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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Wins 4-2 over LA Galaxy

August 6, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Newcomers Willy Agada and Erik Thommy paced Sporting Kansas City (6-14-5, 23 points) to a resounding 4-2 victory over the LA Galaxy (9-11-3, 30 points) on Saturday night at Children's Mercy Park. In a pulsating affair between longtime MLS foes, Agada bagged his first pair of MLS goals near halftime after Thommy opened his league scoring account with an early stunner to set the tone for Sporting's dominant performance. The Galaxy managed to cut their three-goal deficit to 3-2 when Mexican star Chicharito Hernandez scored a late brace of his own, but Sporting forward Daniel Salloi-who assisted goals to Thommy and Agada earlier in the game-sealed all three points with an outstanding strike deep into second-half stoppage time.

Saturday's thrilling battle marked the first time Sporting has scored four goals in a match since September 2021 and extended the club's head-to-head winning streak against LA to three games, coming on the heels of two wins over the Galaxy in 2021.

With a three-match homestand in the rearview mirror, Sporting will resume their regular season campaign next Saturday, Aug. 13, by visiting Supporters' Shield contenders Austin FC (13-5-6, 45 points) at Q2 Stadium in the Texas capital. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. CT with live coverage on 38 The Spot, the Sporting KC app and SportingKC.com.

On a night that Sporting Kansas City honored military personnel with the fifth annual Sporting Salutes match, Salloi hit a major milestone by making his 100th career regular season start. He accounted for one of four lineup changes from last weekend's home loss to Austin FC as Thommy and veterans Roger Espinoza and Graham Zusi also entered the fray. Notable absentees included Cam Duke, who served a one-game red card suspension, and the injured trio of goalkeeper Tim Melia, defender Logan Ndenbe and forward Khiry Shelton.

Thommy needed 10 minutes to open his MLS account in glorious fashion, rounding off an incisive attack with a sublime finish that brought supporters to their feet. Agada did well to hold up possession amidst traffic and spread it wide to Salloi on the right flank. He quickly played to the nearby Espinoza, who looped a clever service into the penalty area for the on-running Thommy. The German midfielder made no mistake from there, letting the ball glide over his shoulder and settling it with his chest before smashing a first-time volley past LA Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond for Sporting's first MLS home goal since May 18.

With momentum on their side, Sporting probed once more in the 20th minute. Salloi was afforded more space on the right side and whipped in a low cross that evaded a tightly marked Agada but reached captain Johnny Russell, whose cutback found left back Ben Sweat 15 yards from goal. Sweat took a touch a dragged a hurried shot wide of the target.

The hosts spurned a major opportunity to double their advantage in the 25th minute. Center back Andreu Fontas had advanced into an attacking position and unleashed a strike from long range that LA defender Derrick Williams hand-balled inside the box. Referee Michael Radchuk immediately pointed to the penalty spot, much to the delight of Sporting, but Russell's ensuing spot kick was saved as Bond dove left to smother the attempt.

Agada was next to notch his first MLS goal shortly before halftime, although it came under bizarre circumstances. Espinoza made a piercing run in behind the Galaxy defense and fizzed a low delivery across the six-yard area for Agada. The jaw-dropping sequence that followed saw Bond deny Agada three times from close range, including two saves on the rebound to extinguish the danger. VAR took a second look, however, and Agada's second attempt with his left foot was deemed to have crossed the goal line before Bond could cast it aside, giving the 22-year-old his maiden goal in a Sporting uniform.

Espinoza was on the receiving end of another wonderfully orchestrated chance a few moments later, latching onto Russell's delectable cross-field pass and forcing a save from Bond at the near post.

There was no doubting Agada's second goal of the evening, which came on the cusp of intermission. Salloi chased a long ball over the top from Zusi and curled in a low cross for Agada, whose emphatic close-range belter rippled the roof of the net and ignited zealous celebrations inside the stadium. It marked the first time since last September that Sporting had scored three goals in the first half of an MLS match and gave the club its first three-goal league game of 2022.

Midway through the second half, Agada went agonizingly close to recording the club's first hat trick in over three years. Remi Walter intercepted a stray pass in the middle third of the field and sprayed a through ball into the path of Agada, who had raced in behind with only Bond to beat. He coolly rounded the LA keeper and pulled the trigger from a tight angle on the right side of the box, but Galaxy defender Sega Coulibaly had retreated to make the crucial goal line clearance.

The unplayable Agada asked further questions of LA's backline in the 79th minute, chasing a brilliant Walter long ball and squaring up his defender before slipping a pass into the path of Salloi, but the Hungarian was unable to get off a clean shot and instead Walter ended up seeing his low drive saved by Bond.

The visitors grabbed a goal back in the 83rd minute when Hernandez swiveled and finished from the left side of the six-yard area. He was initially flagged offside on the play, but VAR prompted Radchuk to take a second look and the goal was awarded.

Hernandez doubled his tally in the second minute of stoppage time, burying a penalty kick into the top right corner after Sporting substitute Uri Rosell was whistled for a handball infraction inside the box. The goal reduced Sporting's lead to 3-2 and set up a nervy final few minutes as the hosts sternly defended their slender edge.

Committing numbers forward in search of a late equalizer, the Galaxy were exposed in the 94th minute when Salloi was set free and curled a 20-yard shot inches over the crossbar, but he would not miss again seconds later. The 26-year-old winger punctuated his excellent performance by racing onto Julian Araujo's stray back pass and poking a strike past Bond from a near-impossible angle along the endline. It was his seventh goal of the season in all competitions, one shy of Russell's team lead, and his 46th career goal since signing for the club as a teenager in 2016.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On Willy Agada's celebration after his first goal...

I've never been strangled, how about that? He came running and wanted to jump and for me to catch him. I'm a decently fit guy, but I don't know if I was catching that. It was good. He told me yesterday if he scored, he's going to do that. I was a little bit prepared.

On if this match was a sigh of relief...

I wouldn't say a sigh of relief. I've said this a lot of times, there's been games where we score goals, but then we give up silly goals. There's been games where we defend really well, but then we don't score. There's been games here recently where we just haven't put 90 minutes together and I thought today we did. I'm not in agreement with the handball for them. No chance. We just had the same exact thing last week. It's different when the ball hits your leg and bounces up and hits you in the hand. No chance. Not like that. But there were opportunistic goals. Like his [Willy Agada] first goal, he's fighting for it, right? He wants to get it in there. He's doing everything he can for a second, third or whatever. Then Daniel [Salloi] on the fourth goal, very opportunistic to fight for it, and to keep fighting for it. That's the thing that I'm proud of. It's a deserving result when you get good concentration in the game. We talked about it before we went on the field. It's three things. You got to attack, you got to defend and you got to be good on set pieces. And I think we did that for the most part.

On what Willy Agada and Erik Thommy bring to the team...

When we were up three nil, I told Willy [Agada] to stay a little bit higher, because he was trying to defend with the team, which I appreciate, but I told him to stay a little bit higher. We're going to win it and they're going to send you through. That's how I got on that breakaway. We can use his speed, and he has great timing of his movement to get in behind. That's the way he likes to play when we watch him. It's a part of his game, but he can play in all ideas and do what we want to do on concepts. But it's really made for, especially in the second half, for him to get balls in and behind them. He does a great job of getting his position on his defender, and he protects the ball really well. What we miss with Gadi [Kinda] is what Erik Thommy brings. Thommy has attacking tendencies. He goes forward, he puts teams under pressure with the ball and so when he gets it turns and he starts running at the defense, it puts them under pressure, it makes them have to make decisions. It helps us immensely. And we lack that when Gadi isn't out there. Now that we have him, that's huge. Now it's the same thing for him to be able to stretch the defense like he does, it gives us some variety within our attack, which is really good.

On Thommy's goal...

A world class finish. First off, you're running, you take the ball off your chest, you still got in the air, and you hit the full volley, technically clean as could be. Just a great run, but also a great ball. We work on that run and that movement a lot. I actually feel pretty good about it because as much as we work on it, it showed up in the game. We've done that kind of stuff before, but sometimes you miss or the guy misses a part. Maybe he does the first touch, but not the second touch. It was just very rewarding for a lot of the work that we do.

