Sporting Ties St. Louis 3-3
April 21, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
In a hotly contested battle between bitter Western Conference rivals, Sporting Kansas City (2-2-5, 11 points) and St. Louis City SC (2-1-6, 12 points) battled to a wild 3-3 draw on Saturday night at electric Children's Mercy Park.
Alan Pulido gave Sporting the early lead on a majestic team goal before St. Louis responded to take a 2-1 halftime advantage. An own goal forced by Daniel Salloi drew Sporting level in the 65th minute and Erik Thommy fired Sporting ahead once more on 77 minutes, but the visitors restored parity on the stroke of full time through Tomas Totland to split the points in a heavyweight clash that delivered one haymaker after another.
A sold-out crowd of 19,637 provided an atmosphere worthy of what has quickly become a must-see MLS fixture and one of the league's fiercest rivalries. The attacking deluge on Saturday-which treated fans to a rematch of the 2023 playoff series in which Sporting swept top-seeded St. Louis-saw Manager Peter Vermes' side bag multiple goals for the sixth straight match, marking the first time that Kansas City has accomplished that feat since its inaugural 1996 season.
With a three-game homestand in the rearview mirror, Sporting will hit the road next Saturday, April 27, to face another Midwestern counterpart in Minnesota United FC. Kickoff at Allianz Field is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Wielding an unchanged lineup from last weekend's historic contest against Inter Miami CF at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Sporting was part of yet another end-to-end encounter that dripped with intensity. After St. Louis had a flurry of early half-chances go begging, the hosts drew first blood on a wonderfully worked goal in the 17th minute.
Just as he did last weekend versus Miami, left back Tim Leibold ignited the breakthrough with an assertive interception at midfield before pinging the ball forward to Pulido. From there, the Mexican played a delectable give-and-go with Willy Agada on the edge of the box before sweeping a superb finish into the far corner past St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Burki. Pulido now has three goals and three assists in six MLS appearances against St. Louis dating back to 2023 and has become the third-fastest player in Sporting history to hit 30 regular season goals for the club, doing so in 69 matches.
St. Louis responded in impressive fashion, peppering the Sporting goal and almost landing a counterpunch in the 28th minute when center back Tim Parker's header off a set piece delivery was saved brilliantly by the sprawling Tim Melia. Imposing forward Joao Klauss was next to threaten in the 30th minute, embarking on a mazy run into the area only for Jake Davis to produce a heroic, goal-saving slide tackle near the penalty spot.
Sporting's Missouri neighbors got their opening goal a mere 60 seconds later. After Leibold was barged off the ball by Chris Durkin, Rasmus Alm swung in a low cross that Klauss slotted home inside the near post for his third goal of the campaign. The striker's bid for a brace was thwarted shortly thereafter when his glancing header was palmed away by the outstretched Melia.
St. Louis' first-half physicality yielded another goal on the stroke of intermission. Klauss won possession with a firm challenge 40 yards from goal and played the ball into the left channel for Celio Pompeu, who cut centrally and curled an excellent strike into the top corner for his third goal of the year and his second in as many visits to Children's Mercy Park.
Boasting an increased level of their own bravado after the break, Sporting made it 2-2 with 25 minutes remaining. Ten minutes after entering the game as an impact substitute, captain Johnny Russell served a free kick from the right wing to the opposite side of the box. Salloi settled the ball off an attempted headed clearance from Klauss and lofted a hopeful chip toward the back post from a tight angle. A leaping Burki got his mitts to the ball but inadvertently helped guide it over the goal line to ignite fervent celebrations inside Children's Mercy Park.
Brimming with momentum, Sporting built a 3-2 cushion in the 77th minute. With St. Louis committing numbers forward, center back Andreu Fontas drove a line-breaking ball in behind for Thommy, who timed his attacking run brilliantly and raced through on goal with only Burki to beat. The in-form German did precisely that with a lethal finish into the top right corner for his team-leading fourth goal of the campaign and his third in the last two matches. Fontas, making his 131st appearance for the club in all competitions, tallied his first primary assist for the club on the play.
Unfortunately for Sporting, the final plot twist of a swashbuckling barnburner fell in favor of St. Louis with 92 minutes on the clock. Following a skirmish at midfield, the ball spayed wide right to Totland, the City SC right back who took a touch past his marker and dragged a low shot across Melia and into the left corner for his first MLS goal. The 3-3 scoreline would hold to the full-time whistle, drawing an end to the frantic affair.
