Tag: Sporting KC

Sporting, Minnesota to battle for first place Sunday

A battle for first place in the Western Conference will unfold Sunday night at Children’s Mercy Park as Sporting Kansas City (5-3-2, 17 points) and Minnesota United FC (5-3-2, 17 points) write the next chapter of their regional rivalry.

The annual Kick Childhood Cancer match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. with three hours of live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports GO beginning at 7 p.m. The contest will also air locally on ESPN 94.5 FM.

Following detailed safety protocols developed in conjunction with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, Sunday’s match at Children’s Mercy Park will be held at a reduced capacity with extensive safety protocols in place.

Tickets for the game are available exclusively to Sporting Kansas City season ticket members via lottery and no single-game tickets will be sold by the club on SeatGeek.com or at the stadium box office.

Trailing first-place Seattle Sounders FC by a point in the standings, Sporting and Minnesota have the opportunity to reach the Western Conference summit with a win on Sunday.

Both teams have experienced similar journeys within the context of an unprecedented 2020 season thus far, beginning 2-0-0 prior to a four-month hiatus, performing well at the MLS is Back Tournament and earning mixed results since MLS resumed to home markets in mid-August.

Sporting returned from Walt Disney World and beat the Loons 2-1 on Aug. 21 to improve to 5-1-0, but have taken just two points from their previous four games. The Loons jumped to 3-0-0 with a 2-1 win over Sporting on July 12 in Orlando, then went on a five-game regular season winless skid before rebounding with consecutive home wins last week over Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas.

Minnesota entered MLS as an expansion club in 2017 and has faced Sporting 12 times in all competitions since then. Manager Peter Vermes’ side has a 6-4-2 edge in the all-time series, including a perfect 5-0-0 record at Children’s Mercy Park. Sporting has dominated the Loons in the friendly confines of their world-class stadium, outscoring Minnesota 14-1 and posting four shutouts.

After missing the playoffs in 2017 and 2018, head coach Adrian Heath led Minnesota to its first postseason appearance last fall. Momentum has continued into 2020, with the Loons proving to be one of the more dynamic MLS outfits during the first half of the campaign.

Attacking midfielder Kevin Molino is tied for fifth in MLS with five goals, having scored twice in Wednesday’s 3-2 home win over FC Dallas, while Robin Lod, Ethan Finlay and Luis Amarilla have all bagged multiple goals this year to go with Jan Gregus’ five assists.

The emerging X-factor, however, could be newly acquired Argentine playmaker Emanuel “Bebelo” Reynoso. The 25-year-old joined the Loons on Sept. 1 from South American powerhouse Boca Juniors and has recorded assists in each of his first two MLS starts.

Sunday’s fixture will feature two of the league’s most potent offenses. Minnesota is tied for second in the league with 2.1 goals per game, while Sporting is fourth at a clip of 2.0 per game. The hosts are also chasing history, as they have scored in each of their first 10 regular season matches for the first time since 2007, two games shy of the club record.

Sporting’s deep attacking corps features forward Khiry Shelton (four goals), midfielder Gadi Kinda (four goals, two assists), striker Alan Pulido (three goals, four assists), winger Johnny Russell (two goals) and center forward Erik Hurtado (two goals).

In recent weeks, Vermes has navigated a congested schedule by relying on a stable of young Sporting Kansas City Academy products. Eighteen-year-old midfielder Gianluca Busio and 20-year-old defender Jaylin Lindsey have started five straight matches, while 19-year-old Cameron Duke and 22-year-old Felipe Hernandez have seen their minutes grow in midfield. Forward Daniel Salloi is another attacking option at Vermes’ disposal, having finished as the team’s top goal scorer in 2018.

In advance of the contest, Sporting KC announced Saturday that a firt-team player has been confirmed positive for COVID-19, according to a news relese.

All other players and members of the club have returned multiple negative test results and do not have symptoms, according to the announcement.

Upon receiving an initial positive test result, the player self-isolated under a strict and comprehensive protocol, according to the news release. The player will remain in isolation until medically cleared and will be monitored daily by the club’s medical staff. Sporting Kansas City has also implemented contact tracing ahead of the club’s home match against Minnesota on Sunday.

The MLS testing protocol requires all MLS players to undergo polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests every other day, including the day before each match. The confirmation of a positive COVID-19 case occurs when a player receives two consecutive positive test results, according to a spokesman.

