Homegrown defender Erik Palmer-Brown didn’t’ disappoint in his long-awaited return to the Sporting Kansas City lineup.
Making his first appearance for the club since October 2015 — having spent the 2016 campaign on loan at FC Porto — Palmer-Brown delivered a strong performance in central defense as Sporting KC dominated the Philadelphia Union but conceded a second-half penalty kick to settle for a 1-1 draw. The Lee’s Summit, Missouri native was justly rewarded this afternoon, earning Team of the Week honors from MLSsoccer.com.
Palmer-Brown, who captained the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team throughout the first half of 2017 at the CONCACAF U-17 Championship and the FIFA U-17 World Cup, led all players on Thursday with 61 completed passes. He also totaled eight recoveries, six duels won, five clearances and two interceptions, helping limit the Union to a single shot on target from the run of play.
“I thought he had a good game all in all for it being his first time back with us in a long time for many, many reasons — injuries, international duty, whatever,” Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes said after the match. “But he was good and hard to get around. He dealt with some athletic guys, especially in C.J. (Sapong.) I mean C.J. is a very, very difficult guy to mark, and I thought we did a good job of keeping him at bay today.”
Palmer-Brown was one of three 20-year-olds to start for Sporting KC on Thursday, marking the first time in club history that Kansas City has started three players aged 20 or younger in a competitive match.
Palmer-Brown and Sporting KC will now shift gears into the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, where the club welcomes FC Dallas in Tuesday’s quarterfinal showdown at Children’s Mercy Park. The matchup pits the winners of the last two Open Cup titles, as Sporting KC claimed the 2015 championship before FC Dallas hoisted the trophy last season. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets are available at SeatGeek.com.
