Children's Mercy Park | Sporting Kansas City
Children's Mercy Park | Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City lost 4-1 to LA Galaxy on Saturday, September 27, at Dignity Health Sports Park. The team used a 4-4-2 formation with Stephen Afrifa making his first start of the season.
The starting lineup included John Pulskamp, Khiry Shelton (replaced by Jake Davis at halftime), Alan Montes (Robert Voloder substituted in the 70th minute), Ian James, Logan Ndenbe, Stephen Afrifa (Santi Muñoz entered in the 61st minute), Zorhan Bassong, Memo Rodríguez (Jacob Bartlett replaced him in the 61st minute), Daniel Salloi (Shapi Suleymanov substituted in the 70th minute), Dejan Joveljić, and Mason Toye. The substitutes were Ryan Schewe, Jansen Miller, and Nemanja Radoja.
LA Galaxy's Joseph Paintsil scored a hat-trick during the first half. Sporting Kansas City pressed for an early goal but was held off by LA’s defense.
Dejan Joveljić scored against his former club in the 28th minute. The play started with a key pass from Memo Rodríguez to Mason Toye inside the box. Toye then passed to Joveljić who finished into the net. After scoring, Joveljić made a heart gesture with his hands as a sign of gratitude to fans.
Sporting Kansas City sought another goal after halftime. Mason Toye came close in the 51st minute following a pass from Rodríguez but missed by inches. In the 60th minute, Diego Fagundez added LA Galaxy’s fourth goal.
At the 61st minute mark, Santi Muñoz and Jacob Bartlett entered for Afrifa and Rodríguez respectively. Five minutes later, Toye again nearly scored but was denied at the last moment.
LA Galaxy maintained control of possession as Sporting continued searching for opportunities. At minute 70, Robert Voloder replaced Montes and Shapi Suleymanov came on for Salloi. In the 83rd minute, Suleymanov was sent off with a red card after colliding with an opponent; Sporting played out the remainder of the match with ten men.
In stoppage time (90+3’), Joveljić had another chance but could not convert as LA’s goalkeeper secured the ball. The game ended with a score of 4-1.
Sporting Kansas City will next play away against Minnesota United FC on October 4 at Allianz Field.
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