Sporting Kansas City (7-11-8, 29 pts.) cruised to a 3-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes (9-8-8, 35 pts.) in the club’s return to MLS regular-season action tonight at Children’s Mercy Park. Daniel Salloi, Johnny Russell and Erik Thommy all got on the scoresheet before Tim Melia saved a San Jose penalty kick late on to preserve the shutout.
Sporting were forced to deal with a late scratch heading into the match as Gadi Kinda was ruled out with an ankle injury. In all, Peter Vermes made five changes from the club’s last Leagues Cup match, as Tim Melia, Logan Ndenbe, Nemanja Radoja, Alan Pulido and Salloi all returned to the lineup.
Sporting got off to a dream start as Salloi had an early impact on his return to the lineup, getting the slightest touch on a cross from Johnny Russell to divert the ball beyond Daniel in the San Jose goal and give the hosts a third-minute lead with his sixth goal of the campaign.
The home side continued to pour forward in the early stages with Russell almost finding a way through to goal in the fourth minute before Thommy lashed an effort into the side-netting after being sent clear by Pulido three minutes later.
Sporting almost extended their lead in the 16th minute but Remi Walter was denied by a stunning stop from Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel, who tipped his effort onto the crossbar.
San Jose responded with a flurry of chances of their own as first Cade Cowell fired wide when well positioned in the area before Jeremy Ebobisse saw a close-range effort deflected wide by a last-ditch challenge from Dany Rosero.
Sporting reasserted themselves in the closing stages of the first half as Russell dribbled through two challenges, nutmegging a San Jose defender in the process, before firing home to make the score 2-0 heading into halftime.
Russell, who was playing with a limp following an early knock, reached 100 combined goals and assists (58 goals, 42 assists) following his goal and assist in the first half of the match, becoming just the third player in club history to reach that mark.
San Jose began the second half on the front foot with Carlos Akapo bursting through on goal from the right flank but Melia stood tall to block his effort on his return to the lineup.
Sporting made the points safe in the 69th minute when a nice build-up containing 39 passes ended with Radoja freeing Thommy to drive at the ‘Quakes backline and the German fired home a stunning finish into the top corner from the edge of the area.
The 39-pass sequence leading to the goal is the longest passing sequence leading to a goal since the start of the Opta era in 2010. Sporting has the top two longest sequences leading to goals across all of MLS since 2010 and four of the top six.
San Jose went in search of a consolation goal late as first substitute Jack Skahan saw his well-taken strike tipped wide by Melia before Skahan earned a penalty kick in the 90th minute of the match following a foul by Ndenbe.
Determined to keep his clean sheet, Melia proved why he’s one of the best penalty stoppers in MLS history and dove to his right to save Carlos Gruezo’s attempt. Melia has a .571 goals conceded percentage on penalty kicks (20 of 35) in the MLS regular season, lowest in league history among keepers with at least 20 penalties faced. Since the start of his Sporting tenure in 2015, Melia’s 15 penalty saves in the regular season are the most in MLS.
Sporting had one final chance to add to their tally as substitute Marinos Tzionis cut inside from the left wing and sent a brilliant effort toward goal that beat Daniel but not the woodwork as his shot caromed off the crossbar and out as Sporting saw out the 3-0 victory.
Sporting KC is now set to host cross-state rival st. louis city sc for the first time ever at Children’s Mercy Park next Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV as well as Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish) on the radio.
2023 MLS Regular Season | Match 26
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 18,892
Weather: 78 degrees and partly cloudy
Score | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
Sporting Kansas City (7-11-8, 29 points) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
San Jose Earthquakes (9-8-8, 35 points) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Jake Davis, Dany Rosero, Andreu Fontas, Logan Ndenbe; Nemanja Radoja (Roger Espinoza 84’), Remi Walter, Erik Thommy; Johnny Russell (C) (Khiry Shelton 54’), Alan Pulido (Willy Agada 77’), Daniel Salloi (Marinos Tzionis 77’)
Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Tim Leibold, Robert Voloder, Danny Flores, Felipe Gutierrez
San Jose Earthquakes: Daniel; Carlos Akapo (Paul Marie 67’), Tanner Beason, Rodrigues, Miguel Trauco; Carlos Gruezo, Jackson Yeuill (C), Jamiro Monteiro (Jack Skahan 66’); Cristian Espinoza (Niko Tsakiris 75’), Jeremy Ebobisse (Ayo Akinola 67’), Cade Cowell (Matthew Hoppe 46’)
Subs Not Used: JT Marcinkowski, Jonathan Mensah, Tommy Thompson, Michael Baldisimo
Scoring Summary:
SKC – Daniel Salloi 6 (Johnny Russell 3, Remi Walter 4) 3’
SKC – Johnny Russell 4 (Nemanja Radoja 2, Erik Thommy 7) 42’
SKC – Erik Thommy 4 (Nemanja Radoja 3) 69’
Misconduct Summary:
None
Stat | SKC | SJ |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 15 | 11 |
Shots on Goal | 6 | 2 |
Saves | 2 | 3 |
Fouls | 8 | 7 |
Offsides | 2 | 1 |
Corner Kicks | 5 | 5 |
Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere
Assistant Referee: Lyes Arfa
Assistant Referee: Jose Da Silva
Fourth Official: Sergii Boiko
VAR: David Barrie
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert
