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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Earns 2-0 Win over Galaxy

October 28, 2021 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Johnny Russell continued his irresistible run of form with two goals to pace a 2-0 victory over LA Galaxy (13-12-7, 46 points) on Wednesday night as Sporting Kansas City (17-7-7, 58 points) surged atop the Western Conference standings and clinched a home match in the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Sporting's 400th win in all competitions saw Russell strike on both sides of halftime, extending his club-record scoring run to eight regular season matches, while Gadi Kinda added a pair of assists and 20-year-old John Pulskamp became the youngest goalkeeper in Sporting history to post an MLS shutout.

Boasting a perfect 17-0-0 record when scoring two or more goals this year, Sporting are tied with Seattle Sounders FC on 58 points with one game in hand and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of greater goal differential.

Sporting's first of three remaining regular season fixtures will take place Sunday afternoon when Manager Peter Vermes' side visits regional rivals Minnesota United FC in a 12 p.m. CT kickoff at Allianz Field. Fans can catch the action live nationally on ESPN and ESPN Deportes as well as locally on ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM.

Manager Peter Vermes notably coached his 400th regular season match on Wednesday, becoming the fourth head coach in MLS history to reach the milestone and the first to do so with one club. His starting XI for the midweek match featured one change from Saturday's momentous 2-1 road win over Seattle as Pulskamp stepped in for the suspended Tim Melia.

The Galaxy survived a major scare inside two minutes when Sporting were denied by the post. Russell's in-swinging corner kick fell invitingly to Ilie, whose right-footed poke near the penalty spot skipped through traffic and pinged off the woodwork.

Ilie asked further questions of the Galaxy defense moments later, sending a long ball over the top for Khiry Shelton. LA goalkeeper Jonathan Bond raced off his line to extinguish the danger, but Shelton beat him to the ball and almost prodded into an empty net on the breakaway. Before he could apply the finishing touch, Galaxy center back Sega Coulibaly retreated and hammered clear to keep the game goalless.

The hosts dominated territory and possession early, but LA gradually gained a foothold and responded with a clear-cut opportunity of their own on the half-hour mark. Veteran playmaker Victor Vazquez slipped a through ball into the path of Serbian striker Dejan Joveljic, whose near-post effort was bound for the back of the net, but Pulskamp extended his foot to produce a smart save.

Russell and Sporting drew first blood in the 40th minute on a breakneck attack that broke LA's defensive resolve. Kinda embarked on a lung-busting run into the final third and pumped the brakes near the left edge of the penalty area before playing a lovely diagonal ball to Russell. The unplayable winger took a touch past defender Niko Hamalainen and fired low past Bond to extend his remarkable scoring streak to eight regular season matches, the fifth-longest run in MLS history. The strike also made Russell the league's highest-scoring Scottish player of all time and extended Sporting's club-record home scoring streak to 31 regular season matches dating back to August 2019.

Kinda could have gone from provider to scorer eight minutes into the second half, connecting with Roger Espinoza on another breathless run forward, but his first-time attempt at the top of the box carried over the crossbar. Not long later, Russell conjured a bit of magic by dinking the ball over Hamalainen on the right edge of the box only to see his ensuing volley fizz wide.

At the opposite end, left back Luis Martins -- the only Sporting player to feature in all 31 regular season matches this year -- put his body on the line to make a crucial block in the 73rd minute, sliding to thwart Rayan Raveloson and preserve his team's slender lead.

Russell and Kinda combined for the second time with 82 minutes on the clock, effectively putting the game to bed. Kinda picked up possession from Shelton, drove goalward and spread the ball right to an open Russell, who sent a sublime curler into the top left corner for his 14th goal of the season and his 10th in the last eight games. The 31-year-old forward now has 39 career regular season goals, tying current LA Galaxy president Chris Klein for fifth-most in club history.

QUOTES

Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes

On the magnitude of the win...

We have three games to go, but I've always said games in hand don't mean anything if you don't win them. This is the first of four games and it was important for us to get these at home. Now we go on the road to a tough game at Minnesota. They're a very good team, and always a difficult game. This was very important for us today. It was huge. LA is a really good team. When we come into this area at the end of the season and go up against LA who wants to make the playoffs, a team that made a big change, their coach is different their staff is different, they've made a lot of changes in players and they're an organized team. It's a tough game for us. Then you take the conditions of the weather and something can happen in the game. Somebody can slip or something happens to a guy and the next thing you know it goes the wrong way. For our guys to start the way we did, which was a big focus of ours, score in the first half, score in the second half and keep a clean sheet against a team like this it was big for us, really big.

