Starting XI: Sunday Stroll

Starting XI, presented by Ford, is a biweekly series on SportingKC.com that highlights 11 of the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City, MLS and soccer around the globe. Click here to visit the Starting XI archive.

Sporting KC used first-half goals from Daniel Salloi and Diego Rubio to post a 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy on Sunday afternoon at Children’s Mercy Park, closing the gap between themselves and first-place Vancouver Whitecaps FC to a single point.

The struggling Galaxy pulled a goal back through Romain Alessandrini’s superb free kick near the hour-mark, but LA was unable to conjure an equalizer and saw its winless drought in Kansas City hit 10 games spanning a full decade. Sporting KC, meanwhile, has avoided defeat in six straight meetings against LA and remains the only MLS club without a home loss in 2017.

2. Playoff Math

Thanks to consecutive home wins over the New England Revolution and LA Galaxy in league play, Sporting KC is within touching distance of a club-record seventh straight playoff appearance. In fact, the team can clinch a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs as early as Saturday night, when the side welcomes Western Conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC to Children's Mercy Park at 8 p.m. CT. Click here for the latest playoff math, which currently sees Sporting KC’s magic number at 5 heading into the final month of the regular season.

3. Top of the Table

Coming off a remarkable week that saw Sporting KC lift the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title and move within a point of first place in the Western Conference, Sporting KC (12-6-11, 47 points) will now prepare for a pivotal showdown with leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC (14-9-6, 48 points), set for 8 p.m. CT Saturday at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets for the high-profile encounter are on sale at SeatGeek.com as Sporting KC looks to extend a club-record 24-game home unbeaten run in the MLS regular season, the third-longest streak in league history.

FOX Sports Kansas City Plus and FOX Sports Midwest Plus will air three hours of live coverage on Saturday night, beginning with the Boulevard Pregame Show at 7:30 p.m. CT. Listeners can follow the action on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish), while the Sporting KC Uphoria mobile app will provide live updates. In addition, the Final Whistle postgame show will air immediately after the match on 810 WHB.

4. Home Fortress

It has been 486 days since Sporting KC last suffered a regular season defeat in the confines of Children’s Mercy Park. The club’s current home unbeaten run hit 24 regular-season matches following Sunday's 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy, good for the third-longest streak in Major League Soccer's 22-year history. And with Toronto FC's 5-3 home loss to the Montreal Impact on Wednesday — the same night Sporting KC lifted the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title — Vermes' side was elevated into a class of its own, becoming the only top-division club in all of North America yet to lose a league match at home in 2017.

5. Going Green

Sporting KC announced today that midfielder Ilie has obtained his U.S. green card and no longer occupies an international spot on the club’s roster. Sporting KC now has seven international players on its 30-man roster: Latif Blessing, Cristian Lobato, James Musa, Soni Mustivar, Kevin Oliveira, Tyler Pasher and Daniel Salloi.

Ilie, who signed for Sporting KC in January, has enjoyed an excellent first season in MLS. The holding midfielder has played every minute in 33 appearances for the club, including all five matches en route to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title. The 26-year-old Spaniard leads Sporting KC field players in minutes played and has missed just one game all year.

6. Playoff Ticket Punched

The Swope Park Rangers clinched a berth in the USL Cup Playoffs on Saturday behind a well-deserved 3-1 win at Colorado Switchbacks FC, bagging three-goals in a devastating three-minute spell from the 20th to 22nd minutes after the match was suspended in the 18th minute due to lightning in the area. Oumar Ballo, Kharlton Belmar and Nansel Selbol struck for the Rangers, who kept hold of fourth place in the USL’s Western Conference.

The Rangers (15-7-6, 51 points) will now return home to host LA Galaxy II (7-16-5, 26 points) at 7:30 p.m. CT Wednesday at Children's Mercy Victory Field inside Swope Soccer Village. Tickets can be purchased at SeatGeek.com or at the venue box office on matchday, and the game will stream live on SportingKC.com.

7. Wild Weekend

Another busy weekend of MLS action saw Sporting KC, Vancouver and the Portland Timbers create a bit of separation atop the Western Conference. While fourth-place Seattle Sounders FC took a 2-0 loss to red-hot Real Salt Lake, Vancouver topped bottom-dwellers Colorado Rapids while Diego Valeri and Portland buried Orlando City SC to prevent Sporting KC from moving to the summit. Elsewhere, FC Dallas continued their shocking late-season swoon with a 4-1 loss at Minnesota United FC.

MLSsoccer.com analyst Matt Doyle shared his thoughts on an entertaining Week 29, while Susannah Collins and Calen Carr revisited the biggest talking points in the newest episode of This Week in MLS.

8. Onward to India

One week after signing a Homegrown contract with Sporting Kansas City, defender Jaylin Lindsey has been selected to the United States U-17 Men’s National Team roster for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India. U.S. U-17 head coach John Hackworth named his 21-player roster on Thursday for a tournament that will run from Oct. 6-28 in India. The team departed Sunday for training in Dubai.

Lindsey and the U.S. U-17s were drawn into Group A with Colombia, Ghana and India. The side begins group stage action against India on Oct. 6 (9:30 a.m. CT), followed by matches against Ghana on Oct. 9 (6:30 a.m. CT) and Colombia on Oct. 12 (9:30 a.m. ET). Each group stage game will air live on FS2 and UNIVERSO.

9. Academy in Action

The Sporting KC Academy U-15s, U-17s and U-19s each played a pair of matches this weekend in Colorado, posting victories in a clean sweep of the Colorado Rush on Saturday before experiencing mixed results on Sunday against the Colorado Rapids. The Sporting KC U-17s emerged with a 2-1 win over their MLS counterparts, while the U-15s and U-19s suffered narrow, one-goal defeats.

10. Uphoria Perks

Users of the Sporting KC Uphoria mobile app can enjoy a free appetizer with any $20 purchase today at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District. Uphoria downloaders can also visit any Kansas City-area Price Chopper to redeem a free four-pack of Dannon Greek yogurt through Tuesday night.

11. U-24 Countdown

Beginning today, MLSsoccer.com we will be revealing the top 24 young players in MLS, selected by a panel of soccer media members across North America and former MLS players. The countdown will culminate on Thursday when the top ten are revealed on a special edition of ExtraTime Live at 1 p.m. CT. Players who are 23 and younger as of Oct. 22 – the final day of the 2017 MLS regular season – are eligible for this year’s ranking.

Games to Watch (Sept. 26-28)