Sporting KC
Sporting Kansas City falls in Seattle
Sporting KC gives up two goals in first half
Sporting Kansas City fell to the Seattle Sounders on Sunday evening. The Sounders took advantage of a few mistakes and runners not tracked to win in front of their home crowd. Despite a goal called back and a stopped penalty attempt, goals by Jackson Ragen and Paul Rothrock in the first half sealed the win for Seattle. This was the first of five matches in just 14 days for Kansas City.
Sporting KC’s head man Peter Vermes managed his 500th regular season match but did not get the result he would have wanted. Vermes was forced to make one change from the previous lineup with Jake Davis suspended for a red card in their last match.
SKC came out strong, creating better chances early in the match and came close to a goal but Christian Roldan cleared the ball out of the air just before it crossed the line in the 16th minute. The heroics by one of the brothers Roldan kicked the Sounders into another gear and the attacks be Seattle increased in speed and danger throughout the rest of the half.
“I actually think we started off the game really well,” Vermes stated ibn the post-game press conference. “We had maybe three or four corners in a row, we were keeping them in their end, and we really didn’t give them anything in our end. They got their goal off us being in a position to play forward but we play backwards. (Robert) Voloder gets kind of stuck, plays a ball out for a throw-in and off the throw-in they get the corner. Off the corner, Tim (Melia) makes a great save and we’re not there to protect and defend the goal.”
“I think they were the better team today overall,” Vermes continued. “In the first 25 or 30 minutes, I thought we were actually really good. We were for sure the better team at the time, but when they scored, I don’t know if it put us back on our heels a little bit or what. But I don’t think that we played with the same confidence in possession that we did prior to that. Especially in the first half, I thought we had some great opportunities going to goal. We just didn’t have the final knockout blow on a really good chance at goal. We got into great positions and decided not to serve it when we should have. Then we’d knock it around again and we would think about serving it, but then they would get all their guys behind the ball. Our recognition was slow today.”
In Formation 🔵#SEAvSKC | @BlueKC pic.twitter.com/mjwO3TVGLC
— Sporting Kansas City 🎗️ (@SportingKC) September 15, 2024
Sporting KC already had several corners before Seattle earned their first one in the 19th minute. The Sounders striker Jordan Morris put a strong header on goal that was blocked back out into the box. The rebound fell to Jackson Ragen who pounded it into the roof of the goal for to take the 1-0 lead.
Right place, right time for Jackson Ragen! 💯 pic.twitter.com/ttanzZzd3F
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) September 15, 2024
In the 24th minute, the Sounders thought they had doubled their lead. Roldan’s header slides through the box, just out of reach of an offside Morris and Rothrock and into the goal. VAR came into to call the goal back because of Morris affecting the play as Tim Melia attempted to make the save.
Sporting KC battled back and started to get a little momentum, culminating in a good chance in the 35th. Tim Leibold cross into the box where Johnny Russell received and settled the ball into the path of Erik Thommy. The German attacker slid a shot through the defense but the Sounders keeper was up to the task.
The Sounders did double the lead in the 40th minute when Paul Rothrock knocked it past Melia. The goal was the result of an overwhelming attack that saw the ball passed through the box to the goal scorer.
Paul Rothrock: Seattle's Own 🏡 pic.twitter.com/jENP0SqIYU
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) September 16, 2024
Everything looked worse right before the half when Obed Vargas earned a penalty after being fouled by Zorhan Bassong just inside the box. Melia is known for making saves on penalties and came through again for SKC.
