Sporting Kansas City hits the road this weekend as the team prepares to take on Houston Dynamo FC at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed for free on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish. The match will also be available on the radio locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
1. BACK TO WINNING WAYS
Sporting Kansas City returned to winning ways this past weekend, cruising to a 3-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Children’s Mercy Park behind goals from Remi Walter, Alan Pulido and Erik Thommy.
The three-goal victory over the Whitecaps was the fourth regular season win of the year by a three-goal margin. In club history, only 2018 - when Sporting set a new club record with 65 goals - had more regular season wins by three or more goals.
The buildup to Sporting Kansas City’s opening goal on Saturday began with a goal kick from Kendall McIntosh and featured passes by nine different players. According to Opta, Sporting has scored only one other regular season goal from a buildup that began with a goal kick in the past five seasons (Yohan Croizet’s goal in a 1-1 draw at Houston on June 1, 2019).
In a curious stat from Saturday night, Sporting fielded the fewest U.S.-born players in a regular season match in club history with Kendall McIntosh and Jake Davis the only two players born in the U.S. of the 16 players that appeared. SKC had fielded at least three U.S.-born players in the team’s previous 875 regular season matches prior to Saturday.
2. MAJOR CHALLENGE IN HOUSTON
Sporting Kansas City will head to one of the toughest road environments in MLS this weekend when the team heads south to take on Houston Dynamo FC at Shell Energy Stadium. With a 7-1-1 home record in MLS play this season, the Dynamo have the best home record in the Western Conference.
Sporting have already visited Shell Energy Stadium once in 2023, heading south on May 10 for a U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 clash and falling to a 1-0 defeat following Thor Ulfarsson’s early goal from distance.
Sporting claimed the season series against Houston in 2022, going 1-0-1. Remi Walter’s goal was enough for Sporting to take a 1-0 win in the club’s home opener on March 5, 2022 before Sporting was unable to take advantage of a Matias Vera red card as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in Houston on Sept. 10, 2022. Sporting also beat the Dynamo 2-1 in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 at Children’s Mercy Park last season.
The all-time regular-season series is deadlocked at 13-13-14 between the two sides, although Sporting has gone 8-3-2 since the start of 2018.
3. PULIDO’S SCORING RUN CONTINUES
Sporting Kansas City forward and Designated Player Alan Pulido continued where he left off after being named MLS Player of the Month for June, tallying his eighth goal of the MLS season on the first day of July in Sporting’s 3-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Children’s Mercy Park.
Pulido now has seven goals in the past six games and led both the team and all of MLS with seven total goal contributions throughout June (six goals, one assist). Pulido also leads Sporting with 12 goal contributions in all competitions this season (nine goals, three assists).
Pulido is the third player in club history to score seven goals in a six-game stretch of the regular season alongside Johnny Russell in 2021 and Eddie Johnson in 2007.
4. WALTER BAGS GAME-WINNING GOAL, ASSIST
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Remi Walter enjoyed a star-turn during this past Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Children’s Mercy Park. Walter tallied the game-winning goal before adding an excellent assist to spur Sporting to victory on the night.
Walter opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a composed finish on his weaker right foot after receiving a splitting pass from Gadi Kinda. It’s Walter’s first goal in almost a year, having last tallied the game-winner in the 2-1 road win at CF Montreal on July 9, 2022. He followed up his goal with a secondary assist as his brilliant pass to Tim Leibold allowed the German to set up Alan Pulido for the team’s second goal late in the first half.
Walter, who has seen three of his five goals for the club stand up as game-winners, recently saw his 56-game streak of consecutive starts come to an end during Sporting’s 4-1 victory over the Portland Timbers on May 28, 2023. Walter was named to the bench of the MLS Team of the Matchday for his performance last weekend.
5. KINDA NAMED TO TEAM OF THE MATCHDAY
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Gadi Kinda was selected to the MLS Team of the Matchday on Monday for Matchday 22 of the 2023 MLS regular season after tallying a stunning game-winning assist in the 3-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Children’s Mercy Park last Saturday.
Kinda and Remi Walter connected in the 33rd minute of Saturday’s Western Conference clash at Children’s Mercy Park with what would ultimately prove to be the game-winning goal. Kinda received a pass inside Sporting’s own half of the field before the Israeli international skillfully evaded multiple tacklers and clipped a pass with the outside of his right foot into the path of Walter.
Walter took care of the rest, holding off a challenge from the Whitecaps defender and lifting his shot into the back of the net for Sporting’s 450th goal at Children’s Mercy Park in all competitions. It was Kinda’s third assist of the season to go along with two goals.
