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Sporting KC drops fifth straight in 2-1 loss at Portland

Sporting KC extends losing streak in 2-1 loss

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4 months ago

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Memo Rodriguez scored the lone goal for SKC | Credit: Thad Bell

Sporting Kansas City (2-7-5, 11 points) dropped a 2-1 result at the Portland Timbers (4-7-4, 16 points) Saturday evening. The highlight for Sporting KC was when midfielder Memo Rodriguez drove in his first goal for Sporting in the 63rd minute. The goal temporarily leveled the two sides before Portland again took the lead. Sporting KC has lost their last five league games and are winless in their last eight league games. Sporting KC is now in the last (14th) place in the Western Conference.

Manager Peter Vermes started what looked like his best available lineup in Portland with Dany Rosero back in as a starter in a league game. They were still missing Remi Walter who has battled an ankle injury since the Miami game but Memo Rodriguez has filled in well. Unfortunately for Sporting KC, it did not last long as Erik Thommy pulled up limping after a long run. He was substituted a couple minutes later when Feleipe Hernandez replaced the German midfielder.

 

The first half saw neither side find an advantage, Portland had the best scoring chance but the visitors had an edge in possession. The Timbers took the lead in the 51st minute when Felipe Mora headed home a goal off a cross from Portland’s Evander.  The duo worked well together as Evander slid sent the ball to the only spot that would work as Mora made a perfectly timed run.

Sporting KC did level it when Alan Pulido held the ball up and played it back to Rodriguez. The SKC midfielder laced it through traffic and past Maxime Crepeau.

“It’s a good goal by me with great buildup from the team,” Rodriguez responded when asked by media. He quickly focused it back on the lack of results. “Obviously, the result wasn’t there. We have just got to keep fighting and keep our heads up. We play well away from home and it’s just a matter of us getting over that hump,” Rodriguez added.

Rodriguez’s goal from two yards outside the area gave Sporting a league-best seven goals from outside the box in 2024.

The Timbers took the lead back in the 79th minute. This time Evander was the goal scorer on a ball from Felipe Mora. The goal was originally ruled offside but after a Var check and confirmation from Drew Fischer, Portland was back with a one goal lead.

The Timbers had another opportunity to score but one of the best opportunities for Sporting KC came when Johnny Russell almost knocked one in but Crépeau made a big save.

In the post-game presser, Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes explained, “I actually thought we did a pretty good job away from home. I need to see the two goals a little bit more. I haven’t had a chance to look at them since I’ve come in. I think we were good on the ball. I thought we created some good stuff. Obviously, we got back into the game. I just think giving up the second goal obviously killed us as late as it was. At the end, we tried to move some guys around and get some fresh legs on there just because obviously we’ve been playing mid week so just trying to get some fresh legs at the end. When you look at it, we were trying to get in and around the box, but they did a good job defending at the end. I wouldn’t say that we had a ton of chances. We were maybe a little bit off there at the very end, but I thought we actually played okay.”

2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 14
Providence Park | Portland, Oregon
Attendance: 22,848
Weather: 59 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City 1-2 Portland Timbers
Score
1
2
F
Sporting Kansas City (2-7-5, 11 points)
0
1
1
Portland Timbers (4-7-4, 16 points)
0
2
2

Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Jake Davis (Stephen Afrifa 88′), Dany Rosero, Andreu Fontas, Tim Leibold (Zorhan Bassong 75′); Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodriguez (Willy Agada 88′), Erik Thommy (Felipe Hernandez 18′); Johnny Russell (C), Alan Pulido, Daniel Salloi (Marinos Tzionis 75′)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Robert Castellanos, Khiry Shelton, Alenis Vargas

Portland Timbers: Maxime Crepeau; Juan Mosquera (Eric Miller 88′), Miguel Araujo, Dario Zuparic, Kamal Miller; David Ayala (Cristhian Paredes 75′), Diego Chara (C); Antony, Evander (Claudio Bravo 90′), Jonathan Rodriguez; Felipe Mora (Dairon Asprilla 88′)

Subs Not Used: James Pantemis, Larrys Mabiala, Zac McGraw, Eryk Williamson, Nathan Fogaca

Scoring Summary:
POR — Felipe Mora 7 (Evander 6) 51′
SKC — Memo Rodriguez 1 (Alan Pulido 2) 63′
POR — Evander 6 (Felipe Mora 2, Jonathan Rodriguez 3) 79′

Misconduct Summary:
SKC — Memo Rodriguez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 41′

Match Statistics
Stat
SKC
POR
Shots
6
11
Shots on Goal
2
5
Saves
2
1
Fouls
8
12
Offsides
3
1
Corner Kicks
2
3

Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referee: Micheal Barwegen
Assistant Referee: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
Fourth Official: Malik Badawi
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
AVAR: Tom Supple

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