Sporting Kansas City continues the club’s busy stretch with a midweek match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Wednesday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 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). Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.
1. LOOKING TO SNAP WINLESS RUN
Sporting Kansas City is aiming to snap an unpleasant recent run of form that sees the team winless in their last eight matches in MLS regular-season play, including five straight losses following Saturday’s 2-1 setback against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park.
While two victories in the U.S. Open Cup has been a welcome morale-boost for the club, the team is desperate to get back into the win columns in MLS play and will look to do so facing fellow strugglers Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Wednesday night. Much like Sporting, the season started well for Vancouver - going 5-2-1 in their first eight games but are now winless in their last six, going 0-3-3 since April 27.
Sporting is nearing the conclusion of a stretch that will see the team play five matches in the space of 15 days from May 18 through June 1. Following Wednesday’s match against Vancouver, Sporting travel to face Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field on Saturday before having a week to prepare for a home bout with Seattle on June 8.
2. VANQUISHING VANCOUVER
Sporting Kansas City will look to get the club’s home form back on track this week when Vancouver Whitecaps FC pay a visit to Children’s Mercy Park on Wednesday night. Sporting enters the match winless in eight with five straight losses, while Vancouver are winless in six, having gone 0-3-3 since their 5-2-1 start to the campaign.
Wednesday’s clash is the first of two meetings between Sporting and the Whitecaps in 2024, with Peter Vermes’ side visiting BC Place in the return fixture on July 17. The most recent matchup between the two sides came at Children’s Mercy Park on July 1, 2023 with Sporting cruising to a 3-0 victory. Remi Walter and Alan Pulido both got on the scoresheet in the first half before Erik Thommy made the points safe early in the second period.
Sporting claimed the season series with Vancouver following that victory after picking up a 1-1 draw at BC Place a month earlier on June 3, 2023. Pulido’s brilliant header had given Sporting the lead on the night but Ryan Gauld sunk a late penalty to salvage a point for the hosts.
Sporting leads the all-time series with the Whitecaps 12-6-5, including a strong 7-2-2 mark at Children’s Mercy Park. However, Sporting has won just one of their last five regular-season meetings with the Whitecaps, going 1-3-1 since mid-2021.
3. RODRIGUEZ OFF THE MARK IN SPORTING BLUE
Sporting Kansas City newcomer Memo Rodriguez continued to make a positive impact with his new club this past weekend after scoring his first goal in Sporting Blue during the 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers at Providence Park.
Arriving on the edge of the area to meet Alan Pulido’s layoff, Rodriguez lashed a venomous strike beyond the dive of Maxime Crepeau and into the corner to make the score 1-1 in the 63rd minute and mark his first MLS goal since May 31, 2023 when he was a member of the LA Galaxy.
Rodriguez, who was making the 100th start of his MLS regular-season career on Saturday, is tied for the team-lead with five goal involvements for Sporting KC so far in 2024 and leads the team with four assists.
Rodriguez joined Sporting following a nomadic 2023 season split between the Galaxy and Austin FC after a lengthy career with Houston Dynamo FC where he came through the club’s Academy. In all, Rodriguez has now made 167 appearances in MLS play and tallied 19 goals and 20 assists.
4. SALLOI CLOSES IN ON CENTURY MARK
Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi bagged himself another assist during the club’s 2-1 defeat to the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Saturday night.
Salloi received a pass from Johnny Russell inside the penalty area and quickly found Alan Pulido who set up Memo Rodriguez to fire home and make the score 1-1 in the 63rd minute of the match. Salloi was credited with a secondary assist on the goal, marking his third goal contribution in his last five MLS matches (1g, 2a).
The Hungarian winger now has 59 goals and 40 assists in all competitions for Sporting KC, putting him one shy of becoming the fourth player in club history to reach 100 goal involvements.
Player | Goals | Assists | G + A |
Preki | 81 | 104 | 185 |
Graham Zusi | 35 | 90 | 125 |
Johnny Russell | 63 | 44 | 107 |
Daniel Salloi | 59 | 40 | 99 |
5. PULIDO RECORDS BACK-TO-BACK ASSISTS
Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido recorded another assist on Memo Rodriguez’s goal in the club’s 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers at Providence Park in Oregon on Saturday night.
Pulido received a pass from Daniel Salloi in the area and calmly laid the ball off to Rodriguez who rifled home his first goal for the club from the edge of the area.
Pulido now has two assists on the season, both coming in Sporting’s last two MLS matches. Last week, Pulido helped set up Johnny Russell’s opener in the eventual 3-2 loss to Austin FC at Q2 Stadium.
The Mexico international now has four goals and two assists on the 2024 season across all competitions and his six goal contributions are tied with Willy Agada for the most on the team. In MLS regular-season action, Pulido’s five goal contributions (3g, 2a) are tied with Agada (3g, 2a), Memo Rodriguez (1g, 4a) and Erik Thommy (4g, 1a) for the team lead.
