"This Week in Sporting," presented by The Smile Generation, is a weekly series that highlights the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City. To visit the series archive, click here.
1. Heroic Hurtado
Forward Erik Hurtado’s world-class volley lifted Sporting Kansas City (9-5-2, 29 points) to a 2-1 comeback victory over 10-man Nashville SC (4-6-6, 18 points) on Sunday night at Children’s Mercy Park.
Faced with a 1-0 deficit at halftime, Sporting leveled terms on a 53rd-minute goal from Gerso Fernandes before Hurtado came off the bench to bag a jaw-dropping stunner in the 79th minute. The magisterial strike stood as the match-winner as Sporting claimed their third consecutive triumph and moved within a point of Western Conference leaders Seattle Sounders FC.
Manager Peter Vermes’ side has racked up three regular season wins in the space of nine days for the first time since 2014, marking the seventh such occurrence in club history. The result also pushed Sporting’s record to 10-3-4 in inaugural regular season meetings with expansion clubs and snapped Nashville’s four-game unbeaten run.
2. Goal of the Week
There are technically five nominees for AT&T Goal of the Week in Week 17 of the MLS campaign. But everyone who saw the jaw-dropping wonderstrike conjured by Sporting Kansas City's Erik Hurtado in a 2-1 victory over Nashville SC on Sunday knows there's only one legitimate voting option.Hurtado made like Marco van Basten in the 79th minute of Sunday's match, volleying home arguably the greatest goal in Children's Mercy Park history to give Sporting their third consecutive win and lift the team within a point of Western Conference leaders Seattle Sounders FC. Fans can vote Hurtado for AT&T Goal of the Week until the online poll closes at 8 a.m. CT on Tuesday morning.
3. Road Swing
Manager Peter Vermes' men will look to continue their winning ways with a pair of road matches this week, visiting FC Dallas (5-4-6, 21 points) on Wednesday and Chicago Fire FC (5-8-4, 19 points) on Saturday.
Wednesday's battle against FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT, featuring three hours of live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports GO. Listeners can also catch the action locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM, with the Final Whistle postgame show airing immediately afterward on 810 WHB. Viewers outside of the FOX Sports Midwest footprint can stream the contest on ESPN Plus.
After dueling Dallas, Sporting will travel to face Chicago Fire FC at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday in the club's first match at Soldier Field since 2005. The cross-conference clash will be shown regionally on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports GO as well as nationally in Spanish on Univision, TUDN and @TUDNUSA Twitter. Radio broadcasts will air on ESPN 94.5 FM an La Grande 1340 AM, with another edition of The Final Whistle following on 94.5 FM.
4. Pulido and Mexico in Action
Sporting Kansas City striker Alan Pulido has joined the Mexican Men's National Team for an international friendly against Algeria on Tuesday at Cars Jeans Stadion in The Hague, Netherlands. The match is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and will be shown live on Univision, Univision NOW, TUDN and TUDN.com. Following the game, Pulido will adhere to mandated health and safety protocols in accordance with international travel before rejoining Sporting for the final stretch of the MLS campaign.
5. Reid Romps to Team of the Week
Sporting Kansas City center back Winston Reid made a massive impact on both ends of the pitch in last Wednesday's 1-0 home win over Chicago Fire FC. His reward? Three points in the Western Conference race and a spot on the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi.
At the forefront, Reid provided the lone goal of the night by connecting with Johnny Russell's corner kick and steering a powerful header into the back of the net on 67 minutes. The New Zealand international's first MLS goal was all Sporting needed to come away with the victory, thanks in large part to a comprehensive backline performance by the hosts. Anchoring the defense was none other than Reid, whose seven interceptions led all MLS players in Week 16. The defender became just the third Sporting player since the dawn of the MLS Opta era in 2010 to score a goal and record seven interceptions in a regular season match.
6. Kick Childhood Cancer Auction
After joining forces with MLS WORKS in September to raise awareness and funds during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Sporting Kansas City and The Victory Project will continue their philanthropic efforts by hosting the Kick Childhood Cancer online auction from Oct. 11-17.
Beginning Sunday and running through next Saturday, Oct. 17, supporters can visit bidpal.net/kcc or text “KCC” to 243725 for the opportunity to bid on a wide variety of player-autographed and team-signed items, including game-worn jerseys, soccer balls, T-shirts and captain’s armbands.
7. Sporting Acquires GAM
Sporting Kansas City announced Friday that the club has acquired $50,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) for the 2021 season from D.C. United in exchange for a 2020 international roster spot. General Allocation Money can be used in the following circumstances:
- To buy down a player’s Salary Budget Charge.
- To sign players new to MLS (that is, a player who did not play in MLS during the previous season).
- To re-sign an existing MLS player.
- To off-set acquisition costs (loan and transfer fees).
- In connection with the extension of a player's contract for the second year provided the player was new to MLS in the immediately prior year.
- To reduce the Salary Budget Charge of a Designated Player to a limit of $150,000.
- To reduce the Salary Budget Charge of a player whose Salary Budget Charge exceeds the Maximum Salary Budget Charge to a limit of $150,000.