QUOTES
Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match...
It's good to score first. That part was good. They scored their two. We come out in a very good way in the second half to get ourselves in a great position. We climbed back in to the game, which is great, and obviously they get the goal at the end. I think it was entertaining. I think it was interesting from different perspectives, I guess. I think it was, again, good to get the first goal and good for us to climb back and be in a good position. I think the guys fought. I think the guys made some very good opportunities and they also had to fight through some other stuff that, unfortunately, it wasn't seen maybe the way that we thought. But we had to keep fighting for that as well so we had to fight against more than just St. Louis. We had to fight through other things as well and the guys did a good job of that. I give them a lot of credit.
On dropping points at home...
I think you guys are all focused on that. Maybe you missed the game because when you watch games like this, they're entertaining. Do we want to be on that side of it? No, but it's the same thing when we go away and we play at Toronto and we scored three goals. It happens. Right now we've played quite a few games at home and that's a situation that occurred. I think we're getting better at it and I think we'll continue to do that over the course of the season. You guys are worried about it. I'm not.
On the physicality of the match...
We always know what's going to happen, but there's also an impartial party that has to also make decisions. Unfortunately, those decisions weren't our way so we had to fight against that as well. I think our guys did a really good job of it.
On how to handle the decisions...
You have got to stop talking to the ref and you have just got to run through guys. I mean, if they're going to run through you then you run through them. It's really simple. It's not a hard recipe if he wants to let it go. The only thing is that I just wish that then he would let it go. If they're doing it and we do it, then you should let it go. You should be very consistent with that piece of it.
On Johnny Russell entering the match...
I wanted to get (Erik) Thommy inside into the middle. I thought that we needed a little bit more energy in there. I wanted to hold up the ball a little differently with Alan (Pulido) playing higher and Thommy can run off of him. It was more of just that.
On St. Louis' runs off the ball in the first half...
They had some balls that, I wouldn't say were in behind, they were just playing very direct. So we just needed to make sure that we had good cover when anybody went up for a head ball.
On the rivalry...
I think both teams want to win so the games are intense, which is good. I think it's good for both clubs. I think it's good for our league and I'm sure that will continue as the rest of the season goes on and in years to come.
Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell
Thoughts on the match...
Frustration again. It's the same old story of recent games, especially the home games. We have dropped way too many points from winning positions. It's the same answers in the last few weeks as well. It's not good enough. You can't continue to get yourself in winning positions and continue to drop points when you've got the lead. Just overall disappointing.
On the team's response in the second half...
Obviously, that was the way the game was going. We want to play one way. They wanted to play another. They were out matching us in that department in the first half. So we spoke at halftime and said we have to match it. It was clear the way the game was being allowed to play. That was going to be allowed so we had to come out in the second half and we had to match them and their intensity, their physicality. I thought we did that. We showed great spirit that I know we've got to get back in the game. But then, we're back in the same position. Another game that we should have three points. We should be one of the top teams in this league with the positions we've been in this year and we're just hanging around that playoff line. I know it's a long season, but at some point we have to learn a lesson when it's happened four or five times now.
On if he's experienced a run like this...
Last year wasn't exactly fun. I take this over last year because we're playing well. We're scoring goals, but we're also switching off and conceding goals which is not a good sign. The performances are there. That's probably the most frustrating part. We're playing well. We're getting into the lead and we just continue to give those leads away. We continue to give points away. We had three games at home that we were looking to obviously take maximum points and we've taken two. For what we want to do this year, what we spoke about what we want to do, then you're not going to accomplish that by dropping points. So we have to fix it. There's no point in continuing to say we have to fix it. We know what we have to do. It's up to us as players that are on that field. We have to be so solid and so switched on when we take the lead in games because everything we've worked for -- all the play, all the effort we put in -- we ruin it for ourselves. Take away a few of the goals we've conceded, we're causing them ourselves. And that's the most frustrating part.
On his message to the team after the Portland match...
