Recap: Sporting stumbles to 2-0 loss at Seattle Sounders FC

Sporting Kansas City (7-15-7, 28 points) fell 2-0 to Seattle Sounders FC (13-9-7, 46 points) on Sunday at Lumen Field. The hosts inflicted their damage in the first half, receiving goals from Jackson Ragen and Paul Rothrock as Peter Vermes’ 500th regular season match as Sporting’s manager ended in defeat.

The upcoming MLS matchweek will see Sporting host a pair of familiar foes at Children’s Mercy Park, welcoming the Colorado Rapids (14-9-5, 47 points) on Wednesday and Minnesota United FC (11-11-6, 39 points) on Saturday. Both fixtures are slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available at SeatGeek and live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Taking the field for the first of five matches in 14 days, Sporting deployed a lineup that featured just one change from last weekend’s 1-1 road draw at the New York Red Bulls as Remi Walter replaced suspended midfielder Jake Davis.

The visitors carved out an early opening as Erik Thommy forced a save from Sounders captain Stefan Frei on the breakaway, but the German playmaker was flagged offside by a narrow margin. Sporting went even closer in the 16th minute when center back Dany Rosero latched onto a Johnny Russell corner kick and steered a short-range effort goalward off his thigh, but Cristian Roldan performed a heroic clearance off the goal line to keep the game scoreless.

Three minutes after Roldan spared Seattle’s blushes, the Sounders struck on a corner kick of their own. Goalkeeper Tim Melia did well to save a powerful Jordan Morris header off Albert Rusnak’s out-swinging delivery, but Ragen was on hand to slam home the rebound for his third goal of the season. Sporting then breathed a sigh of relief midway through the half when Rothrock dragged his shot fractionally wide under the duress of Khiry Shelton.

The Sounders thought they had doubled their advantage in the 24th minute when Cristian Roldan’s header fortuitously skipped past Morris, beyond the reach of Melia and into the far corner of the net, but the goal was rightly disallowed on VAR intervention due to Morris impacting the play in an offside position.

Vermes’ men found their footing as the first half rolled onward and manufactured a good look in the 35th minute. Left back Tim Leibold—logging his 50th appearance for Sporting in all competitions—clipped a searching cross into the box that Russell cushioned into the path of Thommy, whose low drive near the penalty spot was swallowed by Frei.

Rothrock pushed the scoreline to 2-0 five minutes before intermission. The breakout performer finished from close range to culminate an incisive attack involving Roldan, Rusnak and Morris, bagging his third goal of the MLS campaign and his sixth of the year in all competitions.

The outlook went from bad to worse for Sporting when Seattle was awarded a penalty kick in the 44th minute, but Melia dove right to cast aside Rusnak’s attempt and stop the bleeding on the cusp of halftime. Melia has saved 17 penalties in regular season play since 2015—the most in MLS during that time—and his .575 goals conceded percentage on penalties is the lowest in MLS regular season history among keepers with at least 15 spot kicks faced.

Eleven minutes after the restart, Seattle threatened again with Rusnak firing high from a tight angle to cap off an attack spearheaded by Rothrock and Morris. The chance came shortly before Sporting introduced three substitutes in midfielder Memo Rodriguez and attacking duo Stephen Afrifa and William Agada.

Sporting extinguished another fire with a dozen minutes remaining, Rosero and Shelton retreating to snuff out a breaking move into the box from Morris and Rothrock.

2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 29
Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington
Attendance: 31,898
Weather: 64 degrees and sunny

Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Khiry Shelton, Dany Rosero, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold; Remi Walter, Zorhan Bassong (Memo Rodriguez 58'); Johnny Russell (C) (Stephen Afrifa 58'), Erik Thommy, Daniel Salloi (Alenis Vargas 80'); Alan Pulido (William Agada 58')

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Robert Castellanos, Andreu Fontas, Danny Flores

Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei (C); Alex Roldan, Yeimar Gomez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, Reed Baker-Whiting (Jonathan Bell 66'); Cristian Roldan, Obed Vargas (Josh Atencio 77'); Georgi Minoungou (Pedro de la Vega 66'), Albert Rusnak (Danny Leyva 85'), Paul Rothrock; Jordan Morris

Subs Not Used: Andrew Thomas, Nathan, Leo Chu, Dylan Teves, Raul Ruidiaz

Scoring Summary:
SEA -- Jackson Ragen 3 (unassisted) 19'
SEA -- Paul Rothrock 3 (Jordan Morris 3, Albert Rusnak 13) 40'

Misconduct Summary:
SEA -- Reed Baker-Whiting (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 29'
SKC -- Daniel Salloi (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 37'
SKC -- Zorhan Bassong (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 46'

Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referee: Felisha Mariscal
Assistant Referee: Eduardo Jeff
Fourth Official: Elton Garcia
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Joshua Patlak