In the penultimate home game of the season, Sporting Kansas City clashed with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Without much to play for other than pride and a desire to stay above Purina FC, Sporting fielded a lineup with featuring a young centerback pairing in front of John Pulskamp. Ian James and Alan Montes anchored the back line and were flanked by Logan Ndenbe and Khiry Shelton. The midfield featured Zohran Bassong and Jake Davis as a double pivot with Erik Thommy playing on the left wing, Shapi on the right, and Santi Munoz playing the 10. Dejan Joveljic was the tip of the spear in attack.

FIRST HALF

The Canadian visitors, who did not bring any Tim Hortons to the press box, were missing a number of players due to injury. Most notably, Thomas Muller and Brian White were out. Despite missing their two best attackers, Vancouver struck immediately. In the 2^nd minute, the Whitecaps raced down the right flank beating Logan Ndenbe and Alan Montes before Edier Ocampo coolly slotted his shot past John Pulskamp and the hosts were losing 1-0 from the jump.

Sporting had a handful of partial chances in the ensuing minutes but the first major opportunity to level the game came in the 10^th minute when Shapi Suleymanov was taken down about 20 yards from the goal.  The referee pulled out the first yellow card of the night, showing it to Andres Cubas. Erik Thommy’s ensuing set piece caromed off a Whitecaps player and went out for a corner. However, Sporting was unable to convert the opportunity and Vancouver cleared their lines to avoid danger. Vancouver nearly doubled their lead in the 13^th minute when they struck the post after Sporting’s defense allowed a ball to roll all the way through the box.

In the 22^nd minute, Khiry Shelton sliced his way into the box and earned Sporting’s second corner of the night. Shapi’s ensuing kick went right into the hands of the Whitecaps’ keeper. The next eight minutes were boring but the Whitecaps nearly doubled their lead again in the 31^st minute when Sabbi dragged his open shot wide of the net.

Vancouver finally struck again in the 43^rd minute. The visitors marched right through the Kansas City defense which offered little resistance. Kenji Cabrera slid right past the defense and beat Pulskamp near post to make it 2-0 Whitecaps.

Shortly thereafter, in the 44^th minute, Zorhan Bassong picked up Sporting’s first yellow of the night for a bad foul in the midfield. Vancouver was not satisfied with two and nearly struck again in the 45^th minute with an open header from about eight yards out that flew just wide of Pulskamp’s goal.

SECOND HALF

Interim Manager, Kerry Zavagnin, opted to make no changes to the lineup at halftime and the hosts came out looking to cut the lead early. In the 48^th minute, SKC fired a low cross across the box but was unable to find the foot of a runner at the back post for a tap in. Vancouver’s second yellow of the night came in 53^rd minute for an Edier Ocampo foul. In the 56^th minute Erik Thommy was chopped down by Belal Halbouni a few feet outside the box. The Vancouver centerback was booked for the foul and Sporting earned a free kick in a threatening area. Thommy took the set piece and his kick caromed off the wall for a corner kick. Jake Davis took the ensuing set piece from the left side but was unable to find a teammate.

Santi Munoz nearly drew one back in the 61^st minute when the ball found him open in the box. His shot was deflected out for another SKC corner, their 7^th of the night. There was nothing to it. In the 64^th minute, Sporting had a shout for an indirect free kick in the box when a Vancouver defender seemingly played a back pass to the keeper who then handled the ball. The referee ultimately chose not to punish the Whitecaps who nearly scored again after charging right down the pitch.

In the 65^th minute, both teams chose to make substitutions. Jayden Nelson entered the match for Kenji Cabrera and Jean-Claude Ngando entered for Sabbi. Zavagnin put Manu Garcia in for Santiago Munoz while Mason Toye entered for Shapi. Manu immediately drew a foul right outside the box which resulted in another yellow card for the Whitecaps; this time for Daniel Rios’ foul on Sporting’s Spanish playmaker.

Erik Thommy took the set piece which tested the Whitecaps keeper to his right. The shot was spilled and Sporting nearly scored again with a curler to the back post that was pushed wide by the keeper for another SKC corner. The match entered a lengthy delay as Mason Toye was checked for a head injury. The match resumed in the 71^st minute with the home team playing down a man while Toye went through a check on the sideline. Toye was unable to return to the match due to injury and was substituted for Stephen Afrifa in the 74th minute. Vancouver, unwilling to give Pulskamp a break, attempted to score their third with two excellent chances in the 77th minute. Ali Ahmed beat Logan Ndenbe down the right and fired a shot which was blocked by Pulskamp. Vancouver maintained possession and rocketed a shot from the right which was pushed aside by Pulskamp to keep it 2-0.

As the match entered the final 20 minutes, Vancouver was leading SKC in shots and fouls while the hosts had 8 corners to 2. Vancouver made two more substitutions in the 81st minute. Andres Cubas made way for Jeevan Badwal while Rios made way for Rayan Elloumi.  Jake Davis earned a yellow card in the 83rd minute for a relatively soft foul that must have been considered persistent infringement. Sporting made two more changes in the 84th minute when Jacob Bartlett and Jansen Miller entered for Zorhan Bassong and Alan Montes.

In the 92nd minute, Manu Garcia fired a laser at the goal, giving brief hope but the shot skied just high of the net and bounced harmlessly into the Cauldron. Vancouver then elected to make two final substitutions. Ali Ahmed was replaced with Ralph Priso and Tate Johnson was replaced with Giuseppe Bolavina (a fun name to write but a more fun name to say).

Final stats

The match ended with Vancouver outshooting SKC 12 (4 on goal) to 10 (1). The visitors outpassed SKC in both number of passes and accuracy. Sporting earned more corners and committed far fewer fouls but those don’t even begin to tell the tale of the match. The Whitecaps won the possession battle, the xG battle, and won the match with a very comfortable 2-0 away win, taking all 3 points.

Sporting’s next match is on the road against the LA Galaxy on September 27 against one of the few teams lower than they are in the table.