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Sporting KC falls hard at Seattle

Seattle Sounders Musovski hat trick seals SKC’s fate

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5 months ago

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Pulskamp staring into the abyss | Credit: Thad Bell

The Seattle Sounders slammed Sporting Kansas City 5-2 Sunday night. The Sounders scored early, taking the lead less than eleven minutes into the match. Sporting KC did manage to level the score but it did not last long. With the defeat, Sporting KC remains 13th in the Western Conference and eleven points out of a playoff spot with just seven games left.

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin stated. “It’s a good team, even though they didn’t have their maybe preferred best eleven out there, it’s still a strong and confident team. We absorbed a lot in the beginning of the game. I think the balls we gave away, particularly on the second goal right before halftime, were unfortunate in terms of timing and how we lost the ball in a poor area of the field. We did a good job to get back in the game. In the 36th minute, we get a goal to equalize and we think we’re going in even at halftime. We actually started the half, I would say, on the front foot, only to be penalized again with another, another cross right after the half. Obviously, the set-piece corner kick was an issue and I think we were just too easy defending tonight. We gave up too many chances that were just clear-cut chances for them. We didn’t give up and that’s a consolation in things, but at the end of the day I think we just came up against a better team.”

The highlight for SKC was Mason Toye scoring his second goal of the season to tie the game off from a Tim Leibold cross. SKC benefitted from a Seattle own goal when Daniel Salloi’s touch deflected off the defender. The key for Seattle was Danny Musovski’s hat trick.

With Manu Garcia and Erik Thommy still unavailable, interim head coachKerry Zavagnin started as strong of a lineup as he could. Zavagnin went with a 4-4-2 again, with Mason Toye and Dejan Joveljić up top, Santi Munoz and Danial Salloi wide in the midfield. Double pivots Zorhan Bassong and Jake Davis in the middle. Tim Leibold, Robert Voloder, Jansen Miller and Khiry Shelton on the backline in front of John Pulskamp.

Head Coach Brian Schmetzer rotated his lineup with the more important Leagues Cup match scheduled for Wednesday.

Sporting KC tried to start on the front foot, but Seattle applied early pressure, and it did not take long for the Sounders to take the lead. Kalani Kossa-Rienzi’s initial shot was blocked, but he punched his own rebound into the back of the net in the eleventh minute.

After giving up the early goal, SKC started to gain a bit of momentum, culminating in a goal that leveled the score. Last match, Mason Toye almost scored, but Joveljić had tapped it in to ensure the goal was scored. This week, Toye was directly in on goal by himself, meeting Leibold’s cross and giving nobody a chance to steal his goal or for the keeper to stop it.

“It was a great, great play,” Toye told the media after the match. “All the guys on the attacking side of the ball were involved. Tim (Leibold) got a few chances to cross the ball. They were in good spots. We were going to continue to try to just flood the box and put crosses in there. Tim made a great run. I think Dejan (Joveljic) got on the ball and laid it off to Zorhan (Bassong) and Zorhan played Tim in and then Tim played a cross in. I just had to put it away. As a striker, obviously, anytime you can get a tap in opportunity, you’re going to take it all day. It was a great ball from Tim and Tim had a great game. A lot of us did. But there were just little things that didn’t go our way and maybe we lost some concentration and we got punished for it tonight.”

One of Sporting KC’s weaknesses this season has been giving up multiple goals in the first half and at the worst times. Reed Baker-Whiting received the ball with plenty of space, timing his cross in to Musovski. The Seattle attacker made the run to the inside of Miller and headed the ball past Pulskamp to take the lead again right before halftime.

Musovski was not satisfied with a single goal, the Seattle striker scored another header in the 50th minute. This time Danny Leyva’s corner kick was the method of assist.

With a 3-1 lead, Seattle was not pressing as hard and SKC was working on a comeback. Just a couple of minutes later, Leibold placed another good cross into the Seattle box. SKC Captain Salloi was making the run and got a touch. The ball deflected off Seattle defender Cody Baker for an own goal in the 53rd minute.

With Sporting KC only one goal down, Seattle turned the action back up with Snyder Brunell notching Seattle’s fourth goal in the 61st and then Musovski put home a penalty kick in the 75th minute for his first hat-trick.

Sporting KC returns home from an unsuccesful road stretch to face the 7th place Colorado Rapids next Saturday.

Score 1 2 F
Sporting Kansas City (6-15-6, 24 points) 1 1 2
Seattle Sounders FC (12-7-8, 44 points) 2 3 5

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton, Jansen Miller (Ian James 66′), Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold (Logan Ndenbe 75′); Daniel Salloi (C) (Shapi Suleymanov 66′), Jake Davis (Jacob Bartlett 66′), Zorhan Bassong, Santi Munoz; Dejan Joveljic, Mason Toye (Stephen Afrifa 75′)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Andrew Brody, Nemanja Radoja

Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei (C); Reed Baker-Whiting (Paul Rothrock 78′), Yeimar (Jackson Ragen 46′), Jon Bell, Cody Baker; Snyder Brunell (Jesus Ferreira 84′), Cristian Roldan (Alex Roldan 46′); Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Danny Leyva, Georgi Minoungou; Danny Musovski (Osaze De Rosario 84′)

Subs Not Used: Andrew Thomas, Nouhou, Obed Vargas, Pedro de la Vega

Scoring Summary:
SEA — Kalani Kossa-Rienzi 3 (unassisted) 11′
SKC — Mason Toye 2 (Tim Leibold 2, Zorhan Bassong 3) 36′
SEA — Danny Musovski 11 (Reed Baker-Whiting 2, Danny Leyva 1) 45+1′
SEA — Danny Musovski 12 (Danny Leyva 2) 50′
SKC — Own Goal (Cody Baker) 53′
SEA — Snyder Brunell 1 (Georgi Minoungou 3, Danny Leyva 3) 61′
SEA — Danny Musovski 13 (penalty kick) 75′

Misconduct Summary:
SKC — Stephen Afrifa (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 85′

STAT SKC SEA
Shots 13 22
Shots on Goal 5 7
Saves 2 4
Fouls 10 7
Offsides 1 2
Corner Kicks 3 4

Referee: Chris Penso
Assistant Referee: Corey Parker
Assistant Referee: Nick Balcer
Fourth Official: Drew Fischer
VAR: David Barrie
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson

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