On what clicked tonight...

We've been there, we've been in front of the goal quite a bit. I wish I had the answer, and I would say that every other coach and fan in the world wishes they had the answer for that. I don't have the answer. I think we have it in us. We have very good players on our team. We just have to be snipers in front of the goal. We get great chances and tonight we were good. It's also good to score opportunistic goals and we did that.

Sporting KC Forward Willy Agada...

On his first goal...

From the beginning, when the ball came from the side, there was a little bit of a deflection from the first player in front of me. That's why I didn't get to hit the ball so clean the first time. But when the goalkeeper kept it out, I kept struggling, fighting for the second goal. I thought it was a goal. You know how the VAR sometimes is, a little bit complicated, but thank God it went in. I'm so excited that that was my first goal. I'm so excited. I promised the coach I would jump. I would run to him. He wasn't ready, though. But I'm so excited.

On the standing ovation he received...

To be honest, it's not all about me, it's all about the team. The guys put me in that situation. So, a big shout out to Daniel [Salloi] for the assist, Thommy too, really everyone. Everybody was fighting on the field. The standing ovation is not just for me, it's for all the boys. It's amazing. For me, the important thing is the three points, and the team first always. It's more fun when you go back home with the goal. I'm so excited. Amazing fans. I feel the love and I hope we keep putting smiles on the faces of the fans all the time like this.

Sporting KC forward Daniel Salloi

On how it felt to score in second half stoppage time...

Great, great. I haven't scored in a while and this feels great. I think the team deserved this win. We've had many games when we played well, but the momentum didn't go our way. I think this game was one of those where we were so strong in the first half and finished our chances. We even missed a penalty. I think this is a great win for our team.

His thoughts on Willy Agada's celebration...

Amazing. I want to hear Peter's thoughts on that because I did not believe what I just saw. It was great, honestly. I love his animation. I haven't (thought about kissing Peter after a goal), but maybe something's wrong with me.

On the play of Willy Agada and Erik Thommy...

Agada and Thommy are great players and great additions to the team. I'm glad they both scored their first goals today and I hope they score many more. I wish they would have joined our team earlier this season.

On the playmaking abilities of Erik Thommy...

He's definitely bringing that technical ability. He has great shooting technique and passing. He's a great player overall and we enjoy playing with him so far. I think it's good that we have players in the middle who can help us attack and get from defense to offense, because if we just go to the width then teams can easily pick up our motion. I think adding Thommy and adding Agada can help us create that middle danger as well for other teams. So far it's been working. I hope it just gets more and more comfortable because it's not easy to come into this league and do well from the first second. I'm glad they have already scored their first goals. Some players come to this league and they only score the next year. It's not easy.

On his goal...

I always try to go for these balls. I think obviously defenders many times make that mistake and I have to be aware and try to steal it. That's what I did. I have long legs for a reason so I just toe-poked it in. I'm happy. I was telling these guys t training that I need some lucky goal in a way to start me again. Hopefully this is it.

On the crowd's support...

It's amazing and we're very thankful for everybody who's showing up and supporting us because, look, it's a tough year and we understand that fans are angry. I can say one thing, we are angrier. If it annoys somebody more than the fans, than it's us players. We're fighting. We are there every weekend and we're putting everything out there. We appreciate everybody who comes out and supports us. We're trying to not let them let them down and get more and more wins. This is MLS. Anything can happen. We're still pushing

Referee Michael Radchuk (via MLS Pool Reporter)

On what was under review in the 40th minute...

The review was under the goal protocol as the ball had entered the net but the on-field decision was no-goal.

On whether an angle was available to determine if the ball had crossed the line...

The VAR had determined that a clear and obvious error was made in the non-awarding of a goal. A review was recommended, and the referee made the final decision to award the goal.

On the decision that Roger Espinoza was onside in the buildup to the goal...

Prior to the review for the non-awarding of a goal, the VAR needed to check the build-up to the goal, which included a possible offside decision involving Roger Espinoza. When checking this play, the VAR concluded that the on-field decision of Not-offside was not clearly wrong.

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