KC Reporter

Sporting Kansas City faced a challenging match against Vancouver Whitecaps, resulting in a 3-0 defeat. Despite creating several opportunities, Sporting was unable to score during the 90 minutes, while their opponents maintained their lead. The game featured a new lineup with multiple defensive changes.

The starting lineup included John Pulskamp, Andrew Brody, Jansen Miller, Joaquín Fernández, Tim Leibold (substituted by Logan Ndenbe at the 60th minute), Zorhan Bassong (replaced by Memo Rodríguez at the 85th minute), Jacob Bartlett, Nemanja Radoja (swapped with Jake Davis at the 60th minute), Daniel Salloi (changed for Santiago Muñoz at the 60th minute), Dejan Joveljić, and Shapi Suleymanov (substituted by Mason Toye at the 85th minute). The substitutes were Ryan Schewe, Ian James, Robert Voloder, and Stephen Afrifa.

In the first half, Vancouver dominated and scored two goals. Emmanuel Sabbi netted the first goal in the 35th minute after receiving a pass from Jayden Nelson. Shortly after, Jean Claude Ngando added another goal with a shot to the right corner of the net.

Entering the second half two goals down, Sporting aimed to score. Daniel Salloi attempted a shot in the 55th minute but was denied by Vancouver's goalkeeper. Three substitutions brought fresh energy to Sporting's play as Ndenbe and Davis contributed significantly to play creation while Muñoz had two scoring chances. However, Sporting failed to find the back of the net.

Vancouver secured their victory with a final goal in the 87th minute from Matthias Laborda during a set piece. Sporting will return to Kansas City for a week without matches before facing San Diego FC on August 9 at Children’s Mercy Park.