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Sporting KC travels to Chicago Saturday

Playing the team’s third road match in the first four weeks of the 2022 season, Sporting Kansas City (1-2-0, 3 points) will travel to take on the unbeaten Chicago Fire FC (1-0-2, 5 points) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Soldier Field.

The cross-conference clash will air live on 38 The Spot with three hours of coverage starting at 4:30 p.m. The match will also stream live on SportingKC.com and the Sporting KC mobile app for viewers in Kansas and Missouri (excluding St. Louis area), while out-of-market fans can watch via ESPN+. In addition, ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM will carry the match locally for listeners.

Sporting is looking to bounce back after falling 2-0 on the road at the Colorado Rapids last Saturday, while Chicago is coming off a 2-0 win in the nation’s capital over D.C. United.

Under first-year head coach Ezra Hendrickson, the Fire opened the season with back-to-back scoreless draws and has kept clean sheets in each of its first three matches. The feat is a first in club history and the Fire is only the eighth team in the MLS to record three straight shutouts to start a season.

Seventeen-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina now has seven clean sheets in his first 14 professional appearances for a rejuvenated Fire side that has high hopes in 2022 after only two playoff berths, and no postseason wins, in the past 11 seasons.

Chicago acquired 30-year-old winger Xherdan Shaqiri – who featured for Switzerland in the last three FIFA World Cups and who recently won both the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool – as the team’s most expensive transfer signing last month as part of an offseason overhaul of the roster.

The Fire’s top four scorers from last season have all departed, making way for the arrival of Kacper Przybylko in a trade with Philadelphia after the 28-year-old striker led the Union in scoring in each of the last three years. Jairo Torres will further bolster the Fire attack when the 21-year-old winger arrives in May from Atlas FC in Mexico, while 22-year-old Bulgarian winger Stanislav Ivanov scored his first goal for the Fire last weekend.

Although Chicago leads the all-time series, Sporting KC earned a 2-0 victory over the Fire at Children’s Mercy Park last September in the only meeting between the two sides in 2021, and Sporting has won five of the team’s last six games against the Fire with a 5-0-1 record in the matchup dating back to 2017.

Manager Peter Vermes has led Sporting to road results in the club’s last two trips to Chicago with a 4-3 victory in 2018 and a 2-2 draw in 2020, however Sporting is 5-18-3 all-time on the road against Chicago in the regular season including a 1-7-2 mark at Soldier Field – the team’s lowest winning percentage at any current MLS stadium in which Sporting has played at least two regular season matches.

Sporting Kansas City defender Graham Zusi, who scored his final goal for the U.S. Men’s National Team at Soldier Field during the Copa America Centenario, is on the cusp of becoming the club’s all-time minutes leader in MLS regular-season action.

With 25,474 minutes played, Zusi trails Matt Besler by just 27 minutes for that distinction and his next start will be the 300th of his career in MLS regular season and postseason competition. The first player in MLS history to play 14 seasons all with one club, Zusi’s 323 career regular season appearances are fifth most in MLS history by a player for one club and the most of any active player in that category.

Zusi is one of four starters to play every minute for Sporting KC this season — along with Tim Melia, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin and Remi Walter — as Sporting copes with injuries to several key players. In addition to the long-term absences of designated players Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda, midfielder Uri Rosell was injured in the season opener and midfielder Felipe Hernandez was forced to exit the team’s last match as Sporting took on Colorado without MLS All-Star Daniel Salloi and starting striker Khiry Shelton due to injury.

Newcomers Marinos Tzionis and Nikola Vujnovic made their first starts for Sporting last Saturday in place of Salloi and Shelton on the frontline, while defenders Kortne Ford and Ben Sweat returned from lengthy knee injuries to make their club debuts as second-half substitutes.

Kayden Pierre also came off the bench to make his first MLS appearance at 19 years of age, becoming the 14th Sporting KC Academy product to sign as a homegrown player and appear in an MLS match.

Saturday’s showdown in the Windy City will be the latest in a long history between Kansas City and Chicago. Most notably, Kansas City defeated Chicago by 1-0 in the 2000 MLS Cup and 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup finals while also edging the Fire for the 2000 Supporters’ Shield title.

Story from Sporting KC

Sporting KC ousted from playoffs by late Salt Lake goal

Johnny Russell blasted a penalty kick into the right corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead in Sporting Kansas City’s conference semi-final match against Real Salt Lake. Salt Lake won the match 2-1 on a late goal. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

For the second time in as many meetings, Real Salt Lake delivered a loss to Sporting Kansas City with a goal in stoppage time. The stakes were bigger the second time around, and the loss ended Kansas City’s season on Sunday in front of 21,650 fans at standing-room-only Children’s Mercy Park.

Kansas City held a 1-0 halftime lead thanks to a Johnny Russell penalty kick in the 21st minute. Gadi Kinda earned the penalty when he was hit with a late challenge by Aaron Herrera just inside the Salt Lake 18-yard box.

Kansas City had a chance to double the lead in the 45th minute when Remi Walter won a challenge in the Salt Lake end and fired a long-range blast up the middle, but Walter’s shot was just wide to the right.

