Sporting Kansas City remains home this weekend to face off against the LA Galaxy at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish, while the match will also be available on the radio locally on ESPN 94.5 FM (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish). Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.
1. FIRST WIN IN THE BOOKS
Sporting KC has started the 2024 campaign unbeaten through four matches and enjoyed their first taste of victory this past weekend with a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Children’s Mercy Park. Sporting is now 1-0-3 (6 pts.) on the season after opening the campaign with three consecutive draws.
Sporting are one of nine unbeaten teams remaining in the 2024 iteration of MLS, including one of five in the Western Conference - a group that includes Saturday night’s opponents, the LA Galaxy, who happen to have an identical 1-0-3 record. Sporting did trail for the first time in 2024 last Saturday, doing so for just seven minutes from 11’ to 18’ between Vitor Costa’s opener and Dany Rosero’s equalizer.
Sporting is currently riding a six-match unbeaten streak at Children’s Mercy Park, going 4-0-2 since a midweek loss to Nashville SC on Sept. 20, 2023. Over their last 13 home games, Sporting has posted a 8-2-3 record since the start of July 2023.
Across all competitions, Sporting has lost just one of their last 10 matches - the 1-0 loss in Houston in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Semifinals. In those 10 games, Sporting has posted a 5-1-4 record since their most recent regular-season loss in St. Louis on Sept. 30, 2023.
2. HOSTING IN-FORM GALAXY
Sporting Kansas City remains at home this weekend when the team prepares to welcome an in-form LA Galaxy side to Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. Like Sporting, the Galaxy are unbeaten on the nascent season and have even posted an identical 1-0-3 record to Peter Vermes’ side.
The most recent clash between the two sides at Children’s Mercy Park came in last season’s home opener: a 0-0 draw on March 11, 2023 where Sporting set a new MLS record for the most shots in a match without scoring. Sporting took 30 shots, outshooting the Galaxy 30-8, and forced goalkeeper Jonathan Bond into 11 saves on his way to a Team of the Matchday selection.
If the goals weren’t there in their first meeting last season, the two sides traded four strikes on their way to a 2-2 draw in the return fixture at Dignity Health Sports Park on June 21, 2023. Alan Pulido headed Sporting into an early lead before Martin Caceres equalized before halftime. Preston Judd gave the Galaxy the lead midway through the second period but Pulido struck his second from the penalty spot in the 90th minute to salvage a point.
The all-time regular-season is deadlocked at 26-26-18, with SKC going 18-9-9 at home.
3. PULIDO FIRES HOME FIRST OF ‘24
Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido got off the mark in 2024 by volleying home the game-winning goal in the 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night.
Pulido’s strike capped a stunning 17-pass move with 10 of Sporting’s 11 players touching the ball at least once before Jake Davis and Johnny Russell combined to set up the Mexican for his first goal since Oct. 7, 2023 and his first at home since striking twice in a 2-1 win over St. Louis on Sept. 2, 2023. The goal was one of four nominated for the MLS Goal of the Matchday.
Pulido now has 29 goals in 65 regular-season matches for Sporting, with his 0.45 goals per game the highest in club history among players with at least 20 goals scored. In all competitions, the 33-year-old has now scored 31 goals and added 14 assists in 75 appearances - a total of 45 goal contributions (0.60 goal contributions per match).
4. ROSERO TALLIES, NAMED TO TEAM OF THE MATCHDAY
Sporting Kansas City center back Dany Rosero tallied his first goal of the season to cap a dominant performance in the 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Children’s Mercy Park last Saturday night that saw him named to the MLS Team of the Matchday earlier this week.
Rosero headed home Memo Rodriguez’s corner kick in the 18th minute to equalize after San Jose had taken an 11th-minute lead. Rosero has now scored four of Sporting’s seven headed goals since the start of 2023, all coming off set pieces, while all four have been headers. Coming on his 350th professional appearance, the Colombian has 24 goals in his career.
The 30-year-old also led all players on the night with 76 passes and Rosero ranks second in MLS this year with a 93.9 percent pass completion percentage.
Newcomer Rodriguez recorded his first assist as a member of Sporting and the 17th assist of his MLS career on the goal, while two of his last three assists since 2023 have come against San Jose.
5. DAVIS BLOSSOMING INTO A CREATOR
Sporting Kansas City Homegrown right back Jake Davis tallied his second assist of the young season by helping set up Alan Pulido’s game-winning goal in the 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Children’s Mercy Park last Saturday night.
Davis is the only player on Sporting’s roster with more than one assist this season and he has now tallied all four of his career assists in his last eight appearances at Children’s Mercy Park - including two game-winning assists this past weekend and in the 2-1 victory over St. Louis on Sept. 2.
Davis broke out early in the 2023 season after moving from central midfield to right back and has started in each of Sporting’s last 31 matches in all competitions since May 28, 2023, helping the team go 14-8-9 in that timespan.