In conjunction with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Sporting and The Victory Project have joined MLS in launching the Kick Childhood Cancer campaign to help support to one of the most vulnerable populations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A variety of Kick Childhood Cancer retail items will be available at the stadium on Sunday, including limited-time scarves and beanies. For every beanie sold, a beanie will be donated to Children’s Mercy Hospital. Supporters can also visit victorykc.org/5050 through the end of September to participate.

The Kick Childhood Cancer initiative will be amplified on the field this weekend with a commemorative gold ribbon on the adidas 2020 MLS Nativo XXV Official Match Ball as well as gold corner flags and goal nets. Players will wear Kick Childhood Cancer gold ribbon jersey patches and captain’s armbands, technical staff will don Kick Childhood Cancer pins, and PRO referees will sport gold wristbands.

Sunday marks the continuation of a busy match schedule through the end of the regular season, as clubs will play up to two times per week through Decision Day on Nov. 8 to conclude the abbreviated and condensed 23-game campaign. The Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, featuring an expanded field of 18 teams, are slated to begin on Nov. 20 and culminate on Dec. 12 with MLS Cup.

Information from Sporting KC

Sporting drops road match to Houston, 2-1

Western Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City (5-3-2, 17 points) suffered their first road loss of the season on Saturday, falling 2-1 to third-place Houston Dynamo (3-2-4, 13 points) at BBVA Stadium in Houston.

Forward Erik Hurtado punctuated his first start of the season by firing the visitors ahead on the half-hour mark, but a pair of second-half Houston substitutes provided game-changing impacts as Alberth Elis equalized and Mauro Manotas headed home a late match-winner to give the Dynamo their third straight victory.

Still occupying first place in the West, Sporting will have a full week of recuperation and preparation prior to hosting regional rivals Minnesota United FC next Sunday, Sept. 13, at Children’s Mercy Park in a game that will air on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest Plus.

Manager Peter Vermes continued his squad rotation on Saturday as Sporting Kansas City took the field for the fifth time in 16 days.

Five changes adorned the starting XI, highlighted by the 300th career MLS start for captain Matt Besler, Hurtado leading the attack and left back Amadou Dia making his first Sporting start since April 2016.

Midfielder Gadi Kinda returned from a red card suspension, joining Academy products Gianluca Busio and Felipe Hernandez in the center of the park, while veteran Graham Zusi-who was a midfield substitute in Wednesday’s 1-1 home draw against FC Dallas-was deployed as a winger for the first time since the 2016 playoffs.

A tepid start to proceedings saw neither side threaten until the 19th minute when Houston forwards Darwin Quintero and Christian Ramirez combined intricately at the top of the box before playing through to Niko Hansen, but Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia produced a reflex save and pounced on the loose ball before it crossed the goal line.

The breakthrough fell to Sporting in the 30th minute on a buildup from the back that involved 10 different players touching the ball in a sequence. The flowing move culminated with Kinda exploiting a pocket of space and slipping an intelligent through ball to Shelton, whose low piledriver from the left side of the box was blocked by the outstretched foot of Houston goalkeeper Marko Maric.

The on-running Hurtado was there to stab the rebound into the roof of the net, bagging his second goal of the season and his fourth since arriving in Kansas City in 2019. Sporting has now scored in its first 10 matches of the season for the first time since 2007 and is the only MLS team yet to be shut out in 2020.

Both teams exchanged chances on the brink of halftime, with Zusi curling a strike just over the crossbar and Ramirez rattling the woodwork after running onto Quintero’s feed.

Houston seized greater initiative in the second period and drew level in the 59th minute through Elis, who had entered the game just one minute earlier.

Quintero lofted a diagonal pass from the left edge of the box to the opposite side, where an open Darwin Ceren steered a cross low for Elis to prod past Melia. The Honduran now has two goals and three assists during Houston’s three-game winning run, with both strikes coming against Sporting.

End-to-end action would unfold over the next 10 minutes as Sporting and Houston searched for a go-ahead goal. Melia dove left to turn away a blistering long-range blast from Quintero in the 65th minute, less than 60 seconds before Kinda intercepted a pass and played centrally to Zusi, who unleashed a 20-yard effort that bent wide of Maric’s left-hand post.

Melia again spared Sporting’s blushes in the 76th minute, denying substitute Ariel Lassiter on the breakaway.

Lassiter, the son of former Kansas City forward Roy Lassiter, tried rounding Melia on the breakaway, but the Sporting keeper got his left glove on the ball and extinguished the danger.