Salt Lake upped its offensive intensity in the second half. Though the visitors didn’t record a shot in the first 20 minutes after the break, they then created 5 shots in quick succession, including the equalizer in the 73rd minute. Andrew Brody crossed the ball from the left wing for Anderson Julio to nod in.

After conceding the goal, Kansas City was on the back foot for the remainder of the match though the team held off Salt Lake’s pressure through regulation.

As the clock hit 90 minutes, overtime looked certain, but Salt Lake got four players out on a fast break in the first minute of stoppage time. The Kansas City defense was slow to recover, and Justin Meram played a cross from the left side to Bobby Wood who redirected it to the far corner of the goal.

A shocked silence settled across the stadium, and Sporting’s late, frantic efforts went for naught.

After the match, head coach Peter Vermes questioned his team’s engagement in the game.

“We just weren’t out putting pressure on them,” Vermes said. “We gave them too much time and space on the ball. If you just look at their two goals, we have chances to win the ball, chase the guy down, and we just weren’t there. We weren’t there. We weren’t in the game as we normally are for some reason.”

Team captain Russell agreed with the coach about the lack of pressure.

“We sat back too much,” the Scottish forward said. “[We] gave them way too much respect, gave way too much of the ball and when you camp that far in your half, they’re going to create chances. Unfortunately for us, they took them.”

Salt Lake advances to the conference final where it will face the Portland Timbers, who won their semi-final Thursday against Seattle.

The MLS season will start earlier than usual next year, due to the 2022 World Cup. Kansas City’s first match will be at Atlanta on Feb. 27, with the home opener March 5.

Defender Nicolas Isimat-Mirin leaped to head the ball as it was punched away by Salt Lake goalkeeper David Ochoa. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Midfielder Remi Walter fired a shot from just outside the penalty box. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

The Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department color guard presented the colors before the match. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Midfielder Gadi Kinda was fouled by Salt Lake defender Aaron Herrera and was awarded a penalty kick. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Defender Luis Martins out-jumped Salt Lake forward Maikel Chang for a header. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Fans waved white “rally towels” distributed to all attendees before the match. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Midfielder Roger Espinoza slid to keep possession away from Salt Lake defender Marcelo Silva. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Salt Lake defender Justen Glad headed a clearance near the Salt Lake goal. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Fans celebrated Johnny Russell’s first-half penalty kick goal. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Salt Lake goalkeeper David Ochoa saved a last-ditch shot opportunity in stoppage time. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Fans expressed their support for the team before the match. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Children’s Mercy Park was sold out for the conference semi-final playoff game, with an announced attendance of 21,650 fans. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Real Salt Lake celebrated its upset victory when the final whistle sounded. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Controversial loss drops Sporting to third place heading to MLS playoffs

Salt Lake defender Marcelo Silva got the better of forward Khiry Shelton in a scrap for the ball near the Salt Lake penalty area. Salt Lake won the match 1-0 on a goal in second half stoppage time. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

Sporting Kansas City enters the MLS playoffs on a sour note, giving up a goal late in second half stoppage time to Real Salt Lake and dropping to third in the Western Conference standings.

The loss came with controversy. A penalty area hand ball by Salt Lake defender Justen Glad went unmarked by referee Ted Unkle in the final minute of regulation. Unkle also declined a video review of the incident, to great displeasure from the crowd and the team.

A call would have given Kansas City a penalty kick and the likely chance of closing out the match ahead 1-0.

In his post-game press conference, manager Peter Vermes ripped into the officials and the league. He called the officials’ failure a “travesty,” noting that it affected not just the teams in the match but also knocked the Los Angeles Galaxy out of the playoffs due to Salt Lake’s win.

Vermes, who earlier in the season pledged to refrain from commenting on officials, didn’t hold back in his post-game press conference. He called the decision a “black mark on this league,” and “unprofessional.”

“The fact that we missed that out there, in any game,” said the coach, “let alone the magnitude of this game, is incredibly disappointing to someone who has been in the league since 1996. We have come so far, but we haven’t come far enough. I’m embarrassed to be part of the league when you can’t do that.”

The 1-0 loss is the third consecutive for the team, which will open the playoffs at home against the sixth place Vancouver Whitecaps.

Following the match, goalkeeper Tim Melia hit a positive note, saying that at the start of the season the team would have gladly accepted the chance to open the playoffs at home.

Kansas City controlled most of the possession and had multiple scoring opportunities, especially in the second half. Daniel Salloi found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper David Ochoa in the 49th minute and again in the 62nd, but was denied by the keeper both times.

The Sporting lineup had multiple changes from the squad that played at Austin on Wednesday, due to a lengthy injury list. Frequent scorers Johnny Russell and Gadi Kinda both stayed on the sidelines, and Grayson Barber and Khiry Shelton started the match in their stead. Center back fixture Ilie Sanchez also started the game on the bench.

The date and time for Kansas City’s first-round playoff match against Vancouver at Children’s Mercy Park will be announced later by the league.