Recap: Agada scores again as Sporting falls 2-1 in Vancouver

Sporting Kansas City (6-14-5, 23 points) saw the club’s three-match winning streak end on Wednesday in a 2-1 road loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC (11-7-5, 38 points) at BC Place.

Striker Willy Agada marked his 50th regular season appearance for Sporting with his fourth goal in as many games, but Vancouver bookended the scoring with a first-half own goal and a 76th-minute winner from Fafa Picault to claim all three points.

Sporting will now look ahead to a momentous home tilt with archrivals St. Louis City SC (4-10-10, 22 points) on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park. Tickets for the nationally televised encounter on FS1 and Apple TV are available at SeatGeek.com.

With his team navigating an arduous stretch of seven matches in 22 days, Manager Peter Vermes made six changes to his lineup from Saturday’s 2-1 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes. Defenders Zorhan Bassong, Robert Castellanos and Kayden Pierre bolstered the backline, midfielder Remi Walter earned his first start since April 27 after overcoming knee and ankle injuries, and forwards Agada and Daniel Salloi joined the attack. Goalkeeper Tim Melia, center back Robert Voloder, midfielder Nemanja Radoja and forwards Alan Pulido and Alenis Vargas all retained their starting spots, while the likes of Memo Rodriguez, Dany Rosero and Johnny Russell were rested ahead of Saturday’s battle against St. Louis.

Vancouver striker Brian White entered Wednesday with seven goals in his last four games and nearly opened the scoring inside seven minutes. The in-form attacker connected well with Ryan Gauld’s out-swinging corner kick, but his bouncing header was heroically nodded off the goal line by Voloder and White’s rebound attempt under duress sailed high. Gauld was next to threaten in the 10th minute, but his shot off Alessandro Schopf’s square pass was comfortably corralled by Melia.

The visitors forced Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka into action two minutes later at the opposite end. Salloi, making the 200th regular season appearance of his Sporting career, curled a high-arching corner kick into the mixer for a leaping Castellanos, whose header lacked the pace and precision to beat the Whitecaps gloveman.

Gauld remained highly involved for the hosts, racing onto the end of White’s layoff delivery and bending a 19-yard strike marginally over the crossbar in the 20th minute. Not long later, Bassong redirected Ryan Raposo’s cross inches wide into the side netting as Sporting survived another scare. White then thought he had etched his name onto the scoresheet near the half-hour juncture, slotting home an Ali Ahmed through ball, but the offside flag was rightly raised and the goal was not allowed.

Vancouver surged ahead in the 34th minute on a combination play through the central channel. White received an incisive pass near the top of the box and flicked it into the area for Gauld, who eluded his marker and dragged a cutback across the face of goal. White was the intended target but Voloder slid in to intervene, inadvertently poking the ball into his own net for an unfortunate own goal.

The Whitecaps had another goal disallowed three minutes before intermission with Ahmed trying to squeeze a ball through to the on-running Gauld. Melia advanced off his line to snuff out the pass, and although Ahmed was on hand to poke home the loose ball, Gauld was called offside and the scoreline stood at 1-0 entering halftime.

Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy came off the bench to start the second half and wasted no time impacting proceedings. The German playmaker, who on Saturday scored his fifth goal of the campaign, did well to create a pocket of space on the edge of the area before unleashing a rocket that Takaoka punched away in the 56th minute.

With momentum turning in Kansas City’s favor, Sporting went agonizingly close to leveling terms in the 63rd minute. Afrifa, who like Thommy was a halftime substitute, cut centrally from the right side and sent an admirable left-footed blast off the crossbar. With the woodwork still rattling, Salloi settled onto the rebound and prompted Takaoka to make a diving save as he tipped the booming effort inches over the target. Minutes later, Thommy’s half-cleared corner kick fell invitingly to Salloi at the top of the area, but his low drive was blocked through traffic.

Sporting would find its deserved equalizer with 69 minutes on the clock. Thommy embarked on an excellent run down the left side, dodging multiple tacklers before flicking a pass into the box for Salloi. The homegrown winger tried his luck with the outside of his right boot, and although Takaoka produced the initial save, Agada was stationed to prod the rebound into the gaping net for his team-leading ninth goal of the season in all competitions and his first away goal since September 2023.

Parity lasted for only seven minutes as Vancouver reclaimed the lead on 76 minutes. Shortly after entering the game, midfielder Sebastian Berhalter sent an inch-perfect 30-yard cross into the box for fellow reinforcement Picault, who planted a header low into the left corner for his sixth goal of the MLS season. Andres Cubas tabbed a secondary assist on the play and tried to double Vancouver’s lead in the 84th minute, but his 18-yard piledriver screamed just wide.

Thommy had a final opportunity to salvage a point for Sporting with a 21-yard free kick effort deep into stoppage time, but his right-footed strike sailed high and the Whitecaps emerged victorious.

2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 25
BC Place | Vancouver, Canada
Attendance: 23,198
Weather: 79 degrees and sunny

Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia (C); Kayden Pierre (Khiry Shelton 46'), Robert Castellanos, Robert Voloder, Zorhan Bassong; Nemanja Radoja, Remi Walter; Alenis Vargas (Stephen Afrifa 46'), Alan Pulido (Erik Thommy 46'), Daniel Salloi; Willy Agada

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Andreu Fontas, Tim Leibold

Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Yohei Takaoka; Mathias Laborda, Ranko Veselinovic, Bjorn Utvik; Ryan Raposo (Sebastian Berhalter 67'), Pedro Vite, Andres Cubas, Alessandro Schopf (Luis Martins 72'); Ryan Gauld (C) (Giuseppe Bovalina 88'), Brian White (Levonte Johnson 88'), Ali Ahmed (Fafa Picault 67')

Subs Not Used: Isaac Boehmer, Belal Halbouni, Ralph Priso, Damir Kreilach

Scoring Summary:
VAN -- Robert Voloder (Own Goal) 34'
SKC -- Willy Agada 8 (unassisted) 69'
VAN -- Fafa Picault 6 (Sebastian Berhalter 3, Andres Cubas 3) 76'

Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Robert Voloder (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 87'

Referee: Marcos De Oliveira
Assistant Referee: Jeremy Hanson
Assistant Referee: Chris Elliott
Fourth Official: Michael Venne
VAR: David Barrie
AVAR: Ian McKay