Sporting KC Falls on Road at Portland
Published on May 10, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City suffered a 6-0 loss on the road against the Portland Timbers on Saturday at Providence Park.
The hosts opened the scoring in the sixth minute in sublime fashion as Designated Player Kristoffer Velde fired a shot from more than 25 yards out into the top corner for his team-leading fourth goal of the year.
The Timbers would double their lead in the 15th minute as Kevin Kelsy scored his first of two goals on the night on a clever backheel from David Da Costa, who earned the primary assists on each of Portland's first two goals of the game.
Velde and Kelsy would be involved again in the Timbers' third goal, this time setting up Cole Bassett with a strike from six yards out on a recycled corner in the 22nd minute.
Four minutes later, a fourth goal would find the back of the net after touches by three different SKC players as Ethan Bartlow's clearance deflected off Wyatt Meyer and Jake Davis before crossing the goalline.
Down 4-0 at halftime of an MLS match for the first time in club history, Sporting made two changes to start the second half with the introduction of Calvin Harris and Ian James. The visitors nearly pulled a goal back just 45 seconds into the half as Dejan Joveljic did well to turn a cross from Jacob Bartlett towards goal with a first-time volley however James Pantemis was alert to keep it out. The TImbers goalkeeper was called into action again in the 58th minute to turn away Capita's attempt from a tight angle on the right side of the penalty area.
On the opposite end, Stefan Cleveland made his lone save of the night 10 minutes later to deny second-half substitute Alexander Aravena his first MLS goal.
Portland would produce the final two goals of the night in short succession with Ariel Lassiter - the son of former KC forward Roy Lassiter - curling a left-footed free kick from 25 yards out past Cleveland in the 71st minute before Kelsy completed his brace as he capped off the scoring in the 74th minute with a first-time finish at the back post.
Sporting midfielder Zorhan Bassong returned from injury to play the final 30 minutes and nearly put his name on the scoresheet in the 84th minute only to see his half-volley deflect narrowly over the crossbar. Sporting continued to push late for a consolation goal and came close in the 89th minute as Harris forced a strong save from Pantemis, who dove low to his left to turn away the attempt and snap the Timbers streak of 21 consecutive games without a shutout dating back to last season.
The result extends Sporting's winless stretch to eight straight games across all competitions as SKC returns home empty-handed for a seventh time in seven tries at Providence Park.
Sporting will next host the LA Galaxy at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Sporting Park. Tickets for the Western Conference clash are available on SeatGeek and the mid-week match-up will be available to watch live on Apple TV.
QUOTES
Sporting KC head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match...
To be fair, I have not seen the stats and stats don't help me in this moment, obviously. It is true that probably everything went their way. They're a good team. They're a strong team. They're very athletic. They have good players. We knew that before. And everything went their way. It was 4-0 when you have a moment and nothing goes your way, but it's more, for me, I felt like we went on the field with the mindset of not making a mistake or of not losing. And that's obviously me. We have to try to go and play to win, not to not make a mistake because we were dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping. I don't know if that's a sign of fear. It's okay to be sometimes in a low block, but you don't have to be so low. That energy of basically not finding the moments when to go with more courage, again, is something which I think we need to start trying to change. Obviously, that doesn't mean that you need to chase every single ball. Like in the second half, where we then see again when we chase - yes, we may recover a few - but there's a lot of risk in behind. So it's finding that middle balance, but doing things with the mindset of trying to win and not trying to not make a mistake. Because at the end of the day, we all make mistakes. I'd rather make mistakes when I have the courage than when I'm a little bit scared. That's something I just told the team as well and I think that's something we hopefully can see on Wednesday.
On the return of Zorhan Bassong...
It is just unfortunate that he wasn't with us all season. I knew from the beginning that Zorhan is a player who is really important for us either in the center mid or as a fullback. He brings personality. He brings energy. He brings physicality. So he's a very, very interesting and good profile. But I need him healthy and healthy over the whole season. Hopefully this was the start, so that he can help us in the next games, but we have to be careful with minutes with him. Hopefully he can stay healthy and have a lot of games for us until the end of the season.
On getting more possession in the second half...
It's probably a little bit of both. Again, I can never control what the opposition does. When you're 4-0 up at halftime, it's possible that they're a little bit less aggressive. I think also in the first half, it wasn't easy when we had the ball, because we had no runs in behind. We had no threats in behind. We had in the second half -- with Calvin Harris, with Jayden (Reid), with Capita -- threats in behind. We need that. So it's probably a little bit both.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Zorhan Bassong
On entering at halftime...
It's never easy to go in in the second half when you're losing 4-0 already. The coach is just trying to motivate us and find some ways for us to stay in the game and to apply the game plan. Of course it's going to be different because we're down four goals, but I think that the objective is just to try to keep the momentum and just try to push harder. At the end of the day, we have nothing to lose when it's 4-0. We have just got to keep pushing, try to go forward as much as we can, and try to score a goal if we can. I remember Dejan (Joveljic's) first opportunity to score in the second half. It can actually change the game, you know? Maybe it sounds naive, the way I say it like this, but if he scores that goal, maybe it's a different game. I feel like at this point of the game, the goal is just to keep pushing and hope for the best. At that point it is not about the tactics anymore. It's really about the mentality and the team spirit that we have to show when we're on the field.
On his return from injury...
Honestly, it feels good. I'm happy to be back with the team, for sure. Of course, it's not the way I was expecting to be back. A player naturally wants to be back and help his team win and I feel like, of course, today I was not able to contribute to the win of the team, but I'm happy to be back and be able to build some more volume. I'm just looking forward to having more minutes for the next coming games. We have already two games next week, so I just want to focus on these. I just want to play as much as I can and help the team the best I can as well.
On being out recently...
A soccer player just wants to be on the field. He doesn't want to be in the training room with all the trainers and all the physiotherapists and all that. I know I can help the team just by bringing some energy. We have a really young group as well so sometimes we just need some type of leadership and I think I can contribute that way to help the team. It's frustrating, but at the end of the day I just try to focus on myself and what I can control. The most important right now for me, personally, was just to heal as quick as possible and be back as soon as I can. Now I'm back and I just want to focus on what's going on right now. The past belongs to the past. Right now, I just want to focus on the next coming games.
-- SportingKC.com --
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- Sporting KC Falls on Road at Portland - Sporting Kansas City
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