Sporting KC Season Ends with 2-1 Loss

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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Season Ends with 2-1 Loss

October 19, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City suffered a 2-1 defeat at FC Dallas on Saturday to close out the club's 2024 campaign. William Agada scored a late consolation goal to finish the year with a team-leading 12 goals across all competitions, including a career-high 10 goals in the MLS regular season.

FC Dallas opened the scoring, with their first shot of the night, as MLS All-Star Peter Musa scored his 16th goal of the regular season in the 16th minute on a well-taken effort from near the penalty spot. The 26-year-old Designated Player, acquired on a club-record transfer fee from Benfica, has scored in all three matches against Sporting Kansas City this season.

Dallas then came close to doubling the lead seven minutes later if not for a superb play from Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp to deny Bernard Kamungo in a one-on-one situation. The hosts would ultimately stretch the scoreline to 2-0 in the 40th minute on an own goal following an errant header by Joaquin Fernandez.

Sporting Kansas City's best two scoring opportunities of the first half both came on chances that crashed off the crossbar. Agada's header struck the woodwork in the 34th minute on a free kick taken by Memo Rodriguez and Daniel Salloi saw his shot deflect off the frame of the goal on the cusp of halftime.

Manager Peter Vermes inserted Mexican striker Alan Pulido into the match to start the second half and the move nearly paid immediate dividends as the World Cup veteran sent a shot narrowly wide of the post in the 48th minute. On the opposite end, Alan Velasco missed the target three minutes later after a miscue from Tim Leibold left the 22-year-old Designated Player on a breakaway with only Pulskamp to beat.

FC Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer would next be called into action for a pair of saves to keep Sporting KC off the scoresheet, denying Erik Thommy in the 53rd minute and Logan Ndenbe in the 61st minute. Sporting were poised to cut the deficit in half in the 68th minute as second-half substitute Stephen Afrifa dribbled toward goal before his shot was blocked at the final moment under pressure from a pair of FC Dallas defenders.

Sporting continued to press until the dying moments of the match and the pressure produced a late breakthrough when Agada intercepted a backpass intended for Maurer in the 89th minute and withstood a challenge from the veteran goalkeeper before finishing into the empty net for the team's latest regular season road goal of the year. The goal gives Agada four goals in the three meetings with FC Dallas in 2024 and a team-best 16 goal contributions across all competitions (12 goals, four assists).

Sporting Kansas City's regular season campaign came to an end with four straight losses for the first time in club history during the non-shootout era (2000-present). The club now looks ahead to a 30th season in Major League Soccer in 2025 - featuring new Western Conference expansion side San Diego FC - as well as the 2025 edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup, which will see Sporting compete for a continental club championship against the top teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On the 2-1 loss to FC Dallas...

I think we were okay. I don't think we were good in any particular area of the game in the first half. Obviously we hit the crossbar twice, but that doesn't really mean anything because it doesn't add up to any goals. The second half was a better half for us in a lot of ways. It was an interesting day because we scored two goals, there were three goals scored, and we lost 2-1. That was an interesting one.

On Joaquin Fernandez's own goal...

Nobody wants to score an own goal. I'm not sure if he thinks he's past the post. I didn't ask him and haven't talked to him about it. I don't know if he thought he was past the post and heading the ball out of bounds. I don't know what the situation was, but I'll find out later.

On Zorhan Bassong and Alan Pulido entering as halftime substitutes...

Moving the team around and playing with some different guys helped for sure. They brought a little spark. I thought Erik Thommy going wide was really good. He was on the front foot and taking the game to the other defenders. He got a lot of set pieces and created a lot of havoc in there. We actually moved the ball a lot quicker in the second half than in the first. I thought that Memo Rodriguez had a really good game. All game long he was very, very solid. On their first goal, it's too easy for the player to get off the shot. We have to be much closer to block that shot, especially when he has his back to goal and turns inside our box. There's no way that player should be able to get a shot off like that. It wasn't a really bad performance and it wasn't a good performance. It was just a lot of the same stuff we've encountered all year.

On left back Tim Leibold playing at right back due to injuries in the team...

He was actually pretty good over there.

On center back Joaquin Fernandez...

I thought his first game (two weeks ago) was really good. This game he was solid. It was different for him as well because we're playing away from home. He hadn't played away from home yet. There's a lot to work with there and we'll see how it goes. The guys who are coming back next year are going to have to be ready for a different challenge. Different intensity, different intensity. Because what happened this year was not enough.

Sporting Kansas City forward William Agada

On his late goal in the 2-1 loss to FC Dallas...

It's a game where we concede early goals. We just needed to stay focused until the end of the final whistle. They were trying to keep the ball and I saw the pass from the defender. I anticipated it like a striker. You always need to wait for those chances. I was able to steal the ball and that was it.

On how he wants to improve heading into the 2025 season...

It's one of those seasons where you try and things just don't go the way you want. For me personally, I just need to stay focused and keep on scoring. I need to listen to the big players around me and especially the big boss on the sideline. He's always trying to make me better so that I can score more goals. As you can see, there were a lot of chances that we had throughout the season. We didn't finish as we wanted to. Now we go home and relax a little bit with family and then come back strong for preseason. Personally, right now I'm not even thinking about next season. I just want to go and see my family (in Nigeria). It's been a long year without seeing my parents. I'm not even thinking about football after this game. I want to see my family for now and then come back to preseason stronger.

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).

-- SportingKC.com --

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