Tim Melia denies Rusnák from the spot! ❌ pic.twitter.com/sjiTaLr8dl
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 16, 2024
|
Score
|
1
|
2
|
F
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sporting Kansas City (7-15-7, 28 points)
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Seattle Sounders FC (13-9-7, 46 points)
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Khiry Shelton, Dany Rosero, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold; Remi Walter, Zorhan Bassong (Memo Rodriguez 58′); Johnny Russell (C) (Stephen Afrifa 58′), Erik Thommy, Daniel Salloi (Alenis Vargas 80′); Alan Pulido (William Agada 58′)
Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Robert Castellanos, Andreu Fontas, Danny Flores
Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei (C); Alex Roldan, Yeimar Gomez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, Reed Baker-Whiting (Jonathan Bell 66′); Cristian Roldan, Obed Vargas (Josh Atencio 77′); Georgi Minoungou (Pedro de la Vega 66′), Albert Rusnak (Danny Leyva 85′), Paul Rothrock; Jordan Morris
Subs Not Used: Andrew Thomas, Nathan, Leo Chu, Dylan Teves, Raul Ruidiaz
Scoring Summary:
SEA — Jackson Ragen 3 (unassisted) 19′
SEA — Paul Rothrock 3 (Jordan Morris 3, Albert Rusnak 13) 40′
Misconduct Summary:
SEA — Reed Baker-Whiting (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 29′
SKC — Daniel Salloi (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 37′
SKC — Zorhan Bassong (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 46′
|
Stat
|
SKC
|
SEA
|
|---|---|---|
|
Shots
|
13
|
17
|
|
Shots on Goal
|
2
|
4
|
|
Saves
|
2
|
1
|
|
Fouls
|
10
|
9
|
|
Offsides
|
2
|
2
|
|
Corner Kicks
|
11
|
9
|
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referee: Felisha Mariscal
Assistant Referee: Eduardo Jeff
Fourth Official: Elton Garcia
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Joshua Patlak
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No playoffs this year and well deserved.
I need a bingo card to track every time Vermes makes the excuse that the team started well. Problem is, it’d be the size of a bedsheet.
They really lined up well in the tunnel. Very straight line. Eyes forward. Very purposeful walking onto the field.
Thinking through the match last night:
With that being said. Here is to the USOC.
Thank you Thad for your insight on the match and your analysis.
Yes, Tim Melia is the man! We’re lucky to have secured his services years ago. No one would have left him in the pool if they had any idea how good he was defending pk’s. His keeping against the run of play is excellent as well.
Daniel Salloi isn’t going anywhere, my favorite rant. He’s family to PV, their dad’s played together and remain great friends. That’s how Salloi showed up with a 10 on his back this year after doing nothing last year. He’s weak, slow, and not a clinical finisher. Plays wing like a lost lm. Turns the ball over more than he completes passes. We don’t score this year when Salloi and Pulido are on at the same time. Too slow and out of position. I laugh everytime Thommy makes a gut busting run just to get to the box alone. How does a mid not have a striker or winger to pass to?
I agree, Shelton has won the rb job. I actually think he uses his body size well. He’s basically outplayed Davis in that spot. He’s also not constantly getting caught forward and burned like Davis was.
We need PV to move on in order to get real change. This is PV’s team, he picked. How many times can he prove that he’s earned the ax? 38 percent mls win percentage isn’t how you stay employed for a decade. He’s worse than Berhalter. Players like Salloi were only good in mls 1.0. We’re beyond that.
I seriously disagree with your assessment of Shelton. I’ll grant you that he is better at RB than anywhere else we have seen him. That said, he still cannot keep possession of a ball. His body positioning is good exactly 1/2 the time. He still can’t get a header and for a dude with speed, he is always 1/2 step behind wingers on the run. I was watching him pretty close last night because I wanted to see what SKC was getting for $750k per year. Not even close to enough…I’d be perfectly ok with Shelton at RB if he was making $160k.
FWIW – I’d be ok with Pulido at the #9 too if he was making Agada’s salary.
SKC is paying DP’s for the production equivalent of very aged league veterans with 20 good minutes in their legs per week.
I see your point about heading and agree. Only Rosero is any good in the air off our backline. Comparing Shelton to Davis at rb. Shelton doesn’t leave unmarked attackers to have free runs on goal like Davis did. Davis also just watched crosses fly in, where Shelton moves.
I like Sheltons long pass ability. He can hammer it down the line. To who though? JFR and those wheels? Pulido and his wheels? Salloi and his wheels? I beat the guy up at striker because he’s terrible at that position. The silly pk came from the lb, not Shelton. Yes, he’s overpaid. As is PV. As is most of the starting 11. Ownership is into sales, not winning. They’ll only build a winning team if we quit going and giving them money.
I agree with your assessment of dropping his salary to 160k as well. I don’t want Pulido on the team because he doesn’t care. You can tell when he’s constantly walking around the pitch.
agree with you. It is wild to me that Transfermarkt has Daniel S. as the highest valued (unless I missed something – which happens) player on SKC – I dont see how he is worth 5.00 Mill.