Sporting KC earn three points on the road at San Jose

Sporting Kansas City earned three points in San Jose with a 2-1 win over the Earthquakes. Goals by Erik Thommy and Alan Pulido gave Sporting KC the win. San Jose was the beneficiaries of an own goal by Sporting KC for their lone tally. The road win was the first since March and leapfrogs SKC over St. Louis City into twelfth in the Western Conference.

“I think team-wise it was a good performance. I don’t really think we gave much away in the game,” Manager Peter Vermes stated after the game. “I thought we defended well. It was a rough field tonight, it really was. Normally I wouldn’t say that, but it really had an effect on the game. The field was coming up in a lot of different places. It was hard with the footing, even with the different style of cleats. It definitely had an impact on the game, but the guys managed the situation well.”

Vermes continued, “(Erik) Thommy scores a rope of a goal. Alan (Pulido) has great movement up front along the back line and finishes like he can. When he gets balls in those areas, he’s deadly. From that perspective it was good. We were unfortunate on the goal (conceded) because we were completely in control of the game and gave that away. Poor execution on the pass and then we had a fire drill in the box. It was crazy. We deserved a clean sheet tonight, but a good result for the guys on the road, for sure.”

Vermes was again forced to change the starting lineup while the team has been playing a grueling schedule of matches in both league and Open Cup play. The front line was replaced with Alan Pulido, Alenis Vargas, and Stephen Afrifa. Memo Rodriguez was inserted in the midfield with Jake Davis called up to the Olympic squad.

Our XI but in formation ✨#SJvSKC | @BlueKC pic.twitter.com/uOdvpSHjw1

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) July 14, 2024

Vermes was forced to take Dany Rosero out and bring Robert Castellanos on in the 23rd minute. After the game, Vermes stated that Rosero felt tightness and asked to be subbed off. Castellanos played well when he came on the field in his place. Sporting KC was the better team in the first half but other than possession and passing, the two teams were relatively even stats-wise. Neither team created extremely dangerous chances. SKC briefly thought they took the lead in the first half when Alan Pulido scored but the goal was quickly and correctly waived off.

After the break, Vermes brought Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi and Remi Walter in the match for Vargas, Afrifa and Rodriguez. Vermes spoke with Walter and the French midfielder assured his boss that he was good to go for 45 minutes despite only playing 3 minutes since April.

Sporting KC came out strong early in the second half and it paid off for the visitors. It was a good team effort on the first goal. It started with Russell wide on the right side. The captain picked out Nemanja Radoja in the middle. As Radoja advanced with the ball and drew a defender to him, Thommy drifted into an open space and made himself available. Radoja slid the ball to Thommy. The German attacker dribbled towards the top of the arc as a San Jose defender tried to close him down. To create a little space, Pulido started a run into the box dragging one defender and occupying the attention of two more. Thommy executed a chop turn with the ball, freezing the San Jose defense and opening up space for him to unleash the left-footed blast past William Yarbrough.

A left-footed laser from Erik! 🎯

Watch #SJvSKC free on #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV: https://t.co/OtOTAdpyZG pic.twitter.com/wtSo4HdoD9

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) July 14, 2024

Sporting KC’s defensive midfielder again took on the playmaker role. This time he and Pulido were synchronized. After playing the ball back to Khiry Shelton, Pulido positioned himself on his defender’s back shoulder. Shelton slipped the ball to Radoja and Pulido started his run. Radoja sliced the ball through the San Jose backline and right into the path of Pulido. The Mexican striker beat Yarbrough to the backpost to double the lead for Sporting KC.

A pin-point pass from Nemanja gives Alan the opportunity he's been waiting for 😛

Watch #SJvSKC free on #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV: https://t.co/OtOTAdpyZG pic.twitter.com/PrGHXZyi9Z

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) July 14, 2024

A weak pass from Russell was intercepted, kicking off the counterattack for San Jose. A mad dash back led to desperate defending combined with a slippery field. That set up the own goal that came off of Shelton’s foot as he and Walter scrambled to cover attackers in case the ball was able to sneak past Melia.

.@SJEarthquakes cut the lead to one! pic.twitter.com/vaV7iBVfNU

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 14, 2024

In the end, the goal did not matter but it did give San Jose a spark for the last few minutes that put Sporting KC under pressure at the end of the match. When the final whistle blew, Sporting KC had won their third straight match and four of their last five.

“It obviously feels good if you win. In the past we’ve had a lot of games where we were unlucky. In the last few games, I think the mentality was right. Today we closed the game and defended well in the last few minutes. It feels really good and it’s important for our confidence,” Thommy told the KC Soccer Journal.

Sporting KC will remain on the West Coast to prepare for facing the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday.