Sporting Kansas City stunned Orlando City 3-0 in their return to Major League Soccer play Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park.
The hosts once again wore throwback Wizards jerseys and performed their own magic right before the half, as Jacob Davis connected on a pass from Stephen Afrifa to put Sporting on the board. Sporting’s second goal came in the 52nd minute, when Davis joined Erik Thommy to set up Daniel Sallói. Despite SKC losing Willie Agada to a second yellow card in the 70th minute, Orlando could not capitalize, instead conceding a late goal to Remi Walter to send the Sporting faithful home happy.
Sporting remain 12th in the Western Conference, seven points shy of playoff position with seven games remaining in the regular season. SKC won’t have much time to rest on their laurels, as they’ll host Indy Eleven in the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
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St Louis City SC were unable to hold onto a two-goal lead twice, settling for a 4-4 draw against the Portland Timbers on Saturday night at Providence Park in Oregon.
Simon Becher headed in his first goal for St Louis in the 11th minute from a corner kick delivered by Marcel Hartel in the 11th minute, and City would make the lead 2-0 after Eduard Löwen converted a penalty kick in the 34th minute. Portland got on the board three minutes later, but City responded with a right-footed shot just before halftime from Cedric Teuchert. The second half saw Felipe Mora score twice for Portland, doing so in the 57th and 64th minutes, which book-ended Nökkvi Thórisson’s goal in the 58th minute. City dealt with several late shots from Portland, even as the Timbers lost their forward to a red card, but Evander’s free kick shot found the back of the net late in stoppage time to reward Portland’s persistence with a draw and point.
St Louis remain second-to-last in the Western Conference on 24 points, with eight games remaining on their schedule. City will host the LA Galaxy on September 1st at 1:45 p.m.
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The Kansas City Current return to NWSL action Sunday morning with a trip to the Washington Spirit. The game from Audi Field kicks off at 11 a.m.
The Current sit second in the NWSL with 35 points and a game in hand, following the Orlando Pride’s 1-0 win last night at Houston.