Houston landed its fatal blow with 85 minutes on the clock. Right back Zarek Valentin was afforded room to cross from the right flank and whipped a ball into the mixer for Manotas to head into the back of the net at close range.

The goal was the 50th of Manotas’ regular season career and his eighth against Sporting in all competitions dating back to 2016.

Manotas nearly added to his tally in second-half stoppage time, only for his attempt to be turned away as Melia recorded his fourth and final save of the night.

  • Story from Sporting KC

Sporting travels to Houston Saturday

The third head-to-head meeting this season between rivals Sporting Kansas City (5-2-2, 17 points) and the Houston Dynamo (2-2-4, 10 points) will take place Saturday at BBVA Stadium in Houston, pitting the Western Conference leaders against one of the league’s most in-form teams.

Saturday’s showdown will kick off at 7 p.m. with live broadcasts on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO, including 30-minutes of pregame and postgame coverage. Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM will carry the contest locally over the radio, while U.S. viewers outside of the FOX Sports Midwest footprint can stream the action on ESPN Plus.

Sporting and Houston have stirred up a compelling rivalry over the last decade, having met in four editions of the MLS Cup Playoffs and five Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournaments since 2011, and will face quick turnarounds when they take the field Saturday for the newest installment of the series.

Led by 12th-year manager Peter Vermes, the longest-tenured head coach in MLS, Sporting came from behind to secure a 1-1 home draw on Wednesday against FC Dallas as forward Khiry Shelton moved into a tie for the team lead with his fourth goal of the campaign.

On the same evening, Houston strolled to a 3-0 home victory over Minnesota United FC behind Darwin Quintero’s early strike and a second-half brace from substitute Ariel Lassiter, the son of former MLS great Roy Lassiter.

Occupying first place in the Western Conference table — two points clear of second-place Seattle Sounders FC and three points shy of Columbus Crew SC in the Supporters’ Shield race — Sporting has erased deficits to claim 1-1 ties in consecutive matches, previously splitting the points at Colorado last Saturday.

Vermes has leaned heavily on a crop of young Sporting KC Academy products, and the club notably started four homegrown players on Wednesday for the second time in team history.

An all-homegrown midfield of 18-year-old Gianluca Busio, 19-year-old Cam Duke and 22-year-old Felipe Hernandez was joined by 20-year-old right back Jaylin Lindsey in the starting XI, while forward Daniel Salloi was the fifth Academy representative to see the field as a second-half substitute.

While Sporting’s youth movement is in full motion, a host of Sporting veterans could be set for increased roles this weekend.

Defenders Matt Besler and Graham Zusi came off the bench against Dallas, while center back Winston Reid and forward Alan Pulido were rested. Midfielder Gadi Kinda, level with Shelton on four goals, is also available after serving a one-game red card suspension.

Under the guidance of first-year MLS head coach Tab Ramos — a longtime teammate of Vermes at the club and U.S. international level — Houston was the last team in the league to record a win this season, doing so at Sporting’s expense on Aug. 25 at Children’s Mercy Park.

They began the campaign 0-2-4 and failed to emerge from the MLS is Back Tournament group stage in Walt Disney World, but have outscored Sporting and Minnesota 8-2 in their last two outings to move back into the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture.

A dynamic Houston attack is spearheaded by Darwin Quintero and Alberth Elis, both of whom enter Saturday in scintillating form. Quintero exploded for two goals and two assists in the Dynamo’s 5-2 defeat of Sporting last month, while Elis has contributed two goals and three assists of his own during the club’s winning streak.

The duo are two of five MLS players — alongside Sporting winger Johnny Russell — with 20 goals and 20 assists in the regular season since the start of 2018.

The first two battles between Sporting and Houston this season took place in Kansas City and resulted in lopsided scores.

Vermes’ men throttled the Dynamo in their 2020 home opener on March 7 — receiving goals from Shelton, Kinda, Pulido and Roger Espinoza — before Houston returned the favor with a three-goal triumph over a week ago. Sporting are 2-0-1 in true road matches this year and have taken four points from their last two visits to BBVA Stadium, a 1-0 win in August 2018 and a 1-1 stalemate in June 2019.

Saturday marks the continuation of a busy match schedule through the end of the regular season, as clubs will play up to two times per week through Decision Day on Nov. 8 to conclude the abbreviated and condensed 23-game campaign.

The MLS Cup Playoffs, featuring an expanded field of 18 teams, are slated to begin on Nov. 20 and culminate with the 25th MLS Cup on Dec. 12.

Story from Sporting KC