MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC and Columbus Battle to Draw

Published on April 24, 2022 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (2-6-1, 7 points) and the Columbus Crew (2-3-3, 9 points) snapped their three-match losing streaks by playing to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night at rain-drenched Children's Mercy Park. In a tightly contested battle that was paused in the second half for 47 minutes due to inclement weather, Sporting posted its third shutout in four home games this year by limiting the Crew to a single shot on target. The result pushes Sporting's record against Columbus to 7-1-3 in the last 11 regular season meetings since 2013.

Sporting received a personnel boost with the return of holding midfielder Uri Rosell, who had worked his way back from a lingering hamstring injury. The Spaniard accounted for one of two lineup changes from last Sunday's 3-1 road loss to LAFC, with diminutive winger Marinos Tzionis dropping to the bench and center back Kortne Ford replacing Andreu Fontas for his first start at Children's Mercy Park in a Sporting uniform.

Elsewhere, a host of Sporting veterans hit notable milestones on Saturday, chief among them Scottish captain Johnny Russell who logged his 500th professional appearance for club and country. Midfielder Roger Espinoza passed Matt Besler for second in club history with his 295th regular season appearance, while right back Graham Zusi tied Besler atop Kansas City's all-time charts with his 285th regular season start.

The hosts suffered a twist of misfortune inside the first three minutes as center back Nicolas Isimat-Mirin suffered a head injury in a midfield collision with Columbus winger James Igbekeme. The end result was Sporting's first ever concussion substitution, summoning 20-year-old German defender Robert Voloder for his Children's Mercy Park debut.

Not long after Isimat-Mirin's exit, Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia-who jumped to seventh on the club's all-time charts with his 204th regular season start-did well to sprawl right and corral a thumping effort by Crew striker Miguel Berry. Columbus threatened once more at the 15-minute mark when Berry was played through on goal, but Ford's impeccably timed slide tackle inside the penalty area extinguished the danger.

The next several minutes unfolded in pedestrian fashion, but a flashbulb moment occurred near halftime. As the skies began to open with torrential rainfall, Remi Walter ran onto a delightful Voloder long ball and hit the turf under a clumsy challenge from Columbus left back Pedro Santos inside the box. Despite the move, referee Fotis Bazakos shocked fans in attendance by waving away Sporting's penalty kick protestations.

Sporting's first shot attempt very nearly resulted in a goal. Zusi's teasing free kick from the right channel found center forward Khiry Shelton, whose impressive diving header was smothered by outstretched Columbus goalkeeper Eloy Room.

Tzionis entered as a second-half substitute and made a palpable impact in the 63rd minute, driving down the left side and pulling the ball back to Daniel Salloi, whose sizzling near-post strike was saved by Room's outstretched foot.

Ford continued to excel in central defense and saved Sporting's blushes once more with 15 minutes left, sliding to clear a low cross intended for Berry in the six-yard area just seconds before the game was halted due to lightning in the area.

Play restarted following the delay and Room was called into action on 83 minutes, diving left at full extension to palm the ball aside after Russell's cross from the right flank was deflected goalward.

Sporting will return to Children's Mercy Park next Saturday, April 30, playing host to FC Dallas (4-1-3, 15 points) in a 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff on 38 The Spot, the Sporting KC app and SportingKC.com. Tickets for the match are available at SeatGeek.com.

QUOTES Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On the insertion of Marinos Tzionis...

The team was playing very well. The team was in great rhythm when I made the sub but I made the sub because Oriol (Rosell) couldn't go anymore because he hasn't been playing. Actually, the team wasn't as fluid when I brought him on as it was prior to that. The team lost momentum a little bit.

On the play of Kortne Ford and Robert Voloder...

They did great. We got a shutout. No goals. I don't know what else you have got to do. It was great. They did a great job. They were very good.

On Robert Voloder coming in after the injury to Nicolas Isimat-Mirin...

I'm glad I got his feet wet last week against LAFC. I think that helped him sort of break the ice a little bit. But he came in and he was in the game right away. He did a really good job. The two of them played very well in the back. Kortne was really good in the air. He makes a great saving clearance that's right basically on the line. That guy is tapping it in if he's not there. He's got a good mentality to defend the goal. Both of those guys did a really good job. Again, there's not much more you can ask for. They got a shutout.

