On This Day presented by UMKC takes daily strolls down memory lane and celebrates memorable moments in Sporting Kansas City history. As one of Major League Soccer's proud charter members, Sporting has a decorated past full of thrilling victories, amazing goals, momentous off-the-field developments and more. This series pays tribute to these specific instances, turning back the clocks while treating fans to nostalgia and club history lessons. For more, visit SportingKC.com/OnThisDay.
If ever there was a house of horrors for Minnesota United FC, it just might be Children's Mercy Park.
In five competitive home matches since Minnesota joined Major League Soccer in 2017, Sporting Kansas City boasts a perfect 5-0-0 record with 14 goals scored and just one conceded.
Two of those five victories have fallen on June 3, both of which saw Sporting sink the Loons before national television audiences in Kansas City.
We begin three years ago today, when Manager Peter Vermes' men secured a 3-0 triumph in Minnesota's first visit to Children's Mercy Park as an MLS club. Sporting defender Ike Opara, in the midst of an MLS Defender of the Year campaign, fired the hosts ahead on the stroke of halftime with a splendid long-range strike that set the tone for a dominant second-half performance. Jimmy Medranda doubled the advantage in the 54th minute and Saad Abdul-Salaam opened his MLS scoring account in the 87th minute to round out a comprehensive Saturday afternoon win on ESPN.
The sides met in the same place and on the same date a year later. The 2018 iteration of Sporting was well on its way to a club-record 65 regular season goals and put four past the hapless Loons this time around, prevailing 4-1 in a Sunday night showdown on FS1. Daniel Salloi's early goal gave Sporting a lead that lasted just two minutes, as Tyrone Mears brought Minnesota level with a blast from distance. It was all Sporting from there, however, as Diego Rubio, Cristian Lobato and Academy product Wan Kuzain found the back of the net.
Sporting out-shot the Loons 52-14 across the two games, including an 18-3 cushion in shots on target. Vermes' side went on to split the 2019 series with Minnesota, winning 1-0 at home on Aug. 22 and falling 2-1 on Sept. 25.
