Sporting Kansas City closes out a road-heavy and congested portion of the club’s schedule on Saturday night when the team heads cross-state to take on MLS newbies st. louis city sc at citypark. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on Saturday and will be nationally televised on FS1 while also available to stream 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. UNBEATEN IN THREE, SKC CONCLUDES ROAD RUN IN st. louis
Sporting Kansas City continued the club’s fine recent form on Wednesday night when the team earned a 1-1 draw on the road at reigning MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield champions LAFC at BMO Stadium. Johnny Russell salvaged a point for his side following Denis Bouanga’s opener to extend Sporting KC’s unbeaten run to three matches (2-0-1).
Sporting now finds themselves just four points off the playoff line in the Western Conference after taking seven of the last nine points available. Sporting has pulled off their current run of form in challenging circumstances, playing five games in 14 days with four on the road - including road matches against top-of-the-table Seattle, reigning champs LAFC and now against fourth-place st. louis city.
Much of Sporting’s recent uptick is due to the offense beginning to click. Sporting scored three goals in their fist 10 matches (0.3 per game) but have scored six in their last three (2.00 per game) as the team has gone unbeaten.
Following Saturday’s huge rivalry match with st. louis, Sporting will have played nine of their opening 14 MLS matches away from home. Following a 5-0-0 start in MLS, st. louis has floundered as of late, going 1-4-1 across their last six matches and crashing out of the U.S. Open Cup.
2. FIRST EDITION OF A NEW-BORN RIVALRY
Sporting Kansas City is set to close out a congested an road-heavy portion of the club’s schedule this weekend when the team travels to st. louis city sc for their first-ever matchup with the cross-state expansion team. It’s Sporting KC’s first clash with an expansion side since falling 3-1 to Austin FC at Q2 Stadium on Nov. 3, 2021, leaving just 2020 expansion side Inter Miami CF and 2022 expansion club Charlotte FC as the only MLS teams Sporting has yet to face.
Sporting’s last set of showdowns with an expansion team came with Austin FC in 2021, with the two teams splitting the season series 1-1-1. Sporting won the inaugural matchup 2-1 at Children’s Mercy Park courtesy of late goals from Ilie Sanchez and Gadi Kinda. The next match also took place in KC on June 12, 2021 and Sporting salvaged a point through Daniel Salloi. Austin claimed the final match at Q2 Stadium 3-1, with Johnny Russell scoring a consolation for Sporting on the night.
Sporting KC has historically performed well in inaugural matchups against expansion sides in MLS, going 11-3-5 in their first-ever matches with new teams. Sporting KC is also 20-8-10 overall against teams that are in the midst of their expansion campaign. Saturday’s match is the first of three meetings with st. louis city in 2023, with the brand new club set to visit Children’s Mercy Park on Sept. 2 and Sporting paying one final visit to citypark on Sept. 30.
3. RUSSELL SCORES MILESTONE GOAL
Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell reached a major milestone with his equalizing goal during the 1-1 draw against Los Angeles FC at BMO Stadium on Wednesday night.
Meandering through several challenges before firing low beyond the goalkeeper to salvage a point for Sporting KC, Russell became just the third player in club history to tally 50 MLS regular-season goals for Sporting.
Russell, who only trails Preki (71) and Dom Dwyer (57) in the club’s all-time regular-season scoring charts, now has two goals and an assist on the season after missing the early parts of the campaign through injury.
Russell’s goal saw him rise to 95 combined goals (55) and assists (40) in all competitions and ranks fourth in the club’s all-time goal contributions rankings - behind Preki (185), current teammate Graham Zusi (124) and Chris Klein (97).
4. PULIDO ROUNDING INTO FORM
Sporting Kansas City Designated Player Alan Pulido continued his uptick in form and sharpness over recent weeks during Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Los Angeles FC at BMO Stadium.
For the third game running, Pulido added a goal contribution to his name with the secondary assist on Johnny Russell’s equalizing goal in the 20th minute. Pulido now has a goal and two assists in his last three MLS matches - his first since the 2021 campaign after missing all of 2022 through injury.
Pulido has shone brightly while on the field for Sporting since joining in a club-record transfer from Chivas Guadalajara ahead of the 2020 campaign. In all competitions, Pulido has tallied 27 goal contributions (17 goals and 10 assists) in just 37 starts, while Sporting is 12-1-0 in the regular season when Pulido scores.
5. MCINTOSH GRABS OPPORTUNITY WITH BOTH HANDS
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper earned just his third start for the club during Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw with Los Angeles FC at BMO Stadium. McIntosh started two matches in the tail end of the 2022 season, posting a shutout in the 3-0 home victory over D.C. United on Sept. 13, 2022 and also starting in the team’s 2-1 road loss to FC Dallas on Decision Day.
McIntosh acquitted himself well on Wednesday, making five on-the-record saves and another that won’t show up on the stat sheet when he tipped teammate Nemanja Radoja’s sliced clearance over the bar. Sporting has the luxury of having three MLS level goalkeepers on their roster as McIntosh is joined by Tim Melia and John Pulskamp.
