Sporting Kansas City is back at Children’s Mercy Park for a Sunday night soccer showdown against the New York Red Bulls at 7 p.m. CT on 38 The Spot. Tickets are available for purchase on SeatGeek.com as Sporting plays their first MLS match at home in over two weeks. Sunday marks the beginning of a busy July which will see Sporting play in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals on July 27, on top of six MLS regular season matches throughout the month.
Following three matches in six days, Sporting did not have to play a midweek match this week, while the Red Bulls are hosting Atlanta United on Thursday evening. Last week, Sporting handed Nashville their first home defeat since Nov. 2020 and punched their ticket to the Open Cup semifinals with a 6-0 win over Union Omaha.
Here are five things to know for Sunday’s match between Sporting Kansas City and the New York Red Bulls.
PV 500
Sporting KC’s Manager and Sporting Director Peter Vermes has coached in over half of Sporting’s regular season matches all time, is the only person to win MLS Cup as a player and manager for the same club and is set to coach in his 500th Sporting match in all competitions on Sunday. An absolute legend, Vermes has lifted three Dewar Cups and one MLS Cup. His three Open Cup titles are the most amongst active MLS head coaches. He is the longest-tenured manager in MLS history and according to CIES Football Observatory is the sixth longest-tenured manager in global soccer.
Potential 2022 Open Cup Final?
Sunday could be a preview for the 2022 Open Cup final as Sporting and New York have both made it to the semifinals. Sporting will take on Sacramento Republic FC at Heart Health Park on Wednesday, July 27 at 9:30 p.m. CT while the Red Bulls will travel to Exploria Stadium for a cup clash with Orlando City SC on the same day. After the Semifinals draw took place last Thursday, hosting priority was set with Orlando getting priority, followed by Sporting, New York and finally Sacramento. If Sporting were to face New York in the Open Cup final, it would take place at Children’s Mercy Park in September.
If the cards fall into place, and Sporting does host the Red Bulls in the cup finals, it would be a rematch of the 2017 Open Cup final in which Sporting bested New York 2-1 at Children’s Mercy Park to lift their fourth Open Cup title. That win was another fantastic performance from Sporting against the Red Bulls, a common trend as of late.
Recent success over Red Bulls
Two MLS founding clubs, Sporting KC and the New York Red Bulls will meet for the 58th time in the regular season on Sunday. Since the beginning of 2015, Sporting is 3-1-2 against the Red Bulls in MLS play, in addition to that 2017 cup final victory. In the most recent meeting, Sporting opened up the 2021 campaign with a win at Red Bull Arena. Gadi Kinda and Daniel Salloi netted goals within a minute of each other to give Sporting the lead and John Pulskamp earned his first MLS win in a 2-1 Sporting triumph.
The last time these two clubs met at Children’s Mercy Park was April 14, 2019. Johnny Russell opened the scoring before two second half Red Bulls goals gave them the lead. Gianluca Busio was the hero for Sporting that day, scoring an unassisted goal in the 88th to pull the match level. Both teams would take a point home. In the all-time series, Sporting is 22-21-14 and will look to increase their lead in the series on Sunday.
Reinforcements joining Sporting’s offense soon
Sporting’s offense looks to be rounding into form after two convincing wins last week. Both Salloi and Felipe Hernandez struck twice against Omaha, giving Hernandez three goals in two matches after he sank a free kick in Nashville. Khiry Shelton netted his second goal in Open Cup play and Kornte Ford headed home his first Sporting KC goal. Russell still paces the club with seven goals, five in MLS play and two in the Open Cup, however, Salloi set the club record for Open Cup goals with his sixth and seventh career goals in the tournament. Sporting’s offensive weapons will be receiving some help in the coming weeks.
Sporting announced on June 23 that both William Agada and Erik Thommy will join the club. The 22-year-old striker and 27-year-old attacking midfielder will be added to the roster once the secondary transfer window opens on July 7 following Sunday’s match against New York. Thommy has played nine seasons in Germany, accumulating 42 goals and 33 assists, including nine goals and 14 assists in the Bundesliga, one of the top leagues in the world. Agada has netted 37 goals in four seasons of play in Israel. Both players will bolster Sporting’s offense and are additional weapons for Vermes to use.
Red Bulls on the road
A streaky team on the road, the Red Bulls find themselves in the midst of a three-match losing streak away from home. They have not won a road match since April 30, a 2-1 win at Soldier Field against the Chicago Fire. Despite all of this, the Red Bulls' five road wins are tied for most in the league, and their 14 goals on the road rank second. Sporting has conceded just eight goals at home in the regular season, and boast a 6-3-2 record at Children’s Mercy Park in all competitions in 2022. The Red Bulls come to Kansas City led by Lewis Morgan who has seven goals in the regular season, including four road goals, the fourth-most goals away from home in MLS.
