Sporting Kansas City (4-12-5, 17 points) scored goals in both halves to secure a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Austin FC (7-8-6, 27 points) on Saturday at sold-out Children’s Mercy Park.
Left back Tim Leibold opened his MLS scoring account in the 26th minute and forward Stephen Afrifa came off the bench to seal the win with a 69th-minute strike as Sporting posted its first MLS shutout since March 9 and held Austin to zero shots on target, marking the 15th time in club regular season history that a Kansas City opponent has failed to put a shot on goal.
Navigating a stretch of seven games in 22 days, Sporting will return to action Thursday for a visit to the Colorado Rapids at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Fourth of July showdown at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park will be shown live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Manager Peter Vermes made six changes to his starting lineup from last weekend’s road loss to the Columbus Crew, including a switch on each line of the 4-3-3 formation. Goalkeeper Tim Melia returned between the posts for his 250th regular season appearance with Kansas City, Leibold entered at left back, Jake Davis slotted into the midfield and all three forwards were exchanged in favor of Alan Pulido, Johnny Russell and Marinos Tzionis.
After a tame start to proceedings, Pulido won Sporting a free kick at the top of the box that Russell curled marginally wide in the 19th minute. Russell was involved again five minutes later, latching onto Erik Thommy’s corner kick and having his shot blocked only to retain possession shortly thereafter and unleash a curler that narrowly missed the target.
Sporting’s superiority was rewarded near the half-hour juncture. Right back Kayden Pierre dashed onto a pass from Pulido and delivered a cross from the right endline that found Leibold on the opposite side of the box. The German defender’s low, driven shot took a deflection through traffic and nestled into the far corner of the net to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage. Leibold bagged his first Kansas City goal on the play and his first professional goal since May 2021 as a member of German club Hamburg. Pierre also logged his second career assist, his first since July 2022.
Three minutes before a halftime in which longtime midfielder Roger Espinoza was honored for his retirement from soccer, Sporting were unlucky not to double the lead. Nemanja Radoja’s perfectly weighted long ball over the top found an on-running Thommy, who rounded Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver but was unable to finish from a near-impossible angle on the right side of the area.
Sporting’s defensive dominance was such that Austin mustered just two shot attempts, but the visitors did conjure a scare in the 57th minute when midfield talisman Sebastian Driussi whipped in a low cross from the left flank that winger Jader Obrian could not connect with cleanly.
Vermes’ men put the game to bed with 69 minutes on the clock. Russell did superbly to receive a pass at midfield and spin away into space, carrying the ball 40 yards goalward before pinging an inch-perfect square ball into the path of Afrifa for a simple finish at close range. Afrifa has scored goals in three of his last four MLS matches and is tied for second on the team with four goals this season in all competitions, all coming since May 21. Sporting has now scored multiple goals in eight of 11 MLS home matches this season, and in nine of 12 home matches across all competitions.
Russell almost went from provider to goal scorer in the 80th minute, but his left-footed blast from 20 yards screamed inches wide of the near post. Sporting would see out their 2-0 cushion to the full-time whistle, drawing a close to the team’s most complete performance of the 2024 MLS campaign.
2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 21
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 18,722
Weather: 82 degrees and mostly sunny
Score | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
Sporting Kansas City (4-12-5, 17 points) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Austin FC (7-8-6, 27 points) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Kayden Pierre, Dany Rosero, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold; Nemanja Radoja, Jake Davis (Memo Rodriguez 62'), Erik Thommy; Johnny Russell (C) (Zorhan Bassong 90+4'), Alan Pulido (Willy Agada 79'), Marinos Tzionis (Stephen Afrifa 62')
Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Andreu Fontas, Chris Rindov, Khiry Shelton, Alenis Vargas
Austin FC: Brad Stuver; Jon Gallagher (Hector Jimenez 70'), Brendan Hines-Ike, Leo Vaisanen, Guilherme Biro; Owen Wolff, Alex Ring; Jader Obrian (Bryant Farkarlun 84'), Sebastian Driussi (C), Ethan Finlay (Jhojan Valencia 59'); Diego Rubio (Gyasi Zardes 59')
Subs Not Used: Matt Bersano, Stefan Cleveland, Matt Hedges, Zan Kolmanic, CJ Fodrey
Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Tim Leibold 1 (Kayden Pierre 1, Alan Pulido 3) 26'
SKC -- Stephen Afrifa 3 (Johnny Russell 3) 69'
Misconduct Summary:
ATX -- Owen Wolff (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 29'
ATX -- Diego Rubio (yellow card; dissent) 34'
SKC -- Jake Davis (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 34'
SKC -- Alan Pulido (yellow card; delaying a restart) 45+3'
ATX -- Jhojan Valencia (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 64'
SKC -- Johnny Russell (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90+2'
Stat | SKC | ATX |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 15 | 2 |
Shots on Goal | 2 | 0 |
Saves | 0 | 0 |
Fouls | 16 | 19 |
Offsides | 1 | 2 |
Corner Kicks | 5 | 1 |
Referee: Filip Dujic
Assistant Referee: Lyes Arfa
Assistant Referee: Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: Alexandra Billeter
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
AVAR: Jozef Batko