On the team's ninth different lineup in nine games...

I have to because of injuries and everything else. If everybody is healthy, I know my lineup, but not everybody is healthy. Oriol Rosell is playing very well but right now I probably pushed him 15 minutes longer than I wanted to. But that's good so hopefully the next game I can push him 15 minutes longer or even 90 minutes. We'll see.

On the referee's decision not to award a penalty kick in the first half...

It was a penalty kick. If that's not a penalty kick, I don't know what a penalty kick is and I don't know soccer. I don't know how you run into the back of a guy and especially his legs, not just upper body, and you reach out a little bit to grab. He did not dive. No chance. When I say it doesn't get reviewed, what I mean by that I'm not saying that the VAR person did not review it. What I'm saying is the fact that they didn't bring the referee over to have a look at it for him to make his final decision, I think there's a flaw in that. Because, if I'm a referee, I want to see that...It's so simple to me. I don't understand. I can't understand it. So yes, it should have been a penalty

On if a foul should have been called on the play that injured Nicolas Isimat-Mirin...

I believe so, as well. He heads the ball. The guy heads him right in his head. To think that that's just two guys going up for heading a ball, no chance. That was reckless.

Sporting Kansas City defender Kortne Ford

On getting his first start at home...

I've been waiting for that opportunity for a long time. I felt like we've trained hard all week. The mentality has been different at training all week, so I'm just proud of the group to come out and put a performance together like that. The guys have been supportive, so I'm happy the way I played. At the end of the day, we just didn't get the result that we wanted but we'll take the point.

On his partnership with Robert Voloder...

I think it's one of the things that I really like about this team is the chemistry. Regardless of where you're at in the depth chart, we play together in training all the time. Me and Robbie especially, we play back there all the time when we weren't getting the start. I thought that our chemistry was good. I hope Isi has a quick recovery. It sucks to see that. But at the end of the day, I think that we played well together and I look forward to getting some more minutes.

Sporting KC defender Robert Voloder

On getting his first home appearance...

The circumstances were quite different or not as expected. First of all, it's good that Isi is doing okay. To play my first game at home for most of the 90 minutes was very cool. The home crowd is amazing. I felt them push me and it motivated me. I think I did a good job playing a good game and I'm looking forward to the next games.

On his partnership with Kortne Ford...

Actually it was quite alright because most of the time we train together. We know what we're going to do next and we know what we're thinking. It was easier to come into the game as a substitute. I think we did a great job and we didn't concede a goal.

2022 MLS Regular Season | Match 9

Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas

Attendance: 18,483

Weather: 72 degrees and cloudy

Score 1 2 F

Sporting Kansas City (2-6-1, 7 points) 0 0 0

Columbus Crew (2-3-3, 9 points) 0 0 0 Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Graham Zusi, Kortne Ford, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin (Robert Voloder 5'), Logan Ndenbe; Uri Rosell (Marinos Tzionis 56'), Remi Walter, Roger Espinoza (Felipe Hernandez 84'); Johnny Russell (C), Khiry Shelton, Daniel Salloi

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Andreu Fontas, Ben Sweat, Cam Duke, Nikola Vujnovic

Columbus Crew: Eloy Room; Steven Moreira, Jonathan Mensah (C), Milos Degenek (Josh Williams 87'), Pedro Santos; Darlington Nagbe, Artur, Aidan Morris; Yaw Yeboah (Derrick Etienne 60'), Miguel Berry, James Igbekeme

Subs Not Used: Evan Bush, Jalil Anibaba, Will Sands, Marlon Hairston, Alexandru Matan, Isaiah Parente, Noah Fuson

Scoring Summary:

None

Misconduct Summary:

CLB -- Pedro Santos (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 45+1'

SKC -- Oriol Rosell (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 45+3'

CLB -- Jonathan Mensah (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90+2'

Stat SKC CLB

Shots 3 9

Shots on Goal 3 1

Saves 1 3

Fouls 11 12

Offsides 1 4

Corner Kicks 2 2

Referee: Fotis Bazakos

Assistant Referee: Chris Wattam

Assistant Referee: Kevin Klinger

Fourth Official: Natalie Simon

VAR: Sorin Stoica

AVAR: Peter Manikowski

Check out the Sporting Kansas City Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from April 24, 2022


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.

OurSports Central