On Johnny Russell's form...

This is what I saw when I was looking at him to bring him here. With the way that we play, it's always an emphasis to have wingers that try to get isolated. If they can, with the way that we play you have to have guys that can break people down and he can do it. He was a monster tonight. Johnny has that it factor. He shows up in the big moments. He's mentally tough. He gives everything he has all the time. When he did that slide tackle with his knees to block the ball that goes out of bounds, he's just doing everything that he can to win. He just has a great mentality. It's infectious for the rest of the guys on the team and it's one of the big reasons why he's the captain.

On Johnny Russell's scoring streak...

There's a handful of players on this team that are big-moment guys and they show up in all the big moments. That's what we need them to do. One of the big difficulties last year was when we got to this point in the season, we just weren't healthy enough. Now we're starting to find our form a little bit which is helping us. Slowly but surely, we're going to get a few guys back and that will help us. When a guy steps up like he does, it's huge for the team.

On John Pulskamp's performance...

He made two great saves: one in the first half, one in the second half late. He was really good with the ball. I'm not saying this because I don't think he's not good with the ball. He was much more composed than I expected for this type of game. He stepped into not an easy situation at all and he was great with his feet. We had a little talk yesterday about a couple of little situations and he made the right decision every single time which was tremendous. I give him a lot of credit. It's not easy to get a clean sheet especially this time of the year. For him to do that at his age in this situation was tremendous. Hat goes off to him for sure.

Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp

On getting the start...

After the Seattle game, we obviously knew it was a possibility, and regardless I always prepare for every week the same whether if I know I'm starting or not. I knew I was officially going to get the start just a couple of days before but again it doesn't really make that big of a difference in my preparation.

On his preparation for tonight...

I felt great. With every game I've gotten this year with the first team, I've felt better and better both playing with my actions but also just mentally calm and feeling better. Just feeling very comfortable out there. I prepare for it like any other game. I knew a lot was riding on this game and it was very important with Seattle losing and it being so tight in the top three. Winning tonight was obviously very important and I'm glad we were able to do that.

On if he spoke to Tim Melia...

I talked to him and it was very simple. Him and I are very good friends and he just wished me luck, told me to do my thing and that was about it.

On his preparation before games when Tim Melia is the starter...

As a young goalkeeper, you have to recognize that the position may not give the same opportunity that is given to field players. Typically, a goalkeeper can't come on and get 15-20 minutes a game and come off the bench and get minutes. It's usually something sudden like an injury or suspension that leads to you getting minutes. Knowing that, I prepare the same because I know those opportunities are few and far between. When it comes, I know I have to take them and as for preparation, it's nothing unordinary or different than you'd expect: resting before a game. watching film on the other team. I'm a player who likes to research the opponents so there's a lot of film and working with the goalkeeper coach to study the opponent. I build up my energy and excitement before the game.

On the win against his former club...

I was telling some of the guys on the inside that there's no other team I'd rather have this type of performance against. To get my first MLS clean sheet against the team that I had played for and come up through their youth system makes it all that much sweeter. I am appreciative of the Galaxy for everything that they gave me but I'm very happy I ended up at Sporting.

On his bouncing back...

One of the biggest things I was told by a Galaxy coach, somebody who I'm still very close with, Brian Kleiban, is never getting too high on the highs or too low on the lows. Every result is in the past the moment you step off the lines. The result with the second team was not good at all and that's something that beats you up in the moment but as soon as you get over that sting, it's gone from the memory.

On playing in the rain...

Playing in the rain is not ideal but it doesn't affect it that much. You just kind of block it out. It plays a lot faster and you got to recognize that and get out on the front foot if it skips off the ground. In terms of handling making sure you're really focused with each ball and that nothing slips through.

On staying engaged while Sporting is on the ball...

The first and most important thing in staying connected to the team is my communication. Often times, that's just as much for me as it is for them. Help them see what I can see and maybe they can't. That keeps me engaged and focused on the play and then just thinking of each individual action really helps me. If we turn over the ball and I see the opponent attacking, I'll think of that as a training scenario where we're doing patterns to goal or something. With that individual play, just deal with it and then go on from there.

Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell

On moving back atop the West...

The big one was obviously going away and beating Seattle. We needed that result after the poor one the week before and Seattle had just beaten us as well. We had to get points back. We had to claw back some ground. We knew the season really hinged on that. We had to go there and beat them. We did that. It's another great performance tonight to get ourselves back to the top. It's in our hands. We've got three games. We win out and we finish top of the West again. (It would be) three times in four years. That was the aim at the start of the year. That hasn't changed at any point. It's in our hands. It's up to us. If we go out and win our games, that's it. Noone else has a say in it.

On if he's ever been in this strong of form in his career...

Probably not from a goal scoring point of view in consecutive games. Everything I'm hitting right now seems to be going in. So from that perspective, probably not. But my confidence has never changed in my career. I'm just getting in good positions. My team is finding me with great passes. I'm managing to get my shots away and they're going in. Obviously for me, it's massive. Getting a bit of history at this club, as well, it's something that's going to be spoken about for a while. That's really important for me. I've told you guys time and time again, if I'm contributing and we're winning games then that's my only focus. The records are nice but I'd rather be lifting a trophy at the end of the year.

On the play of John Pulskamp...

We know how good John is. Obviously, he's behind such a good goalie in Tim (Melia). He played at the beginning of the year and he did well for us. We've got confidence in him. It was up to us to try and limit the amount of shots that he had to face tonight but when he did, he made a big (save) in the first half and then right at the end there. If they get a goal there, it makes the last 5-10 minutes a little bit edgy. It was a great save. We know he can do that. We see it day in and day out. He's a great guy and a great professional. He goes about his job brilliantly everyday. I'm delighted for him. Coming in last minute with not a lot of time to prepare for this, he's a confident guy and you saw that tonight. A big save for us is just as important as any goal with a goalkeeper making saves like that. He was brilliant tonight.

On the crowd supporting the team late in the game...

You can feel it. I've said so many times before how good the fans are for the team and how good they are for me. When I get the ball, I do feel it. I don't want to disappoint them a lot of the time. I feel like I need to try something. You can feel that. It gives you a little bit of energy. It gives you that rush. You can feel them getting off their seats. My job is to continue to do that. That's why I was brought here. That's my job in the team. My job is to create chances and score goals for my team. That's what I'm going to aim to continue to do. We're in great form right now. They're always behind us. They're massive for us and they're going to be massive leading into the playoffs as well.

2021 MLS Regular Season | Match 31

Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas

Attendance: 18,711

Weather: 55 degrees and rainy

Post-match Links:

Score 1 2 F

Sporting Kansas City (17-7-7, 58 points) 1 1 2

LA Galaxy (13-12-7, 46 points) 0 0 0

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Graham Zusi, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Andreu Fontas, Luis Martins; Ilie Sanchez, Remi Walter, Roger Espinoza (Cam Duke 74'); Johnny Russell (C) (Grayson Barber 89'), Gadi Kinda, Khiry Shelton

Subs Not Used: Kendall McIntosh, Amadou Dia, Roberto Puncec, Kaveh Rad, Jake Davis, Jose Mauri, Wilson Harris

LA Galaxy: Jonathan Bond; Julian Araujo, Sega Coulibaly, Derrick Williams, Niko Hamalainen (Ethan Zubak 84'); Jonathan dos Santos (C), Rayan Raveloson; Samuel Grandsir (Oniel Fisher 72'), Victor Vazquez (Kevin Cabral 46'), Sebastian Lletget (Sacha Kljestan 72'); Dejan Joveljic (Efrain Alvarez 86')

Subs Not Used: Jonathan Klinsmann, Daniel Steres, Adam Saldana

Scoring Summary:

SKC -- Johnny Russell 13 (Gadi Kinda 5) 40'

SKC -- Johnny Russell 14 (Gadi Kinda 6) 82'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC -- Nicolas Isimat-Mirin (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90+2'

Stat SKC LA

Shots 10 9

Shots on Goal 2 2

Saves 2 0

Fouls 10 9

Offsides 3 2

Corner Kicks 10 5

Referee: Alan Kelly

Assistant Referee: Matthew Nelson

Assistant Referee: Jose da Silva

Fourth Official: Jon Freemon

VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.

AVAR: Jonathan Johnson

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