Sporting KC falls on road to LAFC counters

After a win at home on Wednesday over Minnesota, Sporting Kansas City traveled to Los Angeles FC on Saturday. The Western Conference power did what they do best, sit back and rapidly counter teams when they make a mistake. Sporting KC fell into the trap three times in the first half, leading to a 4-0 win for LAFC. Denis Bouanga led LAFC with a brace while Son Heung-Min and David Martínez both scored. It is the fourth straight regular-season win and the third straight since the World Cup break.

Sporting KC had hoped to continue to build on performances after the break and to continue to integrate new defenders but ran into the reality of Sporting KC head coach Raphaël Wicky was asked about the counterattack and responded, “That is how LAFC plays this year, this is their strength. They have no problem sitting, defending very low, very deep, in a 4-5-1, and then hitting in counter-attacks. That’s what they do against most of the teams, and that is what annoys me the most. We lost the game in a manner we knew exactly what, how the game will look like, especially in the first half.”

“In those crucial moments, we did not do what we were supposed to do as a team. We forced too quickly, in zones which we shouldn’t have played, because that’s exactly what they wanted. We prepared for that,” Wicky continued. “I feel like we were a bit better, more disciplined in the second half, and suddenly we have less counterattacks. I mean, you can’t eliminate LAFC’s attack for 90 minutes. But that is what annoys me, that we actually were not disciplined enough in certain moments in the first half, or didn’t do what we were supposed to do and tried to force things too quickly and then they punish you.”

The onslaught started in the fifth minute. SKC midfielder attempted to poke the ball away from an LA attacker, but instead sent it towards his own goal where Korean superstar Son Heung-Min took control and placed a right-footed shot into the net.

Denis Bouanga was next in line to score for LAFC. Mathieu Choinière sent the ball long down field. New Sporting KC center back Or Blorian potentially had a chance to keep the ball from bouncing, but once it did, Bounga sped past Blorian and in on SKC’s goal. Bounga scored LAFC’s second goal on their second shot on goal.

Right before halftime, LAFC continued their masterclass in countering. This time, Bouanga gave the assist when he sent a ball down range to a streaking David Martínez. The Venezuelan attacker was briefly slowed up by a scrambling defence, but a quick pullback and he had space to shoot and find the back of the net.

Sporting KC looked better in the second half, and some changes reinforced their play but LAFC was able to add another late in the match when Bouanga added his second goal of the night.

Moises Mosquera came on for Blorian in the 69th minute to get some valuable acclimitation to MLS.

“We have to learn from that. We have to learn that in certain moments we cannot do certain things or force plays because, LAFC is obviously an extreme example with extreme quality. But in MLS when you force things, a lot of teams in MLS have fast strikers, fast wingers and they try to counterattack. We also do that in moments. We’re very strong with that when we have Calvin (Harris) and Capita (Capemba), and sometimes Stephen (Afrifa) playing there. Everyone has to learn. For this game especially, we said, ‘let’s not force things and let’s not get tired of keeping the ball.’ And unfortunately, in the first half, we had these few moments where we forced it and then they punish you,” coach Wicky explained.

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jake Davis, Or Blorian (Moises Mosquera 69’), Wyatt Meyer, Emir Karic; Stephen Afrifa (Shapi Suleymanov 62’), Lasse Berg Johnsen, Zorhan Bassong, Calvin Harris; Manu Garcia (Kwaku Agyabeng 62’), Dejan Joveljic (C)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Ethan Bartlow, Ian James, Jansen Miller, Jayden Reid, Jacob Bartlett

LAFC: Hugo Lloris; Ryan Hollingshead (Ryan Raposo 78’), Ryan Porteous, Aaron Long (C), Yevhen Cheberko; Marky Delgado (Jude Terry 62’), Mathieu Choiniere, Timothy Tillman (Eddie Segura 46’); David Martinez (Tyler Boyd 78’), Heung Min Son (Jeremy Ebobisse 85’), Denis Bouanga

Subs Not Used: Thomas Hasal, Kenneth Nielsen, Nkosi Tafari, Jacob Shaffelburg

Scoring Summary:
LAFC – Heung Min Son 3 (Unassisted) 5’
LAFC – Denis Bouanga 9 (Mathieu Choiniere 4, Aaron Long 2) 37’
LAFC – David Martinez 6 (Denis Bouanga 6, Aaron Long 3) 49+
LAFC – Denis Bouanga 10 (Tyler Boyd 2, Ryan Porteous 1) 85’

Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Manu Garcia (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 2’
SKC – Dominic Kinnear (Yellow Card; Dissent) 17’
SKC – Calvin Harris (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 75’

Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Assistant Referee: Cory Richardson
Assistant Referee: Eduardo Jeff
Fourth Official: Trevor Wiseman
VAR: Carol Anne Chenard
AVAR: Robert Schaap