Sporting Kansas City (7-14-6, 27 points) returned to MLS action with a sizzling 3-0 win over Orlando City SC (9-10-7, 34 points) on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park.
A brilliant opening goal from Jake Davis vaulted Sporting ahead just before halftime, setting the table for Daniel Salloi and Remi Walter to put the result out of reach with strikes of their own in the second half as MLS regular season play resumed Saturday after a five-week pause for Leagues Cup.
With an emphatic victory in the bag—and with MLS Cup champion Benny Feilhaber inducted into the Sporting Legends hall of honor as part of a momentous evening—Sporting will now prepare for a pivotal home tilt against USL Championship side Indy Eleven in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals on Tuesday at Children’s Mercy Park. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT with tickets available via SeatGeek and live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
German midfielder Erik Thommy wasted literally no time asking questions of Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, unearthing a 50-yard bomb straight off the kickoff that carried only a foot off the crossbar. At the opposite end, Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia—who jumped to fourth in club history with his 292nd career appearance for Kansas City—was seldom tested against Orlando but did well to cast aside an early effort from Lions striker Ramiro Enrique as a breathless start to proceedings saw both teams commit numbers forward.
The hosts threatened twice near the half-hour mark. Davis sprayed the ball down the right side to Afrifa, who slipped a pass through to Thommy inside the box. The midfielder’s near-post effort was destined for the back of the net, but Gallese reacted impressively to keep the game scoreless. Three minutes later, Salloi’s 25-yard sledgehammer was punched away by the Lions keeper.
Sporting’s go-ahead goal came a minute shy of halftime, but not before Thommy dragged a shot inches wide from the edge of the area and Agada saw his lunging effort go begging after Afrifa curled a teasing cross to the back stick. Davis then lifted his side into a deserved 1-0 lead, showcasing his dogged work rate by winning possession at the top of the box, taking a few dribbles to his left and rifling a phenomenal finish into top right corner for his third goal of the season.
Seven minutes into the second period, Sporting doubled their advantage on a superbly worked team goal that culminated with Davis sending a diagonal ball through to Thommy, who dinked a clever ball into the path of Salloi on the overlap. Salloi made no mistake from there, rifling home inside the near post for his second tally of the season and his 60th career goal for the club in all competitions. Salloi now has 100 total goal contributions for Sporting in all competitions, becoming the fourth player in club history to hit that milestone alongside Preki, Graham Zusi and current teammate Johnny Russell.
In a match dominated by manager Peter Vermes’ side, Sporting suffered a setback in the 70th minute when forward Willy Agada received a red card for a violent foul. The forward was initially handed a second yellow card on the play, resulting in his ejection from the game, but VAR prompted Tim Ford to take a second look and Agada was officially given a straight red card that will rule him out of Sporting’s MLS trip to the New York Red Bulls on Sept. 7.
Walter added gloss to the triumph in second-half stoppage time, picking out the left corner with a sublime strike from 22 yards after substitute Alan Pulido teed him up with a pass to the top of the area. Walter has equaled his MLS career high with three goals in 2024—all of which have come from outside the box, helping Sporting amass a league-leading 12 goals from beyond the penalty area this season.
2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 27
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 17,383
Weather: 89 degrees and sunny
Score | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
Sporting Kansas City (7-14-6, 27 points) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Orlando City SC (9-10-7, 34 points) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia (C); Khiry Shelton, Robert Voloder, Andreu Fontas (Dany Rosero 46'), Tim Leibold (Logan Ndenbe 77'); Jake Davis, Zorhan Bassong (Remi Walter 77'); Stephen Afrifa (Johnny Russell 62'), Erik Thommy (Alan Pulido 62'), Daniel Salloi; William Agada
Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Chris Rindov, Memo Rodriguez, Alenis Vargas
Orlando City SC: Pedro Gallese; Dagur Thorhallsson, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson (C), Kyle Smith (Rafael Santos 46'); Cesar Araujo (Nico Lodeiro 73'), Wilder Cartagena; Facundo Torres (Yutaro Tsukada 82'), Martin Ojeda (Duncan McGuire 59'), Ivan Angulo (Luis Muriel 59'); Ramiro Enrique
Subs Not Used: Javier Otero, Rodrigo Schlegel, Jeorgio Kocevski, Felipe Martins
Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Jake Davis 3 (Stephen Afrifa 1) 44'
SKC -- Daniel Salloi 2 (Erik Thommy 4, Jake Davis 3) 52'
SKC -- Remi Walter 3 (Alan Pulido 5, Johnny Russell 5) 90+2'
Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Willy Agada (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 51'
SKC -- Willy Agada (red card; violent conduct) 70'
ORL -- Rafael Santos (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 84'
ORL -- Ramiro Enrique (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90'
SKC -- Johnny Russell (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90+9'
Stat | SKC | ORL |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 13 | 13 |
Shots on Goal | 6 | 1 |
Saves | 1 | 3 |
Fouls | 9 | 10 |
Offsides | 2 | 1 |
Corner Kicks | 3 | 6 |
Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Referee: Corey Parker
Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Swartzel
Fourth Official: Elijio Arreguin
VAR: Daniel Radford
AVAR: Cory Richardson
