuring dogs from local animal welfare partners Wayside Waifs, Great Plains SPCA and Kansas City, Kansas, Pet Services. Hill’s will sponsor 50 percent of the adoption fees of 10 pets from each shelter, totaling up to 30 pets, during a special promotion from April 9-17 and all dog owners in attendance at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday will have the opportunity to take home a complimentary gift courtesy of Hill’s Pet Nutrition.

• Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City (2-4-0, 6 points) slipped to a 1-0 road loss at Vancouver Whitecaps FC (1-3-1, 4 points) on Saturday night at BC Place in Canada.

An evenly contested battle was decided in the 73rd minute when Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Raposo slotted home from close range, condemning Sporting to a sixth straight away defeat dating back to last October.

Manager Peter Vermes deployed a lineup that featured two changes from Sporting’s 1-0 triumph over rivals Real Salt Lake seven days earlier at Children’s Mercy Park.

Holding midfielder Uri Rosell returned to the pitch after missing a month with a hamstring injury, pushing Remi Walter into an advanced midfield spot and dropping Roger Espinoza to the bench.

In attack, meanwhile, center forward Khiry Shelton replaced Nikola Vujnovic for his first start since March 5, having recovered fully from a calf ailment.

Shelton was involved early and often, conjuring the first threat of the night in the 14th minute by finding a pocket of space in a central area, receiving a pass from Walter and unleashing a low drive that fizzed marginally wide from 25 yards.

The visitors remained on the front foot and asked further questions of the Vancouver backline three minutes shy of intermission. A buildup saw Felipe Hernandez surge into the attacking third, slip past a defender and spread the ball right to Graham Zusi.

Sporting’s all-time appearance leader cut the ball onto his left foot and pulled the trigger on the edge of the box, but his effort took a deflection before looping into the hands of Vancouver goalkeeper Thomas Hasal.

The game’s first shot on target fell to Vancouver two minutes into the second half. Jamaican international Javain Brown floated a long ball over the top to Scottish playmaker Ryan Gauld, whose flick-on header was comfortably collected by Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia. Shortly thereafter, Zusi spread himself and blocked a close-range attempt by Deiber Caicedo.

Sporting tested Hasal for the first time in the 52nd minute on a combination between wingers Johnny Russell and Daniel Salloi. The former slalomed past a pair of Vancouver tacklers and spun a pass to Salloi, who drove goalward only to see his shot atop the box smothered by the Whitecaps keeper.

Canadian international and Vancouver designated player Lucas Cavallini entered as a 58th-minute substitute and his presence was quickly felt, as he forced Melia into a save near the hour-mark.

At the opposite end, fellow substitute Roger Espinoza was on the end of a golden opportunity for Sporting. Left back Ben sweat galloped down the flank and delivered a pinpoint cross to the 35-year-old veteran, whose side volley from the penalty spot lacked the pace and direction to beat Hasal.

The contest continued to gain steam as both sides traded jabs, with the Whitecaps nearly landing a haymaker on 68 minutes when Russell Teibert’s long-range curler missed the target by a matter of inches.

The hosts finally broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute off the foot of Raposo, who opened his MLS scoring account with an opportunistic finish from a tight angle on the left edge of the six-yard area. The play gave Vancouver its first second-half goal of the year and broke Sporting’s 180-minute shutout streak dating back to March 19.

Diminutive winger Marinos Tzionis, who bagged his first career goal for the Cyprus Men’s National Team in a 2-0 win over Estonia on Tuesday, provided a noticeable spark off the bench in the late stages, dashing forward and combining with Espinoza before seeing his left-footed drive corralled by Hasal with 82 minutes on the clock.

Having played four of its first six matches away from home this season, Sporting will be the host of three of its next four in the friendly confines of Children’s Mercy Park.

That stretch will begin next Saturday, April 9, when Vermes’ men welcome Nashville SC (2-2-1, 7 points) for a 7:30 p.m. showdown on 38 The Spot, the Sporting KC app and SportingKC.com. Tickets for the cross-conference fixture are available at SeatGeek.com.

• Story from Sporting KC