Sporting Kansas City hits the road this week to take on the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City on Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream in English and Spanish on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. The match will also be available on the radio locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
1. THREE POINTS
Sporting Kansas City snapped a three-game losing streak this past weekend, cruising to a dominant 2-0 victory over Austin FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. Sporting initially snapped a 10-game winless run on June 8 against Seattle before dropping their next three against three of the league’s top teams - at the LA Galaxy, vs. Real Salt Lake and at the Columbus Crew.
Sporting got goals from Tim Leibold and Stephen Afrifa to lead the team to victory on Saturday, while the backline was dominant - limiting Austin to just two shots total and zero shots on goal. The last time Sporting held a team to two shots was July 24, 2016 in a 3-0 dismantling of the Seattle Sounders.
With Leibold scoring his first goal in Sporting Blue on Saturday, Sporting now has 15 different goal scorers during the 2024 regular season, the most in MLS. Of all the starters on Saturday, Kayden Pierre and Robert Voloder were the only field players without a goal.
2. RAPIDS RIVALRY
Sporting Kansas City hits the road this midweek to face off against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in an Independence Day showdown on Thursday, July 4. Sporting will look to build on the club’s dominant victory over Austin FC this past Saturday, while the Rapids will be aiming to bounce back from a 3-0 humbling at Los Angeles FC over the weekend.
The most recent meeting at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park took place on March 4, 2023 in the second week of last campaign. Despite dominating much of the match - forcing Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough into a career-high 11 saves - the match ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
The return fixture took place just over a month later on April 8, 2023 at Children’s Mercy Park. Following a scoreless first half, former Sporting striker Diego Rubio returned to his old stomping grounds to make all the difference as his strike from distance in the 68th minute was enough to guide the visitors to a 1-0 victory.
Sporting leads the all-time series 29-26-19, but has a brutal 5-19-13 mark on the road in Colorado. Peter Vermes’ side last tasted victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park over 10 years ago on March 29, 2014.
3. LEIBOLD SCORES FIRST IN SPORTING BLUE
Sporting Kansas City defender Tim Leibold was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday on Monday as one of the top 20 players in Major League Soccer for Matchday 23 of the regular season.
Leibold scored his first goal in a Sporting KC uniform - and his first goal since May 2021 as a member of German club Hamburg - with the game-winning goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Austin FC at Children’s Mercy Park. The 30-year-old German left back opened his MLS scoring account in the 26th minute with a driven shot that took a deflection through traffic and nestled into the far corner of the net.
Leibold was also part of a defensive effort that held Austin FC to zero shots on goal and two shots total for a 0.28 expected goals value - the lowest of all 28 teams in action on MLS Matchday 23 - as half (15 of 30) of Austin’s attacking entries came down Leibold’s side of the field.
Leibold has made 38 appearances for Sporting since the start of 2023, adding four assists to his first goal for the club this past weekend.
4. AFRIFA CONTINUES HOT STREAK
Sporting Kansas City forward Stephen Afrifa continued his fine recent run of form with another goal in the club’s 2-0 victory over Austin FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night.
Afrifa, who had only entered the match as a substitute seven minutes earlier, met Johnny Russell’s low cross at the far post to fire home the team’s second goal of the night in the 69th minute.
Afrifa has now scored goals in three of his last four MLS matches after scoring zero goals in the first 12 regular season appearances of his career, while he is tied for second on the team with four goals this season in all competitions, all coming since May 21 - having scored his first goal for Sporting in a U.S. Open Cup victory over FC Tulsa that night.
Captain Russell capped a brilliant individual performance with the assist on the goal, skipping away from his man at midfield before finding Afrifa with a terrific outside-of-the-foot pass. Russell now has five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) in his last seven starts dating back to May 18.
5. SPORTING POSTS MUCH-NEEDED SHUTOUT
Sporting Kansas City and goalkeeper Tim Melia produced a rare feat on Saturday night, posting just their second shutout of the 2024 MLS regular season during the club’s 2-0 victory over Austin FC at Children’s Mercy Park.
It was the team’s first shutout since March 9 when the squad saw out a 0-0 draw at Los Angeles FC, ending a club-record streak of 17 straight matches in a single regular season without a clean sheet.
The shutout came on the back of a dominant defensive performance for Sporting, holding visiting Austin to just two shots total in the match and zero shots on goal, with a paltry 0.28 expected goals against.
It was the 15th time in regular season history that a Kansas City opponent has failed to record a shot on target (and the first time since Sept. 15, 2021), while Austin’s two total shot attempts were the fewest by a Kansas City opponent in an MLS match since July 2016.
