Sporting Kansas City came roaring into MLS action Saturday evening at Children’s Mercy Park. Back from its Leagues Cup and Summer Olympics break, the team responded with a thorough 3-0 thrashing of Orlando City FC, despite a red card to Willy Agada midway through the second half.
Jake Davis, a reserve member of the Olympic squad, put Sporting on the path to a win just before halftime with a banger into the upper right corner from about 12 yards.
Davis rushed up from his defensive midfield spot to take the ball off the foot of Steven Afrifa, who had gotten stuck in traffic just outside the arc. The young midfielder dribbled diagonally to his left, beating two defenders, then fired a left-footed blast back across goal and inside the far post.
Davis has moved to the defensive midfield after starting his stint with Sporting as a right back. Zorhan Bassong joined him in this lineup, moving up from a left back spot. The pairing worked well, shutting down the Orlando attack throughout the match.
After halftime, Daniel Salloi didn’t wait long to add on to the lead. He kicked off an end-to-end scoring chance with a takeaway, playing out wide to Jake Davis, who put the Orlando defense on its heels with a sprinting dribble up the right.
Davis had Agada and Erik Thommy on the break with him and played the ball up and in to Thommy, who laid it off to Salloi, who hade a furious run up the left to come in unmarked. Salloi’s shot low and inside the near post beat Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese for a 2-0 lead.
The all-out effort earned Salloi his 100th goal contribution (goals or assists) for Sporting. In the locker room after the match, Salloi got congratulations from Sporting legend Benny Feilhaber, who joked that the “ghost of number 10” (Feilhaber’s old number, now worn by Salloi) lived on.
In the 70th minute, Willy Agada, already on a yellow card, was carded again after a hard tackle on Orlando’s Facundo Torres. Originally a second yellow, which would have sent Agada from the field, the referee upped the card to red after a video review, likely due to Agada’s leg extension in the tackle, which will see him out of Sporting’s next MLS match.
Remi Walter’s short-handed goal in stoppage time was some solace for Agada’s early exit. Alan Pulido caught up with the ball at the right end line and played back into the onrushing path of Walter, who took a touch to set up then launched it mid-high and inside the left post.
Three points in the MLS Western Conference standings leaves Sporting seven points shy of the final playoff spot, with the season winding down. However, the team still has a quality chance at championship hardware in the U.S. Open Cup.
Sporting will play the USL squad Indy Eleven in the Open Cup semi-finals on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. A win puts Sporting into the final against either Seattle or LAFC, and will also likely earn the team a spot in the CONCACAF Champions’ League competition next season.
