Sporting KC Falls to Narrow 1-0 Defeat at Portland
May 10, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City (3-8-1, 10 pts.) fell to a narrow 1-0 setback against the Portland Timbers (6-3-3, 21 pts.) at Providence Park on Saturday night. An evenly-matched contest was separated by one moment of brilliance from Portland's Santiago Moreno, whose first-half bicycle kick sealed all three points for the hosts.
Head coach Kerry Zavagnin made one enforced change from last weekend's victory over the LA Galaxy, with veteran left back Tim Leibold stepping in for the injured Logan Ndenbe.
The Timbers started fast and caused mayhem in the Sporting area just three minutes into the contest, but a combination of Jacob Bartlett and John Pulskamp dealt with the danger after Antony had got in behind.
It didn't take long for the hosts to make their impressive start count as Moreno gave Portland the lead in spectacular fashion in the 10th minute. Receiving a cross with his back to goal, the Colombian winger swiveled and produced a stunning bicycle kick that found the corner of the net to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead.
Sporting almost found the equalizer in the 15th minute when Daniel Salloi ghosted into the area to meet Manu Garcia's cross, but his effort was saved by Maxime Crepeau.
One minute later, Sporting sent a flurry of shots at the Portland net through Salloi and Shapi Suleymanov, but heroics from Crepeau and the Timbers backline preserved the lead for the hosts.
Goalkeeper John Pulskamp produced one of the saves of the season in the 21st minute to deny Moreno a second goal on the night, flying across his goal to block a close-range effort that seemed destined for the back of the net.
Sporting began the second half on the front foot and Garcia spurned an excellent opportunity to bring his side level when he met Leibold's cross at the far post but sliced his volley over the bar. In the 53rd minute, Salloi dragged a shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area after neat build-up as Sporting continued their search for an equalizer.
Salloi was Sporting's main dangerman throughout the night and he again tested Crepeau in the 61st minute with a dipping effort from 20 yards, but the Canadian 'keeper pushed it away to safety.
Santiago Munoz made his debut for the club in the 81st minute, replacing Suleymanov along the front line. Sporting continued pushing in stoppage time and substitute Jake Davis saw a powerful effort zip just over the bar from 25 yards in the 92nd minute but Sporting was unable to find a way back, falling 1-0.
Sporting KC remains on the road for another pair of matches this coming week, starting with a trip to cross-state rivals St. Louis at Energizer Park on Wednesday night. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. CT and the match will be televised nationally on FS1 as well as MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. The game will be available on the radio via Sports Radio 810 WHB.
QUOTES
Sporting KC interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin
On Sporting KC's 1-0 loss to Portland...
I think we got off to a little bit of a slow start. They threw a lot at us early and put a lot of pressure on us, but that's to be expected when you come and play Portland at their home. I thought they scored a fantastic goal-an excellent goal. Then we stabilized and we created our own chances. Over the course of the game, I think it was a relatively even, back-and-forth game. We started the second half extremely well, and I thought we were going to get a goal in the first 15 minutes. There are a lot of positives. I know it's not easy to digest any time you lose a game, but our performances over the last couple of weeks have been stabilizing and we're doing a lot of really good things in the game. That's not being a cheerleader, that's looking at it from a realistic perspective. Organizationally and defensively, we were very difficult to play against today against a very powerful attack. They get out in transition. We had talked about that before the game. The team has a lot to be proud of despite the fact that we didn't get the result.
On Sporting KC's chance creation...
Even through the first half, when Portland dropped back, they really dropped into a low block-a really compact 4-4-2 block. It was difficult to find space between the lines in the first half. Manu (Garcia) came into a more central position and there were some opportunities that were just a little bit off. In the second half, I think Portland with the 1-0 lead conceded a little bit more space further up the field and really compacted that area around the goal. So we looked to get attacking players on the field. The outside backs were planned substitutions just due to health. But it was good to get Santiago Munoz on the field, and Eric Thommy giving us a lift in the second half-and obviously Jake Davis with his work rate. But I just think that in tight areas and the way that Portland made it really compact for us, it was difficult to break down. A credit to them, but also a credit to us not to give up until the end.
On the performance of goalkeeper John Pulskamp...
It just speaks to his confidence and the confidence we have in him. Not only is he making the routine saves, but he's coming up big in big moments. I think he just continues to progress as a goalkeeper, and we continue to gain more confidence in what he delivers, week in and week out.
On Sporting KC's positive reaction after falling behind 1-0...
Yeah, I think we preach this and we've been doing this for a number of weeks now-to stay in the moment. We can't control the result as much as we would like to, but our guys have been really resilient in tough moments, even going down in Cincinnati, and I can name a few other moments. But today was another indication, a positive indication of the resiliency of the group. And we didn't concede. We didn't give. In. In fact, we put our foot forward and we kept going. That's a that's a real credit to the mentality that this group is building and developing, and a lot of positives to take out of out of this game tonight.
On the center back partnership of Jansen Miller and Robert Voloder...
They're going to make mistakes, but so do veteran defenders. I think where they've really come into their own is they have the ability to cover a lot of space on the field, whether it's running into the channel or compacting and moving the team up the field. So they're able to play a higher line and chase balls into the back and chase fast players. All of those things point to the characteristics that we're looking for in our center backs. Both Volader and Miller, despite their age, have given great performances in recent weeks. We're happy for them and we're happy for us.
On forward Santiago Munoz making his MLS debut...
