Sporting Kansas City at Portland Timbers
2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 14
Saturday, May 25 | 9:30 p.m. CT (9:40 kickoff)
Providence Park | Portland, Oregon
Broadcast Schedule:
Apple TV | MLS Season Pass
English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
5 Things | By the Numbers | Tune In on Apple TV | Pub Partners | SKC App | MatchCenter
After a 4-0 win over FC Tulsa on Tuesday, Sporting Kansas City will continue a stretch of five matches in 15 days as the team returns to the road to take on the Portland Timbers at 9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Providence Park in Oregon.
Portland and Sporting KC meet in the MLS Matchday 16 finale on Saturday with the all-time series deadlocked at nine wins, nine losses and nine draws for each team across all competitions after playing to a 3-3 stalemate on April 7. Willy Agada struck twice and Dany Rosero buried a header to give Sporting a 3-0 lead at halftime, however Portland rallied in the second half with goals from Evander, Felipe Mora and Eric Miller.
While both sides have experienced lofty championship highs in the previous dozen seasons with Sporting capturing four major titles since 2012 and Portland making three MLS Cup appearances in the last eight years to go along with an MLS is Back Tournament title in 2020, the two teams are separated by two points beneath the playoff line in the Western Conference standings after the first three months of the MLS regular season. Sporting will be aiming to snap a four-game losing streak and seven-game winless run in league play against a Timbers side that has won only once in their last 11 outings (1-7-3).
Portland matches have produced a league-high 3.93 goals per game this season with an offense that ranks third best and a defense that ranks third worst in MLS. While the Timbers have yet to keep a clean sheet in 14 MLS matches this season and have conceded multiple goals in 10 straight league fixtures, the Portland attack features a trio of dangerous Designated Players in Evander (five goals, five assists), Mora (six goals, one assist) and Jonathan Rodriguez (five goals, two assists). Rodriguez, a Uruguayan forward acquired in a transfer from Liga MX powerhouse Club America, has goals in back-to-back games and a goal contribution in three straight matches.
Timbers U-22 Initiative Players Santiago Moreno (three goals, six assists) and Antony (three goals, two assists) have further bolstered a formidable frontline for first-year head coach Phil Neville. In addition, MLS All-Star and MLS Best XI selection Diego Chara has made 380 regular season appearances for Portland since the club's inaugural campaign in 2011 to hold the record for most appearances with a single club in MLS history.
A trio of Sporting KC players are poised to reach major milestones as Tim Melia - the club's all-time goalkeeping leader in wins, saves and shutouts -- is set to start the 250th match of his regular season career and Memo Rodriguez -- who has assists in back-to-back games to lead the team with four assists this season - is set to start the 100th match of his regular season career. In addition, Melia is 61 minutes shy of 25,000 minutes played for SKC in all competitions and Andreu Fontas is 61 minutes shy of 10,000 regular season minutes played for the club.
Offensively, forward Alan Pulido and midfielder Erik Thommy are tied for the Sporting lead with four goals this season in all competitions. Wingers Daniel Salloi and Johnny Russell have also opened their 2024 scoring accounts in the past two weeks for a duo that rank among the top four scorers in club history.
Saturday's showdown will be available to watch on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers and local radio coverage will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with live audio streams available in the Sporting KC App. In addition, Pub Partners in the Sporting Pub Network will also show all of the action including the club's official watch party at the J. Rieger & Co. Distillery (2700 Guinotte Rd.) in Kansas City, Missouri. Cocktail specials will begin at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and fans can enter to win tickets and signed merchandise during the event.
