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Sporting KC unable to overcome Whitecaps at Vancouver recap

Recap: The Whitecaps scored twice in first half before adding a late goal to seal the victory.

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3 months ago

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A missed shot | Credit: Thad Bell

Sporting Kansas City fell 3-0 in Vancouver Saturday night. Two first-half goals for the home team and a late second-half score for Vancouver put to rest any attempt at another Sporting KC comeback.

“They’re a good team and a balanced team,” interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin explained. “They make it very difficult defensively, and that sets them up for the rest of the game. I thought they won a lot of second balls within the game. Part of that was our doing in playing direct, which we wanted to try and get in behind them, but it wasn’t just that. It was off set pieces and goal kicks. They established themselves in the game in a better way, and for large portions of it they were threatening in and around the goal mouth, especially in the first half.”

It was always going to be tough for Sporting KC on the road against one of the better teams in the Western Conference. It was made even more difficult for Kansas City with Manu Garcia, their most creative midfielder, out with an injury. Zorhan Bassong earned the start alongside Nemanja Radoja. Khiry Shelton was also unavailable and Andrew Brody started at right back.

Vancouver had four players at the All-Star game.  Keeper Yohei Takaoka, defender Tristan Blackmon, midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, and forward Brian White were right back in the starting lineup for the Whitecaps.

Sporting KC has often struggled in the first half before turning it around in the second half. This match was no different. Kansas City attempted to come out on the front foot early in the first minutes, but the Whitecaps did not take long before establishing control. Vancouver’s Jayden Nelson was all over SKC’s right flank, helping create several opportunities as he ran rampant. Nelson set up Vancouver’s first goal when a ball deflected to J.C. Ngando who moved it out to the unmarked winger. A quick move and Nelson slipped the ball across goal to a sliding Emmanuel Sabbi for the goal in the 35th minute.

Sporting KC hoped to make it to halftime with a deficit of a single goal so they could make one of their second-half comebacks. The Whitecaps had other plans and doubled their lead in the 43rd minute. Nelson was again involved when he crossed the ball into the box. All-Star midfielder Berhalter headed the ball towards the SKC goal but Joaquin Fernandez blocked the initial effort. Ngando connected with the rebound sending it on frame. The ball took a slight deflection off of Fernandez and past a diving John Pulskamp.

 

After the half, Sporting KC came out a little stronger but really turned it up after the 60th  minute when Interim Head Coach Kerry Zavagnin made three subs. Logan Ndenbe came in for Tim Leibold, Santi Muñóz in for Daniel Sallói and Jake Davis for Nemanja Radoja. The momentum shifted to Sporting KC, but they were unable to find the net. The Whitecaps survived the renewed SKC effort but killed the comeback in the 86th minute. Mathias Laborda headed a cross home to seal the victory.

 

Score 1 2 F
Sporting Kansas City (6-12-6, 24 points) 0 0 0
Vancouver Whitecaps (13-5-6, 45 points) 2 1 3

 

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Andrew Brody, Jansen Miller, Joaquin Fernandez, Tim Leibold (Logan Ndenbe 60’); Jacob Bartlett, Nemanja Radoja (Jake Davis 60’), Zorhan Bassong (Memo Rodriguez 85’); Shapi Suleymanov (Mason Toye 85’), Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi (C) (Santiago Munoz 60’)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Ian James, Robert Voloder, Stephen Afrifa

Vancouver Whitecaps: Yohei Takaoka; Edier Ocampo (Tate Johnson 74’), Tristan Blackmon (Belal Halbouni 88’), Bjorn Utvik, Mathias Laborda; Andres Cubas (Ralph Priso 46’), Sebastian Berhalter, J.C. Ngando (Jeevan Badwal 81’); Emmanuel Sabbi (Daniel Rios 74’), Brian White (C), Jayden Nelson

Subs Not Used: Isaac Boehmer, Adrian Zendejas, Guiseppe Bovalina, Nelson Pierre

Scoring Summary:
VAN – Emmanuel Sabbi 5 (Jayden Nelson 5, J.C. Ngando 6) 35’
VAN – J.C. Ngando 2 (Unassisted) 43’
VAN – Mathias Laborda 3 (Sebastian Berhalter 5, Jeevan Badwal 2) 87’

Misconduct Summary:
VAN – Emmanuel Sabbi (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 3’
SKC – Dejan Joveljic (Yellow Card; Dissent) 27’
SKC – Tim Leibold (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 52′

STAT SKC VAN
Shots 11 21
Shots on Goal 3 5
Saves 2 3
Fouls 12 17
Offsides 0 5
Corner Kicks 4 9

Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Assistant Referee: Mike Nickerson
Assistant Referee: Kevin Lock
Fourth Official: Niko Jecanski
VAR: Kevin Stott
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson

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MathTeach1977

The starting 11 was a real disappointment again. With Manu and Tommy out, SKC should have started in a 4-4-2 with Santi and Jovelic up top. Jake needs to be starting either in Midfield or RB. Liebold should never start over Ndembe unless there is an injury issue. Radoja would be a nice piece off the bench to help close out a win, but he should not be starting unless it’s to give Bartlett a rest. These are the decisions that lose games and insure an interim coach doesn’t get the full time job. Brody was very outmatched all game. Please tell me a new RB signing is coming soon!

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KCOutsider

TL;DW

(too late; didn’t watch)

Sounds like the right decision.

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Howlie2

KZ is turning into a bit of a head scratcher following in the footsteps of PV. Why is he starting Leibold over Ndembe when Ndembe is healthy? Why isn’t he trying Leibold as the RB? Why does he start a game with (3) defensive midfielders and not one creative attacking player? Why isn’t he drilling the LW and RW to often seek out Dejan and then make a run? Why isn’t he ever playing Afrifa?

Granted, I don’t see these guys practice week in and out, but I know that Davis (midfielder) and Ndembe provide spark going forward. I also know that Munos should be starting every game (alternating RW and LW) with the effort, tenacity and ability to linkup with others. Shocker (sarcasm), SKC was significantly better moving forward after the triple sub (of those 3) in the 60th minute. Plus, they actually generated meaningful possession leading to shots and scoring opportunities. Exact same thing that happened in the prior two games.

I don’t think this roster is good enough to beat playoff teams regularly, but it is way better than the pile of poop showcased in the first 60 minutes last night.

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Gumby

Jake Davis should be a written-in-pen starter, every single game. At this point i have to assume one of two things: KZ hates Jake Davis, or Davis is still not at 100% after getting hurt and KZ is prioritizing his long term health by not starting him every game.

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