He's clean, he's clever. He came in a difficult moment trying to make something happen, but you can see how he combines well with the players. We'd like to get him a little bit more in front of goal, but that was based on the opponent today. We put him on the left side wanting to position himself between the outside back and the center back. Hopefully Manu (Garcia) or (Dejan Joveljic) would be able to slip him in, because once he finds himself in front of goal-and and we'll see in the coming weeks-when he finds those opportunities, he's pretty deadly in those moments. So we were hoping that was going to be the case tonight. Unfortunately it wasn't, but it's good for him that he got his first minutes in Major League soccer.
On conceding goals on two MLS Goal of the Year candidates...
I don't think it's luck. I guess there are things you can control and things you can't control, and the things that we're trying to control is our approach, how we're organized, how we want to attack, how we want to defend and let the game play out. That's what the game's played for. And so there are moments that you can't control, and you've defended extremely well. There are also moments on the attacking side that you find yourself with an own goal, with zero shots goal. But you've put yourself in those moments, and you've created those opportunities to get, as you would say, lucky. And so I don't think it's necessarily a complete game of luck, although it's not something that we can control. What we can control is our performance. And I'm really happy with the way the guys performed tonight.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp
On conceding a world-class goal in the first half...
It's just one of those things where maybe there's a little detail in in how we defend the action as a whole, or how the action comes about. I could be better goalkeeping wise. There's always something you can look at, but being realistic, it's just one of those things where you kind of just have to tip your hat. They're extremely difficult. That ball is behind the player the entire time, and it was the same thing with (Kevin) Denkey's goal (in Cincinnati). You're not seeing that ball until it's essentially past his head, or at the last second. So it's much different than a flicked header or a straight volley where you're seeing the ball off a cross. You're seeing it off his foot. It's much different. You're not seeing the ball, and then out of nowhere it appears. You're almost trying to look for it. And then it appeared on my right and it was just wide enough that I couldn't get there.
On Sporting KC's defensive performance in the last two matches...
I was just telling all the guys that played along the back line-the subs that came on but especially Robbie (Voloder), Jansen (Miller), Tim (Leibold) and (Andrew) Brody-just talked to all of those guys. I said, "Look, I know it sucks. We want to win and it's never a good feeling losing. But I'm so proud of the guys in the way they defended." I thought they played fantastic-really just as good as they played against the LA Galaxy. Sometimes luck goes your way and sometimes it doesn't. I commend them for their efforts. They are all warriors. They all work their backs off. I know some of these guys are maybe not feeling great. As a defender and as a goalkeeper, you're getting knocked. You're getting hit. And these guys are pushing through being tired, pushing through pain, winning tackles, winning headers, really playing consistent. That is the biggest thing as a goalkeeper and as a center back. It's not about making the occasional special play but just taking care of your actions for a full 90 minutes. And that's what these guys have been doing. Full credit to them.
On his excellent save to deny Santiago Moreno in the first half...
Going into this week, we knew cutback situations were going to be something I was going to be seeing this weekend. Portland is a team that bombs forward pretty fast. They get the ball in wide areas and they like to dribble, cut in, and oftentimes play little chip balls, little crosses and cutbacks. So all week we were working on cutbacks quite consistently, and in this particular situation the second the ball was played, coming from my right. There was a first runner that I had to pause for-I had to stop in case he was able to get a foot on it. But as I was pausing for that first runner, I saw in my peripheral whoever it was at the back post. And I knew if this guy leaves that ball, I'm going to have to get across really fast, because I saw that he was wide open. So the second that ball beat that first runner and our first defender, I knew I was just going to have to scramble to the far post and try to get in front of it. The second I saw him lining up to hit it, I saw that he was kind of in-stepping it. I was able to read that he was going low left, and luckily I was able to spread my left foot out there and make a good save on it. It is always a good feeling, making plays like that.
On traveling to face St. Louis on Wednesday...
The Derby games are always motivating games. Big games, you know? They're the type of games that not much really needs to be said. It kind of goes unsaid that these are games that everyone needs to try to be at their best for, and really get excited for especially playing at their place. It's always nice going on the road and stealing some points from your rival. I haven't talked to a lot of the guys yet, but realistically, we need to look at tonight's game as a positive, as cliche as that is. We defended so well, and if we defend like that for the rest of the season, the results are going to come. And if we keep defending like that, the other parts are going to click. I think if we can go into St. Louis playing this way, we'll be OK.
Attendance: 21,287
Weather: 64 degrees and sunny
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Andrew Brody (Khiry Shelton 69'), Jansen Miller, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold (Zorhan Bassong 69'); Jacob Bartlett (Jake Davis 46'), Manu Garcia, Nemanja Radoja; Shapi Suleymanov (Santiago Munoz 81'), Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi (C) (Erik Thommy 70')
Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Dany Rosero, Memo Rodriguez, Stephen Afrifa
Portland Timbers: Maxime Crepeau; Juan Mosquera (Eric Miller 84'), Finn Surman, Kamal Miller, Claudio Bravo; Joao Ortiz, David Ayala (Cristhian Paredes 68'), Santiago Moreno (Omir Fernandez 78'), David Da Costa (Jonathan Rodriguez 78'), Antony; Felipe Mora (C) (Kevin Kelsy 68')
Subs Not Used: Trey Muse, Ian Smith, Dario Zuparic, Ariel Lassiter
Scoring Summary:
POR - Santiago Moreno 3 (David Da Costa 6, Antony 7) 10'
Misconduct Summary:
POR - Claudio Bravo (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 67'
SKC - Shapi Suleymanov (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 73'
SKC - Jake Davis (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 74' STATSKCPOR Shots119 Shots on Goal33 Saves23 Fouls1314 Offsides25 Corner Kicks08
Referee: Ricardo Fierro Assistant Referee: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt Assistant Referee: Ben Pilgrim Fourth Official: Adorae Monroy VAR: Daniel Radford AVAR: TJ Zablocki
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