Sporting Kansas City took on rivals Real Salt Lake on a chilly Saturday night in the Midwest. The home team, fresh off a 4-0 defeat to Shield leaders, Nashville SC, looked to rebound and push themselves out of the cellar.

Stefan Cleveland started in goal with a backline of Jacob Bartlett at right back, Jansen Miller and Wyatt Meyer in the center, and Emir Karic on the left. Kwaku Agyabeng and Zohran Bassong anchored the midfield with Andre Luiz and Calvin Harris on the wings. Taylor Calheira and Stephen Afrifa led the line for the hosts.

RSL also started players.

First Half

The early minutes of the match were relatively even, with neither side showing much danger. Sporting was pressing hard and high, looking for an opener but were unable to put anything on goal. The first moment of true danger came in the 7^th minute when Taylor Calheira found space on the left and fired a ball across the face of goal that went just wide. On the restart, Stephen Afrifa pressed hard in the corner and won a free kick for the first set piece opportunity of the night.

Salt Lake opened the scoring in the 11^th minute with an excellent through ball in the box that dragged Sporting out of shape. Designated player, Morgan Guilavogui, punished Sporting and cooly slotted the ball past Cleveland. 1-0 bad guys.

It went from bad to worse only three minutes later when Sporting was unable to clear the ball. After Salt Lake cycled possession, they worked the ball into the box where Sergi Solans was open in space and easily knocked the ball past Cleveland to double the lead.

Sporting drew one back in the 26^th minute out of sheer tenacity and grit. Afrifa made an excellent read to intercept a ball in Sporting’s half and played a beautiful long ball to Andre Luiz. The Brazilian held off two defenders to drive into the box where he squared a ball to Taylor Calheira. Calheira didn’t have the smoothest first touch but got the ball onto his right foot and drilled it home to make the score 2-1.

As the next 20 minutes dragged on, neither side looked especially dangerous. The only real moment of interest was seeing Stephen Afrifa called for a foul when he jumped, won the ball, and Philip Quinton dove through him from behind but somehow won the call. The first yellow of the match came in the first minute of second half stoppage time when Luc de Fougerolles dragged down Afrifa at the halfway line to stop a breakaway.

Halftime

At the break, Salt Lake led 2-1. The visitors led possession 54.5 to 45.5. They led on shots 9-7 (5-1 on target), led on total passes 317-230 and passing accuracy 86% to 85%. Sporting controlled the first 10 or so minutes of the match until the first goal went in. Salt Lake proceeded to dominate the match for the next 15 minutes or so before Sporting struck back. However, the visitors ended the half with the bulk of the possession and momentum.

Second Half

The second half started slowly before Salt Lake struck again in the 61st minute. Lazy defense allowed Noel Caliskan to cut a ball back and find the foot of Guilavogui who struck for his second goal of the game.

Sporting immediately made two substitutes with Jake Davis replacing Kwaku Agyabeng and Capita Capemba replacing Stephen Afrifa. It was Capita’s first appearance since September 5 in Dallas. RSL responded with a substitute of their own in the 63rd minute. Zach Booth entered for Dominik Marczuk.

RSL earned their second yellow card of the night in the 72nd minute when Juan Manuel Sanabria fouled Andre Luiz. Rafa Wicky tried another batch of substitutions in the 72nd minute when Ian James came on for Bassong and Seymour Reid came on for Taylor Calheira. That move pushed Bartlett into the midfield and James played RB. Immediately after the switch, Calvin Harris was booked for a bad tackle on Stijn Spierings. Jacob Bartlett got in on the yellow card party minutes later for a foul in the midfield. RSL then made a double sub with Aiden Hezarkhani replacing Saba Lobjanidze and Ariath Piol replacing Sergi Solans.

In an effort to kill off the game and bring sweet relief to all of us suffering fans, RSL made another batch of substitutions. Alexandros Katranis and Sam Junqua came on. Who did they replace? Who cares. Sporting made their final substitution with Ruben Ramos Jr. replacing Calvin Harris in the 87th minute.

Ian James got the only shot on goal of the half for Sporting with a nice spin before firing a ball right at the keeper. RSL picked up another yellow when Booth was booked for kicking the ball away to prevent a restart. Things got spicy after Jansen Miller was knocked down without a card. He then slid in late and earned a yellow of his own in the 3rd minute of stoppage time. RSL immediately retaliated by knocking him over but the referee didn’t see any need to card the violent conduct.

Mercifully the match ended after a grueling five minutes of stoppage time.

Spoon Watch

Root for Seattle tonight against CF Montreal. I just puked a little in my mouth typing that out.