Sporting KC Fall 3-2 to Atlanta United in Road Scrimmage

Sporting Kansas City returned to action in a tune up match against Atlanta United one week out from KC’s return to MLS play. They rolled out a similar lineup with only new signing Or Blorian making the starting lineup.

The broadcast announced it would be three, thirty-minute periods in the game.

The announcers said Sporting KC were in a 4-3-3, but the team sent out a lineup in what looked like the 4-4-2 they had been doing prior to the break. One difference was Manu Garcia was starting next to Dejan Joveljic, instead of backup striker Taylor Calheira.

Another change was Ian James was deployed at right back. Maybe instead of adding another right back, the 18-year-old Sporting KC Homegrown will just see minutes out wide since the team just added two center backs (Blorian and Moises Mosquera) that are likely start in the middle over him.

Sporting KC found themselves doing well to possess the ball early. They were linking their passes together and playing out of tight spaces. Despite holding the ball well early, they struggled to make the final pass in the attack to get off a shot.

In the 13th minute, fortunes changed. Sporting KC forced a turnover and sprung an attack up the left to Calvin Harris. He played a cross into the box and Dejan Joveljic who was tripped up in the box and drew a penalty kick.

Dejan did well to step up and drain his PK and put Sporting KC up 1-0!

In the 19th minute, Atlanta and their commentators wanted a penalty of their own. Harris had tracked back on defense, and you can see his hand/arm and the attacker get tangled and the Atlanta player goes down (sorry, they don’t have numbers, so I don’t know who it was). The ref waived off the penalty though.

Atlanta would equalize just minutes later. A long switch got the ball into the right side of the attack. Emmanuel Latte Lathe cut inside and played a ball back across the box on the ground and it was driven home by Jay Fortune. 1-1.

It wouldn’t take long for things to degrade further for Sporting KC. Atlanta found themselves in the attack. Cooper Sanchez was in the box and had his first shot blocked. But it fell back to him, and despite being surrounded by four defenders, Sanchez put the ball home to put Atlanta ahead 2-1 before the first 30-minute segment ended.

After a break play resumed with teams switching sides for the next 30-minute period. Neither team made a change as the teams worked towards fitness for return to MLS action.

The period started much as the first ended with Wyatt Meyer turning the ball over and Atlanta putting KC under immediately pressure. Thankfully, the defense snuffed this attack out and the score remained 1-2.

After that, Kansas City stabilized. They had multiple near opportunities. Harris got in behind but was just offside. Manu Garcia looked like he’d be all alone with the keeper, but the pass to him was ever so slightly deflected. Capita got in behind, but his first touch let him down and it led to a corner kick.

Eventually, Sporting KC did find an equalizer. Atlanta had a soft turnover in the midfield. Manu was given the ball, and he played a lovely through ball on the ground to Harris. Calvin then weighted a ball well to Dejan, who drew the goalkeeper far out of his box. He sent in a cross that may have gone in by itself, but Capita Capemba tapped it home. 2-2!

It looked like Atlanta were going to take the lead, but a perfectly timed intervention from Blorian broke up Alexey Miranchuk who was wide open in the box. On the other end, SKC nearly took the lead when Dejan played a ball back to Manu who sent his shot just wide of the post!

In the 50th minute, it looked like Fafa Picault was sure to score. A well-timed pass found him in deep and all alone. Somehow, despite Picault’s epic pace, he was run down by Meyer who timed a tackle perfectly and broke up the play.

Cooper Sanchez got the sides fired up when he took a cheap shot at Or Blorian. Zorhan Bassong came to his new teammates defense and took exception, and a bit of a scuffle ensued. In the end, Sanchez, Bassong and another off-screen player got yellow cards.

Right out of the long scuffle-break, KC went on the attack with a long switch. They worked the ball around and Lasse Berg Johnsen found the ball at the top of the box but had his shot deflected out for a corner of which nothing came.

After a bit more back and forth, the second period came to an end with the scored tied at two apiece.

The third 30-minute period saw Atlanta completely change their lineup, but SKC make no changes. The broadcast said Sporting KC’s plan was to try to have all their guys go 90 minutes. Atlanta seemed to be playing a lot of their MLS Next Pro team, but the team didn’t put out a lineup, and no one was wearing numbers.

In the 68th minute, Harris turned the ball over deep in the midfield and Atlanta made a cross to Dunbar on the back post, but Stefan Cleveland made the save. Shortly after, play was stopped for a couple minutes when Atlanta pushed Harris to the ground then another player accidentally put a shin to his head. Thankfully, he was able to continue.

Almost immediately after the return to play, Jayden Reid made a long run before eventually losing the ball. Harris then fouled to stop a counter and picked up a yellow card.

One wrinkle that showed up over the course of the match was Berg Johnsen dropping very deep at times. He played between the CBs, who would split quite wide and both fullbacks were further up the field.

In the 82nd minute, Bassong went down with cramping. He was replaced by SKC II player, Shane Donovan. Manu dropped deep into Bassong’s spot and Donovan playing attacking mid. Immediately after the change, Atlanta scored to take the lead. Cameron Dunbar with the goal. 3-2 ATL.

In all honesty, it had been coming. The fresh Atlanta players, even if they were MLS Next Pro players mostly, ran circles around the tired Kansas City players. The game was played early to avoid the heat, but by the time the goal went in, it was already 88 degrees and quite humid.

Sporting KC turned up the intensity but had their attacks consistently break down. The ref did add a little stoppage time, but Atlanta held on for the 3-2 win.

Full Game

To watch all the nuance, the full game is available below.

Sporting KC return to Major League Soccer play in a week when they hit the road and play rival St. Louis City SC.