RECAP: Sporting KC Battle Back for a Draw Against the Seattle Sounders

Sporting Kansas City played to a tough, yet well earned, 1-1 draw against a visiting Seattle Sounders team that sit toward the top of the table. With goalkeeper John Pulskamp sidelined for Stefan Cleveland, SKC maintained their calm after conceding early.

It was a rough start for Sporting as they conceded a goal just two minutes into the game. Jake Davis lets a ball go over his head that lands at the feet of Paul Rothrock who slots it past Stefan Cleveland in his Kansas City debut.

It was all Seattle early as they continued to stride forward with space on both wings. Jesus Ferreira playing the 10 was distributing all over the field. Seattle created another dangerous attack in the fifth minute that was deflected by Jayden Reid for a corner kick.

The Sounders continued to attack the right side of KC’s defense and created chances that led to SKC spending a majority of the time defending and very little time of possession. Some fancy footwork and play from Ferreira ended in a lobbed shot from outside of the box bouncing off the crossbar in the 12th minute.

Seattle’s possession dominance and pressure left Joveljic without a touch in the first 15 minutes of the half.

After the first quarter hour, Jayden Reid began finding space on his wing but was unable to find enough time to cross a ball into a dangerous area.

Low and behold though, in the 18th minute, Joveljic picks off an errant pass from Roldan at the top of Seattle’s penalty box and slots home his fifth goal of the season tying the score 1-1. It was SKC’s first goal since 3-1 loss to San Jose on April 11.

The goal sparked more activity from the SKC offense, specifically Manu, Shapi and Capita. Right as the Sounders kickoff after conceding, Capita picks off a pass and rushes forward, slotting a ball forward to Manu but he is unable to make the final pass to create a shot or find Joveljic on the other side of the box.

Still, whenever the Sounders drove forward, it felt like they were creating opportunities for a goal.

Sounders defender Jackson Ragen earned the games first yellow card in the 31st minute. Manu with a magnificent touch off a goal kick pass from Cleveland and is leveled by Ragen.

Sporting continued to grow as the game went on and with their limited possession managed to push forward and at least frustrate the Sounders backline. Shapi continued his attacking activity creating chances for others. In the 34th, his shot is parried by Thomas and finds the feet of Capita. The Angolan was able to maintain possession winning a thrown-in in the attacking third.

With the spark of offense for SKC, they also started pressing further up the field. The spark seemed to also help on the defensive end as even the forwards were clearing chances in their own penalty box to preserve the 1-1 score line.

No changes from either side to start the second half, but it didn’t take long for Seattle to look dangerous again with a chance in the 47th minute. Stefan Cleveland kept Sporting KC in the game on more than one occasion including in the 52nd minute when Ferreira finds a rebound and slots its wide to Rothrock who drives a ball low at the near post and Cleveland dove to keep from conceding.

“He did well. He brought what I wanted him to bring,” Rapha Wicky said. “His experience, his calmness, his decision making was good. He made a few good saves.”

Shapi continued his attacking presence in the 65th minute when he started a counterattack that found Joveljic on the wing. The Serbian cut inside and slotted a ball into the box for Capita whose shot is parried by Thomas. In the 67th minute, Seattle subbed off Paul Rothrock and Jordan Morris to make way for Albert Rusnak and Paul Arriola.

Cleveland continued to make saves as the game went on and Seattle continued to press the issue looking for three points. Capita came off in the 74th minute and made way for Calvin Harris. Ozaze De Rosario came on to replace Mosovski in the 76th for Seattle.

In perhaps his most picturesque save of the day, Cleveland made a huge diving save after Ferreira unleashed a curling effort to the far post.

Moments later, Shapi slots a ball wide to Harris in the attacked third. Harris then crosses the ball across the face of goal where Joveljic attempts a contested shot that is saved by Thomas.

After a solid shift from Manu, he was replaced by Taylor Calheira in the 84th minute, shifting SKC’s formation to a 4-4-2.

Almost instantly, Calheira combines with Joveljic and Shapi on a counter that ends with Calheira shooting near post forcing another save from Thomas.

Ferriera and Kossa-Rienzi were subbed off in the 8th minute for Hassani Dotson and Peter Kingston. Moments after subbing on, Dotson earned the games second yellow card for a tackle on Joveljic.

Sporting KC was out-possessed and out-shot, by a huge margin:

Possession: SKC – 35%; SEA – 65%
Shots: SKC – 10; SEA – 26

But there were positives to take away from holding on to a result after a long stretch of bad games.

“The team reacted and stayed in the game and then came back. Now, can we have that more,” Wicky said after the match “Great defensive effort from everyone. We knew we needed that. I think that was a great reaction from the team. Great reaction after that goal. Something to build from.”

All in all, it’s a point after a long stretch of dreadful results. The team bounced back from falling behind early and showed a much better defensive effort despite an ever-attacking Seattle team that sits fourth in the Western Conference.

Now, SKC head to the Pacific Northwest to visit the Portland Timbers and look to build on this performance.

Lineups:

SKC (4-3-3)

Stefan Cleveland (GK)
Jake Davis (RB) – Ethan Bartlow (CB) – Syatt Meyer (CB) – Jayden Reid (LB)
Lasse (CM) – Manu Garcia (CM) – Jacob Bartlett (CM)
Shapi (LW) – Dejan Joveljic (ST) – Capita (RW)

SEA (4-2-3-1)

Andrew Thomas (GK)
Nouhou (LWB) – Alex Roldan (CB) – Jackson Regan (CB) – Kalani Kossa-Rienzi (RWB)
Cristian Roldan (DM) – Snyder Brunell (DM)
Jordan Morris (LM) – Jesus Ferreira (AM) – Paul Rothrock (LM)
Danny Musovski (ST)