Afrifa Scores in Sporting's 3-1 Loss at St. Louis

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Sporting Kansas City

Afrifa Scores in Sporting's 3-1 Loss at St. Louis

September 28, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (8-17-7, 31 points) fell 3-1 to rivals St. Louis City SC (7-11-13, 34 points) on Saturday night at CityPark in St. Louis. Stephen Afrifa scored a superb goal for Sporting on the hour mark, but the hosts prevailed behind strikes from Cedric Teuchert, Rasmus Alm and Eduard Lowen to snap a four-match winless run against Kansas City in the third and final battle between the teams this season.

Less than 72 hours removed from an extra-time loss at LAFC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, Sporting fielded a lineup featuring eight changes as only Zorhan Bassong, Jake Davis and Robert Voloder retained their places in the starting XI. Davis, a product of the Sporting KC Academy, notably donned the captain's armband for the first time as one of five Kansas City starters under the age of 24. Open Cup Final goal scorer Erik Thommy (foot) and veteran defender Andreu Fontas (knee) were notable absentees for Sporting's fifth match in 14 days.

A pulsating atmosphere set the stage for a frantic, end-to-end opening in the eighth all-time derby between the clubs. St. Louis attackers Joao Klauss and Teuchert both had shots deflected behind for corner kicks before Afrifa forced a save from goalkeeper Roman Burki in the ninth minute. Afrifa was on the end of another opportunity 10 minutes later when Burki flubbed an Alenis Vargas cross, but the Canadian forward's shot at a tight angle was blocked.

The hosts drew first blood in the 33rd minute. After Burki floated a long ball into Sporting's defensive third, Lowen settled into possession and played a square ball to the top of the box. Akil Watts had his effort repelled by Bassong but Teuchert was on hand nearby to send a well-struck curler into the low right corner for his fifth goal in just his seventh MLS appearance since joining the club this summer.

William Agada went agonizingly close to pulling the visitors level a minute shy of halftime, but his 22-yard sledgehammer from a central position fizzed marginally wide of Burki's right-hand post. St. Louis then spurned a chance of their own on the cusp of intermission with Alm dragging a shot wide near the penalty spot.

Midfielder Marcel Hartel, another St. Louis summer signing, carved out the first look of the second half in the 50th minute, cutting in from the left side and rifling inches over the crossbar. Undeterred, City would find their second goal four minutes later when Alm slotted into an empty net as Teuchert capitalized on Sporting's defensive miscue with a simple square pass to his teammate at close range.

Afrifa grabbed a goal back in spectacular style with 63 minutes on the clock. Culminating a patient buildup from Sporting, Davis dribbled centrally and laid the ball off to Afrifa, whose first-time bomb from 22 yards nestled into the top right corner for his fourth MLS goal and his sixth strike of the season in all competitions. Davis tabbed an assist on the play and now has six goal contributions-one goal and five assists-in his last six games across all competitions.

High on confidence, Afrifa's bid for a brace was thwarted in the 75th minute as his low drive on the edge of the box was blocked through traffic. St. Louis was quick to counter on the play and pushed its lead to 3-1 with Teuchert picking out Lowen, who took a settling touch and picked out the right corner for his fifth goal of the MLS campaign.

In the dying embers of the contest, Sporting substitute Khiry Shelton planted a header high off a Johnny Russell cross and Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp produced a smart save to deny Simon Becher on the breakaway. Russell then had a last bite at the apple in stoppage time, only to see his lunging attempt cast aside by Burki on the doorstep.

Sporting will return to Children's Mercy Park next Saturday, Oct. 5, for the club's 2024 home finale against LAFC in a rematch of Wednesday's Open Cup Final. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available at SeatGeek.com and live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

Thoughts on the match...

I thought the changes that we made with the group, I thought those guys all performed really well. Some of them lasted probably longer than we expected and I thought they played well. A couple mistakes, but I have to say there's quite a few guys that performed. If you look at the three in the midfield and then the change -- with Memo (Rodriguez), (Zorhan) Bassong, I thought Remi (Walter) did a good job when he was in, then we changed it when we brought Jake (Davis) in - and I thought those guys really changed things in regards to possession of the ball and then also winning a lot of balls back in that part of the field. I thought Stephen Afrifa and Alenis (Vargas) were really good in the wings and lasted a lot longer than they have in other games, which was good. This was high intensity for them. A couple situations maybe could have turned the other way for us. We probably could have gotten back into the game. They made some good diving saves off the line, but a lot of guys played really well.

On Stephen Afrifa's progress...

I think he played well tonight, especially with him being able to last as long as he did in the game because in other games he's tired out early or he just lost a lot of energy early on. But tonight he was good. It was good to see that evolution of him.

On captaining Jake Davis...

I think that he has been a spark plug within the group. His relentlessness on the field has been great. It was well deserved for him to wear the armband even though he's a young kid.

On the frontline...

Those guys played really well in the game. They were doing a good job, all those guys. I knew we were going to have to make a sub somewhere in the midfield and I knew that Jake could go as long as he could so bringing on Khiry (Shelton) at the end was pretty easy and Logan (Ndenbe) as well with the outside backs. I think those three guys in the midfield at that point did a really good job. And then especially the two guys out wide, they were at a good level tonight and it was important.

Sporting Kansas City forward Stephen Afrifa

On his start...

Obviously, I want to say it's good. Still, the result is what matters and we didn't get it tonight. So as happy as I am to get the start and get the minutes I did, I felt like maybe there's more I could have done. But at the end of the day, it's soccer. Again, I'm glad I got the time out there.

On his goal...

That's, I'll say, a signature shot of mine, just being able to curl the ball in. The second I saw Jake play it and saw the weight on it, that was my first decision and just hit it. It came off very well.

On the response from Wednesday's match...

I think the group did very well. The scoreline to me personally doesn't reflect how the game went. We created a lot of chances. We had the ball. We played just as well as them. Obviously, the score didn't go our way but everyone looked good -- just mistakes here and there, just little things that cost us today.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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