Sporting KC Annihilate the LA Galaxy 3-1

After a humiliating defeat to the Portland Timbers over the weekend, Sporting Kansas City
returned home and hoped to get right against the LA Galaxy. Sporting took the field in their 18th and Vine-inspired secondary kit while LA donned their all white primary kits.

Sporting started in a 4-4-2 with Dejan Joveljic and Taylor Calheira leading the line.
They were backed by Calvin Harris, Capita Capemba, Zorhan Bassong, and Lasse
Berg Johnsen. The backline was Jake Davis, Ian James, Wyatt Meyer, and Jayden
Reid in front of Stephen Cleveland.

Sporting created a number of half chances early, winning an early corner kick and then putting some dangerous balls into the box in the 10th minute. Jake Davis won a ball in the midfield on a counter press and slid a through ball in for Calvin Harris. The attacker got a touch but couldn’t put anything dangerous enough on frame to challenge the LA keeper.

In the 13th minute Sporting earned another corner. Lasse Berg Johnsen’s corner was won by LA and punted ahead for a dangerous counterattack. An early ball in from Gabriel Pec nearly found an LA attacker, but the fastest man in Poland, Capita Capemba, was there to knock the cross out across the endline.

LA earned their first corner, taken by Marco Reus in the 14th minute. The inswinger was headed away by Jayden Reid but LA continued to put dangerous passes into the box before Cuevas rocked a ball at goal. The shot from distance was easily saved by Cleveland, but Sporting struggled to get out of their own end and the Galaxy began to shift the balance of attack.

After a few minutes of back-and-forth possession, Sporting had a small look of glory when the ball fell to Jake Davis in the 24th minute. He launched a rocket at goal but it sailed over the bar. Sporting finally struck in the 32nd minute. Capita Capemba opened his account with the club with a lighting fast counterattack. LBJ found Calvin Harris streaking down the left wing. Harris squared the ball across the box and found the foot of Capita who put the home team ahead 1-0.

Sporting nearly scored again in the 35th when they forced another turnover deep in LA territory. Joveljic put a ball off the right post but was ultimately flagged offside.

Bassong picked up the first card of the match in the 41st minute when he pulled down Paintsil from behind. The challenge itself wasn’t particularly bad, but it was from behind during the attacking phase of play and was maybe Bassong’s third foul in a short period of time. Reus stood over the set piece and played it short for something off the training ground. The ball was immediately played back to Reus who attempted a cross to the back post that was headed away safely.

Sporting Kansas City doubled their lead four minutes into first half stoppage time. Sporting won the ball at the top of their own box. A ball over the top found Calvin Harris who took it down and found a streaking Dejan Joveljic who calmly chipped the keeper. Maybe the most beautiful sequence of the year for Kansas City.

At halftime, both teams opted for one substitution. Rafa Wicky replaced Capita with Stephen Afrifa after Capita took a couple hard knocks in the first half. LA
replaced Harbor Miller with Elijah Wynder.

LA earned their first booking of the night when Calvin Harris skipped a ball past Cuevas in the midfield and was taken down during his attempted pursuit.

Sporting continued pressing the attack, looking for a third goal early in the 2nd half. They earned a corner kick in the 53rd minute and LBJ’s low ball was unable to create any real danger. The game opened up with end-to-end play for another 10 minutes before Sporting opted for a double substitution. Manu Garcia replaced Taylor Calheira while Jacob Bartlett replaced Zorhan Bassong.

Calvin Harris nearly added a third when he raced into the area and unleashed a banger of a shot that forced LA’s keeper into a great save. LA opted for a trio of substitutions in the 64th minute. Cuevas made way for Miki Yamane, Sanabria came off for Erik Thommy, and Emiro Garces was replaced with Justin Haak.

Harris finally broke through in the 70th minute. At long last he opened his Sporting KC account after Manu Garcia fought off three Galaxy players in the midfield, took a gorgeous turn, and hit a perfectly weighted ball to Harris.

LA nearly got one back after Painstil fired in a cross to the six-yard box that found the foot of Wynder. The LA man couldn’t get his foot around it and blasted the ball wide of the goal.

The keepers exchanged great saves as the game entered the final quarter hour. Jayden Reid blasted a ball off of LA’s keeper’s hands. Immediately, LA raced down and Paintsil cut a ball back that found the foot of Erik Thommy. Thommy launched one on goal that required Cleveland to parry it to his left keeping the clean sheet. In the ensuing break in play, Matheus Nascimento replaced Marco Reus for LA. Gabriel Pec, angered after a no call at the top of the Sporting KC box, made a 70-yard recovery run to scream at the referee and earned a yellow for dissent for his efforts.

Jake Davis left the game in the 81st minute and was replaced by Justin Reynolds. Gabriel Pec finally found a moment of magic for LA as the game drew near its final minutes. He cut in on his left foot and curled a highlight reel goal into the top corner past a diving Cleveland.

The final substitution of the game came in stoppage time when Rafa Wicky removed Dejan Joveljic for Shapi Suleymanov. With one minute left in the game,
Sporting packed everyone behind the ball and worked to kill it off. LA had one final effort when Thommy found Haack wide open at the top of the box. His shot flew wide of the target. The referee blew the final whistle and Sporting took home a 3-1 win, their first home win of the season.

Huge home win to get right after a really tough weekend on the west coast. Dare I say… a glimmer of hope. We’ll see what the team looks like as we near the World Cup break.

#SavetheCaps.