MLS Sporting Kansas City

Alan Pulido Scores Twice as Sporting Picks Up Point in LA

Published on June 22, 2023 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (5-9-6, 21 points) rescued a road result in second-half stoppage time on Wednesday as Alan Pulido scored both goals -- including a 91st-minute penalty kick -- in Sporting's 2-2 draw at the LA Galaxy (3-9-5, 14 points).

The Mexican international opened the scoring in the 12th minute before the Galaxy rallied with a pair of goals from Martin Caceres and Preston Judd at Dignity Health Sports Park. However, just four days after Sporting conceded in the 90th minute of a 2-1 home loss to LAFC, this time it was Sporting KC striking late against an LA side as Manager Peter Vermes' squad has now secured points from four straight road trips to the West Coast.

After missing all of the 2022 season while recovering from knee surgery, Pulido continues to re-assert himself in Major League Soccer amidst a scintillating run of form. The Designated Player has scored in four straight league matches - the longest active streak in Major League Soccer - for the first time in his illustrious professional career and he leads all MLS players with six goals and seven goal contributions (six goals, one assist) in the month of June.

Pulido's first goal of the night came a dozen minutes into the mid-week match-up as the 32-year-old headed home a cross from eight yards out. Erik Thommy provided the pass and the German playmaker now leads the team with six assists in all competitions this season, including assists in three of his last four matches.

Sporting Kansas City's early lead would be short-lived as the hosts equalized in the 24th minute on a free kick taken by Douglas Costa. The Designated Player sent the set piece to the backpost, where his former Juventus teammate Caceres directed a header past Kendall McIntosh for the game-tying goal.

The goal would prove to be the Galaxy's only shot on goal of the first half and LA would then cash in on the club's only attempt on target of the second half too in the 64th minute. Former FC Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig delivered a pinpoint pass with the outside of his right foot and Judd took care of the rest with a diving header beyond the reach of McIntosh.

Judd, who originally signed with Sporting KC II before being drafted by the Galaxy in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft, nearly helped stretch the Galaxy's lead to 3-1 in the 73rd minute with a perfectly placed pass into the path of Tyler Boyd inside the box. The U.S. Men's National Team forward made full contact on the first-time strike only to be denied by the crossbar as Sporting emerged unscathed to set the stage for the dramatic finish.

Remi Walter won a free kick near the edge of the penalty area and the Frenchman would ultimately latch onto the loose ball at the top of the 18-yard box in the aftermath of the set piece. His shot toward goal struck the arm of second-half substitute Daniel Aguirre - who 10 days earlier had scored a game-tying goal in the 85th minute for the Galaxy - and referee Filip Dujic pointed to the penalty spot. Pulido calmly converted the ensuing penalty kick to level the scoreline and improve to a perfect five-for-five on penalty attempts in his MLS career.

The goal goes down as Sporting's only game-changing goal of the season after the 60th minute and keeps Sporting unbeaten in six straight matches against the Galaxy. Sporting Kansas City will now return home to host the Chicago Fire at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park with tickets available online via SeatGeek.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On the penalty in the 90th minute...

I'm not asking for any calls to be manufactured. It's a handball so the good thing is that it was called properly. I'm not asking for anything special. That was just a routine call. It was a penalty, pretty simple.

On the two goals conceded...

Goals get scored in games, so there's going to be mistakes. I think the recognition on the free kick was poor. There are people (who are) supposed to be at the back stick. They just never went out. It's way too easy for the player to have that much time. But on the second goal, it's just a recognition where we lose the ball because we don't recognize that we don't have numbers on that side of the field. We had numbers on the other side of the field and we went away from there, which then when we lost the ball we were completely exposed. So as much as I can say that I'm happy with the fact that the team came back from being down 2-1, we were in control of the game. We shouldn't have given up either goal, but we did. It's good that we came back, but I would say, out of these last two games, getting one point isn't enough. I feel like we made some mistakes in the game against LAFC, but we also easily could have been up in that game -- a man up and 2-0 -- if certain things would have occurred in that game. There's different things that happened these last two games but getting one point, it doesn't feel good even though getting a point away from home is always a good thing.

On the play of Alan Pulido...

Obviously we've missed him. He is, game after game, getting more and more comfortable. I don't think he's necessarily hit his stride yet, but he's getting more and more comfortable. He continues to demonstrate the reason why we brought him here in the first place. That part is very good and hopefully that continues.

On managing three matches in a week...

I don't think anything ever changes with that. I think you play your game. You try to get the best result you can and then you take inventory of the guys usually two days after so it's more Friday than tomorrow. And then we'll put the group out there that we have to and we'll make whatever changes we have to, whether it's from the start of the game or in the second half.

Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido

On his two goals...

I'm happy, but I feel the sensation that if we pushed a little more then maybe we win this match. But it's okay. It's soccer. Sometimes we have different situations and they score. We don't need to lose our minds. We need to keep in form and continue with the next match, because the next match is important for us. It's at home with Chicago.

On the team's performance...

I think we played good in the first half. I feel the same sensations about the last match. We played very good in the first half. We had a lot of chances to score more goals and we missed. This happens in soccer. When you miss, the other team will have more opportunities also and they score. This is soccer. We need to work about the attention and we need to work about the discipline because we lose points. We lost points the last match at home and now I think if we scored goals in the first half, maybe the game is different. But it's okay. We need to be focused. We need to be crazy. That's it. We'll work this week for the next match.

On his run of form...

It's good. I feel a very good sensation. Today is good. It's important because we tied and we didn't lose. One point is better than to lose, but we don't feel very happy because I think we know we could have won this match. But it's okay. For me, it's good. It's motivation. But it's better when the team wins.

On the quick turnaround to Saturday...

We've covered a lot of matches in the last month, but I think we have a very good staff and very good personal training for the team. We push all the things about our recovery. We need to be focused. This match is passed, so we need to be focusing forward for the next match against Chicago at home. It's very important for us to win this match because we need to take three points for the season, for us and for the people because we're playing at home this match.

Sporting Kansas City is owned by Sporting Club, an entity comprised of local business and community leaders. Sporting prides itself on a commitment and vision to provide high-performance experiences. Sporting Club purchased the team from the Hunt Sports Group in 2006, and under its direction has launched Swope Soccer Village, Children's Mercy Park, Compass Minerals Sporting Fields, Compass Minerals National Performance Center and Central Bank Sporting Complex while investing in the Sporting KC Academy and Sporting Kansas City II for developing local youth into homegrown talent. A charter member of Major League Soccer, Sporting are two-time MLS Cup champions (2000, 2013) and four-time winners of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017).

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Major League Soccer Stories from June 22, 2023


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