"By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals" is a season-long series that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
Riding high from a remarkable 2-1 extra-time win over FC Dallas on Wednesday in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, Sporting Kansas City will look to keep the momentum rolling on Saturday with a visit to the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park. Kickoff is slated for 9:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Manager Peter Vermes' men have won consecutive matches for the first time all season, sinking FC Dallas twice in four days at Children's Mercy Park to reinvigorate a side that has struggled away from home in recent months. Up next for Sporting is a road test against the Earthquakes, who have yet to find their footing during a tumultuous 2024 campaign.
As Sporting continues to navigate a demanding stretch of seven games in 22 days, we take a statistical look at Saturday's contest in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and San Jose last met on March 16 at Children’s Mercy Park. Sporting earned a 2-1 comeback win as Alan Pulido and Dany Rosero bagged first-half goals after Vitor Costa opened the scoring.
- Sporting is 3-2-2 in its last seven visits to PayPal Park after going winless in 18 straight away games at San Jose from 2000 to 2016.
- Both regular season meetings last year resulted in 3-0 wins for the home side. San Jose prevailed 3-0 in April 2023 behind a Jeremy Ebobisse brace and a Cristian Espinoza strike. Sporting secured the same result in August 2023 with goals from Daniel Salloi, Johnny Russell and Erik Thommy.
- Sporting is 10-2-6 against San Jose in the last 18 meetings in all competitions since September 2016.
- Since August 2004, the home team in the fixture is 27-4-8 across all competitions.
- Last October, Sporting and San Jose met in the MLS Cup Playoffs for the fourth time as SKC prevailed 4-2 on penalties following a 0-0 draw in the Wild Card Round at Children’s Mercy Park. San Jose prevailed in the 2003 conference finals before Sporting prevailed in the 2004 conference semifinals and the 2020 conference quarterfinals.
- Sporting owns a 32-28-12 record in 72 MLS meetings with San Jose (including a 1-2-2 record in five playoff matches), scoring 95 goals (1.32 per game) and conceding 90 goals (1.25 per game).
- Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia has a 9-5-3 regular season record against San Jose and has three penalty shootout wins against the Earthquakes, coming in the 2017 Open Cup and the 2020 and 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. In the three shootouts combined, only six of the 13 penalties Melia faced were successful. He saved six and one was missed off target.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) in nine regular season appearances against San Jose.
- Sporting forward Johnny Russell has six goal contributions (two goals, four assists) in 11 regular season appearances against San Jose.
- Sporting forward Alan Pulido has three goal contributions (two goals, one assist) in four regular season appearances against San Jose, including a goal in the most recent meeting on March 16.
- San Jose forward Jeremy Ebobisse has three goals in eight career regular season appearances against Sporting.
- San Jose forward Cristian Espinoza has five goal contributions (one goal, four assists) in nine regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 5-13-5, 20 points (13th in West | 37 GF, 48 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 1-8-2 (12 GF, 23 GA)
- Last five matches: 2-3-0 (L-L-W-L-W)
- Sporting ranks seventh in MLS in non-penalty goals (37) and eighth in non-PK goals per match (1.61).
- Sporting’s 1.61 goals per match during the 2024 regular season are the club’s fourth most since the Peter Vermes era began in 2009 (SKC had more goals per match in 2018, 2020 and 2021).
- Sporting has scored 10 goals off set pieces this season, third most in MLS.
- Sporting has gone 17 straight matches without a draw in all competitions, the third longest streak in club history. Sporting’s most recent draw was a 3-3 home result against St. Louis City SC on April 20.
- Sporting leads MLS with 15 different goal scorers during the 2024 regular season.
- Sporting has fielded 18 different starting lineups in its last 18 matches across all competitions. Sporting has utilized 22 different starting lineups in 26 total matches this season.
- Sporting earned a 2-1 extra-time home win over FC Dallas on Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Sporting will host USL Championship side Indy Eleven in the semifinals on Aug. 27 or 28.
- Forward Willy Agada has scored three goals in his last two matches, netting twice in a 3-2 MLS win over Dallas on Sunday and once in a 2-1 Open Cup win over Dallas on Wednesday.
- Agada leads Sporting with eight goals this season in all competitions, all of which have come at home.