Very similar to what I'm saying here -- just the frustration of being in winning positions and giving up points. We want to be successful. I want to be successful. I want all the guys here to be successful. And I believe we've got the team to do that. No point in saying it, even believing it, if we're not going to go out there and show it. Ninety-five percent of the game we show what we're about and then just moments of just madness from us. We just continue to shoot ourselves in the foot. It's so, so frustrating when you see the effort the guys put in and when you see the play that they put in to then look around the locker room after the game and you see the dejected faces. So we have to lift the spirits. We've got a tough couple of away games coming up now. We have to rally ourselves and we're going to have to go in there and we're going to have to be strong in those places because if you're not then you could suffer pretty heavy defeats.
On the lessons learned from last year...
We don't want to be chasing. We were chasing all last year. We were never in a comfortable position. We were constantly chasing after something. Whereas this year we should be so comfortable as one of the top teams for the performances and the leads we've taken in games. It's not just one-goal leads at times. You know what I mean? It's two, three goals at times. In those moments, we just look weak. There's no other way to put it. As a team, we lose something when something goes against us. We're not responding well right now. And that's up to us as players and me as a captain as a leader to figure out how that changes. It has to change quick as well.
Sporting KC midfielder Erik Thommy
Thoughts on the match...
It's really frustrating because I think we have given up a lot of points after we are one, two, three goals in front. That's something we have to change quickly because otherwise we cannot collect the points we need.
On the late equalizer...
I haven't seen the goal yet. It's too short after a game. I'm sorry I cannot explain it. I have to take a look again. It's of course frustrating because we gave everything today, especially in the second half. We turned the game. We did a great job, in my opinion, and gave up a goal in the last second.
On the team's comeback from 2-1 down...
We changed a little bit of the game in the second half to control more the game with more possession. That's the game we want to play at home. The result of everything is that we create more chances and get closer to the goal. Then at the end, we just have to finish it.
On dropping points...
If it was always so easy, we would change it. I cannot explain it now because I think everyone here gave everything today, 100%. But it's always about details and something missed today again. We have to change it as quick as possible.
On the details...
It's difficult to explain after a game like that. In the past, we gave up a lot of set piece goals. We changed that today. We defended really good on set pieces. That was a goal. I would say we lost the game in our own half and they went quickly to goal. You have to take a look again, but we have to be more focused. We need the will to win games and to close the games. That's what we need in the future.
On the physicality...
It was an intense game on both sides. In the second half, we had to change that. We did the same as Saint Louis in the first half and we turned around the game. That's why. But first off, obviously it was not a pretty game to watch.
On his goal...
We talked about it previously, but I was waiting for the ball in the space and sometimes that's the ball we need. I made the run and scored. It was a great ball off (Andreu) Fontas. In the first half, we didn't do that. We played always in front of their lines. That ball was behind their line so that's what we needed at that moment.
On his run of form...
It's not about me, it's about the team. I want to help the team every time, but at the end I'm frustrated that we didn't get the three points we deserved.
• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...
Major League Soccer Stories from April 21, 2024
- Quakes' Furious Second-Half Comeback Falls Just Short In 100th California Clásico - San Jose Earthquakes
- Minnesota United Dominates in 3-0 Win at Charlotte FC - Minnesota United FC
- The Full Time Clip: Charlotte FC Lose at Home for the First Time in 2024 - Charlotte FC
- LA Galaxy Play Host to San Jose Earthquakes in 100th Edition of Cali Clásico at Dignity Health Sports Park Tonight, Sunday, April 21 - LA Galaxy
- FC Cincinnati Earn a Challenging Road Win and Snap Losing Skid by Prioritizing Performance and Playing with Joy - FC Cincinnati
- Moments of Matchday 10 - MLS
- Real Salt Lake Ride Dominant First Half En Route to 4-0 Road Victory at Chicago - Real Salt Lake
- Seattle Sounders FC 0Blanked by Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 2-0 - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- Rapids Remain Unbeaten in Four Games, Beat FC Dallas 2-1 at Home - Colorado Rapids
- Bouanga Scores Twice to Help LAFC Earn 2-2 Home Draw with New York - Los Angeles FC
- Seattle Drops 2-0 Home Result to Vancouver Whitecaps FC - Seattle Sounders FC
- St. Louis CITY SC Earn a Point on the Road Against Sporting KC - St. Louis City SC
- FC Dallas' Comeback Attempt Falls Short in 2-1 Defeat to Colorado Rapids - FC Dallas
- Sporting Ties St. Louis 3-3 - Sporting Kansas City
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.
