Sporting Kansas City remains on the road this weekend as the team travels northeast to face off against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and is available to stream for free on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app in both English and Spanish, while the match will also be broadcast on the radio locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
1. HEADING NORTHEAST LOOKING TO RIGHT THE SHIP
Sporting Kansas City remain in search of the club’s first victory of the 2023 season as the team heads to the northeast to take on the New England Revolution at Gilltette Stadium on Saturday night. Sporting are 0-3-2 on the road this season and are set to play their sixth road match in their opening nine games.
Sporting KC’s most recent match - a 3-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park in California - was derailed following a first-half red card shown to center back Robert Castellanos. The result leaves Sporting with zero wins through eight matches to open the year and no wins in nine dating back to Decision Day in 2022. Sporting has never gone more than 10 games winless in club history.
Sporting have struggled to find the back of the net in 2023, scoring just twice in eight matches and currently mired in a 355-minute scoreless streak since Willy Agada fired Sporting ahead in the eventual 4-1 loss to Seattle on March 25.
Sporting are currently tied for last place in the West along with the LA Galaxy, who join SKC as the only team yet to taste victory in 2023. Sporting now heads to take on the New England Revolution who are in a tie for first in the East, before heading home for a pair of home matches in the U.S. Open Cup and MLS regular-season next week.
2. REVS RECAP
Sporting Kansas City remains on the road this weekend as the team heads to the northeast to face off against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night.
Sporting and New England have met just once in the last four years, with the Revs claiming a 2-1 victory at Children’s Mercy Park on June 12, 2022. Gustavo Bou fired the visitors ahead in the first half before Sporting were reduced to 10 men following Uri Rosell’s second yellow card early in the second half. Despite their numerical disadvantage, Johnny Russell pulled Sporting level with a stunning free kick and the home side looked the most likely to take all three points before Emmanuel Boateng’s gut-punch game-winner in the 87th minute for the Revolution.
Sporting has not visited Gillette Stadium in almost five years, with their last visit coming on April 28, 2018. That night, Sporting fell victim to the new VAR rules in effect as former striker Teal Bunbury latched onto a ball inside the area, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag causing all the players aside from Bunbury to stop playing, allowing the Revs forward to score with ease with a VAR review awarding what was the only goal of the game.
SKC leads the all-time series 25-19-12 and has a dead-even 11-11-6 mark on the road. However, Sporting have not won at Gillette Stadium since Aug. 4, 2012.
3. SPORTING SET TO ROCK PARLEY KITS
On Monday, MLS WORKS, the league’s social responsibility platform, kicked off its sixth annual Greener Goals Week of Service which highlights MLS’ commitment to environmental sustainability, including efforts around waste reduction. Earth Day matches on April 22-23 will raise awareness surrounding sustainability and highlight how the MLS community is addressing environmental impact.
To underscore the League’s commitment to raising awareness about ocean plastic waste and eliminating CO2-emitting plastics production, MLS players will be sporting adidas One Planet jerseys during Earth Day weekend. The jerseys are entirely out of recycled materials, including recovered plastic.
Sporting Kansas City will host the team’s fourth annual Sporting Sustainability match at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday, April 29 as the club highlights efforts to reduce food waste and raise awareness around the importance of recycling and composting.
4. WALTER HITS 50 CONSECUTIVE STARTS
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Remi Walter continued his impressive streak of consecutive starts with another 90-minute outing during the team’s 3-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park on Saturday night.
Dating back to Sept. 29, 2021, Walter has started 50 consecutive MLS regular-season matches and has gone the full 90 minutes in all but four contests. Walter’s active 50-match streak of successive starts ranks third among field players, trailing Philadelphia defender Jakob Glesnes (80) and Columbus midfielder Darlington Nagbe (74).
Walter currently ranks eighth in Sporting KC’s all-time most consecutive regular-season starts and fifth among outfield players.
In 2022, Walter became just the third outfield player in Sporting KC history to start every match in a 34-game regular-season, joining teammate Graham Zusi and former midfielder Ilie Sanchez, who both accomplished the same feat in 2018.
5. SKC II ENJOYING POSITIVE START TO 2023
Sporting Kansas City II is off to a roaring start in MLS NEXT Pro, the development league for MLS clubs across the country. Sporting II has gone 2-1-1 on the young season, including a 2-0-1 mark over their last three matches.
After opening the season with a frustrating 2-1 loss to the table-topping Colorado Rapids courtesy of a stoppage-time winner, SKC II has rebounded with a 1-1 draw with Austin FC II and back-to-back victories over LAFC 2 and the Real Monarchs.
This past Friday saw Benny Feilhaber’s side head to Utah and dismantle the Monarchs 4-0. Former Academy player Sebastian Cruz opened the scoring with a scorcher from distance before Lucas Rosa lashed home a stunning half-volley. Ethan Bryant added a third before Pau Vidal scored his third in as many games to make the final score 4-0.
Both Cruz and Rosa were up for MLS NEXT Pro Goal of the Week, with Rosa taking home the award following a fan vote.