- Agada leads MLS in non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes (0.71) while ranking second in expected goals per 90 minutes (0.77) and fourth in shots per 90 minutes (4.91).
- Forward Johnny Russell assisted both goals in Wednesday’s Open Cup win over Dallas. He has eight goal contributions (four goals, four assists) in 10 career Open Cup appearances.
- Russell has six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) in his last eight MLS starts since May 18. His 60 regular season goals are second most in club history, while his 66 goals in all competitions are third most in club history and one behind Dom Dwyer.
- With a 2-1 win on Wednesday, goalkeeper Tim Melia has prevailed in 11 of his 12 career Open Cup appearances for Sporting, including penalty shootout wins in the 2015 final and the 2017 semifinal.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez leads Sporting with six assists this season. He had a goal and an assist in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Dallas, marking the second time he has scored and assisted in the same MLS match after doing so in May 2021 with Houston Dynamo FC.
- Defender Dany Rosero scored Sporting’s winning goal in the 111th minute of Wednesday’s Open Cup clash. All six of his goals since joining the club in early 2023 have been headers off set pieces.
- Defender Tim Leibold had a secondary assist on Sunday and now has a goal contribution in three straight MLS matches, having scored in a 2-0 win over Austin on June 29 and assisted in a 2-1 loss to Colorado on July 4.
- Forward Stephen Afrifa, forward Alan Pulido and midfielder Erik Thommy are tied for second on the team with four goals apiece this season in all competitions.
San Jose Earthquakes
- 2024 MLS record: 4-16-2, 14 points (14th in West | 30 GF, 56 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 3-7-1 (12 GF, 22 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-4-0 (L-L-L-L-W)
- San Jose is at the bottom of the Supporters’ Shield standings with 14 points, posting a 4-16-2 record through 22 matches. The Earthquakes have the most losses (16), home losses (seven), away losses (nine), goals conceded (56) and goals conceded per match (2.55) of any MLS team this season.
- San Jose has a goal differential of -26 and a home goal differential of -10, both the worst in MLS.
- San Jose earned a 1-0 home win over Chicago Fire FC on Sunday, posting its first shutout of the season and snapping a six-game losing streak and a 10-game winless drought in all competitions.
- San Jose has been outscored 20-1 after the 75th minute this season. Their one goal scored after the 75th minute is the fewest in MLS, while their 20 goals allowed during that interval are the most in MLS.
- San Jose has a -4 goal differential through the 60th minute and a -22 goal differential past the 60th minute this season.
- San Jose is averaging 1.09 goals per home match (12 in 11 games) and 1.64 goals per road match (18 in 11 games).
- San Jose has a league-worst 3-5-1 record when scoring first this season. The Earthquakes are 1-11-1 when conceding first, the third worst record in MLS.
- San Jose has three losses when leading at halftime this season, tied for the most in MLS (2-3-0 record).
- Forward Cristian Espinoza is tied for fourth in MLS with 11 assists and leads San Jose with 14 total goal contributions (three goals, 11 assists). He also leads MLS in corner kicks (112) and ranks second in key passes (62).
- Espinoza is the only San Jose player to start in all 22 regular season matches this year. He leads the team in minutes played (1,917), shots (49) and shots on goal (18).
- Forward Jeremy Ebobisse has appeared in 96 straight regular season matches for San Jose dating back to Oct. 16, 2021. He is tied for second on the team with four goals this season alongside midfielder Hernan Lopez.
- Forward Amahl Pellegrino leads San Jose with five goals this season, his first campaign in MLS.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting is one shy of 1,300 goals scored in the MLS regular season.
- Assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin is one shy of his 750th regular season match with Sporting as a player or a coach, as well as his 900th match with the club as a player or a coach in all competitions.
- Forward Johnny Russell ranks third in club history with 66 goals in all competitions, one shy of tying Dom Dwyer for second on the all-time chart.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 99 goal contributions (59 goals, 40 assists) for Sporting in all competitions, fourth most in club history.
- Forward Alan Pulido is tied for ninth in Sporting history with 31 regular season goals alongside Benny Feilhaber, Mo Johnston and Graham Zusi.
- Forward Willy is one shy of his 50th career MLS appearance (including playoffs).
- Defender Robert Castellanos is one shy of his 100th professional club appearance.
