Sporting KC Falls 2-0 to LAFC

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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Falls 2-0 to LAFC

March 22, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (0-4-1, 1 point) fell 2-0 to LAFC (3-2-0, 9 points) on Saturday night at Children's Mercy Park. The visitors struck on both sides of halftime through David Martinez and Aaron Long to keep Sporting winless in 2025 and extend LAFC's unbeaten run to nine matches in the head-to-head series.

In his milestone 700th match with Kansas City as a player or a coach, Manager Peter Vermes made two changes to the Sporting lineup from last weekend's 3-3 home draw against Minnesota United FC. Rookie Jansen Miller earned his first professional start, replacing the injured Joaquin Fernandez in central defense, while Memo Rodriguez slotted into the midfield with Zorhan Bassong away on international duty with Canada. Further up the field, captain Erik Thommy notably made his 100th appearance for Sporting in all competitions, having debuted against LAFC in July 2022 and scored in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final versus the same opponent last September.

LAFC opened the scoring on 18 minutes, surging ahead on a well-taken strike from Martinez. Shortly after Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp had produced a superb save to deny Ryan Hollingshead on the doorstep, LAFC's 19-year-old winger received a diagonal pass from Mark Delgado and lashed a left-footed strike high inside the near post for his second goal of the campaign.

Not long later, LAFC was denied by the woodwork as Turkish forward Cengiz Under latched onto a low cross and sent his first-time effort onto the the crossbar. Sporting then responded with a pair of looks before halftime, the first of which saw Thommy's turf-trimmer saved from the top of the box. Shortly thereafter, forward Dejan Jovejlic ran onto Miller's searching long ball into the penalty area and cushioned a header to fellow Designated Player Manu Garcia, who forced an impressive save from LAFC's World Cup-winning goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Sporting went 2-0 behind in the 54th minute. Pulskamp made another brilliant stop on a Hollingshead header from a set piece, but Long was on hand to steer home the rebound for his fifth goal contribution in his last five matches as a visting player inside Children's Mercy Park.

The hosts were awarded a penalty kick in the 70th minute when Shapi Suleymanov appeared to be fouled by Martinez on his wind-up for a shot attempt on the right edge of the box. However, VAR intervened and referee Ismir Pekmic deemed that Martinez won the ball cleanly, thus overturning his penalty decision. Two minutes later, Sporting forward Mason Toye replaced Suleymanov for his club debut, having arrived as a free agent acquisition in Janaury.

Sporting's frustrating night offered one last bitter blow in second-half stoppage time when Memo Rodriguez's thumping free kick beat LAFC's four-man wall only to be cast aside by the leaping Lloris.

Vermes' men will travel to face FC Dallas next Saturday, March 29, in a 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff at Toyota Stadium. The Western Conference clash will be shown live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On the team's possession...

I actually think that the easy way for me to say it is they were better than us. They were better than us through the run of play. They moved the ball very well, especially right up the middle. They were very good against us. We had the ball a lot, but I don't think we were dangerous enough with it for the final pass or at the final challenge. We had some good service in the box, but the runs weren't there at times or they were but the ball wasn't there at the same time. I just think overall they were better than us.

On LAFC...

They were good. Their movement off the ball and their willingness to play one touch and have support on every ball that they played was very good. I'm going to be honest. If you take the games that we played in MLS -- I'm not talking about the two other games we played (in Concacaf Champions Cup) -- but this was the game where I think this team, they were better than us tonight. The other games, we were in those games, but this team was better.

On the winless run...

If you look at the other games we played, I think in every one of those games easily we could have gotten results in different ways. But tonight was a difficult one for us. We didn't break them down. But I also think that they played, like I said, through the middle really, really well.

On LAFC's absences...

So are we. I don't know how to answer that. Everyone right now is playing with players that are missing. That's really not the focus from our perspective. I think more it's that they played well.

On the team's progress...

We have got to win. I mean, we have got to win. I don't know what else to tell you. We have got to win.

On finding positives...

There are a lot of things that have been going very well. Tonight, we played a really good team and they played through us. Like I said, if you look at the games that we played up until this point, I think in all the other ones we were in very good positions in each one of those games in the way that we played to get results. Tonight, I don't think that we had that. Over those games, that's the assessment that I have.

On Jansen Miller's first start...

I think he's a bright spot. I really do. I think he played really well. He's got very good instincts in the game and in the position. He's a battler and very good in the air. I think he did himself proud today. I think he was a really bright spot in the game.

On getting ready for FC Dallas...

You have to be very good defensively. As opposed to the last game, we have to be much more crafty and deceptive in and around the box. We just need more urgency in and around the box for chances. We're always kind of right there, but the final pass or our timing is off. We're hitting the ball behind the guy instead of in front of him or we're just a step late. There has to just be more urgency in that area of the field.

On creating more chances...

Some of it's confidence. You have got to get some rewards for what you're doing. You have got to feel good about what it is that you do because then all of a sudden you're not thinking and it's a little more instinctive. It's coming natural as opposed to forcing it. When you think sometimes, you're a little too late. That's the difficulty when you're not getting results, always.

On replacing Dejan Joveljic and Erik Thommy...

At the time, we just weren't getting in there. And I think it's an opportunity maybe to see if some other guys can open that up.

Sporting Kansas City defender Jansen Miller

On how he feels after his first pro start...

I'm not too happy. I know it was my first start, but it doesn't really mean much to me unless we win.

On takeaways from the game...

What I learned from the game is just little nuances and little things you have to do that you don't get away with in this level. You always have to be alert. You can't take a second off. The first goal happened just like that - bang, bang. It was different out there, but I feel like first half versus second half, I really settled in the second half. I felt good.

On his playing style...

I just like to play instinctual when I'm out there. Not that I don't like to think, but I just kind of play it as I see it and I feel like that's when I'm playing my best is when I'm just making plays.

On LAFC...

Their attack is very talented and they're all left footed, which you don't see a lot. I just thought that's pretty interesting. Defending a lefty versus a righty is different. Your body shape and orientation is different. You can see they're very young, talented players and we weren't up to speed with them on the night.

On the team's progress...

I know it's hard to believe, but I do. The amount of times we were in their box and it was just the final touch we barely missed. I remember four or five that it was off by this much and that could be the difference in the game. It's not like we are in our half just getting destroyed. We have the ball a lot. Obviously that doesn't mean a ton, but I think we're penetrating and it's just that final thing. It's still five games into a 34 game season. I would be a lot more worried if we were getting dominated, which I don't feel that way out there.

Attendance: 15,263

Weather: 60 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Jake Davis (Khiry Shelton 86'), Jansen Miller, Robert Voloder, Logan Ndenbe (Tim Leibold 87'); Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodriguez, Manu Garcia; Shapi Suleymanov (Mason Toye 72'), Dejan Joveljic (William Agada 66'), Erik Thommy (C) (Daniel Salloi 66')

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Jacob Bartlett, Stephen Afrifa

LAFC: Hugo Lloris; Sergi Palencia, Eddie Segura, Aaron Long (C), Ryan Hollingshead (Artem Smoliakov 90+5'); Mark Delgado (Nkosi Tafari 87'), Igor Jesus, Timothy Tillman; Cengiz Under (Yaw Yeboah 75'), Nathan Ordaz (Odin Holm 87'), David Martinez (Adrian Wibowo 75')

Subs Not Used: Thomas Hasal, Maxime Chanot, Adam Saldana, Jeremy Ebobisse

Scoring Summary:

LAFC -- David Martinez 2 (Mark Delgado 1) 18'

LAFC -- Aaron Long 1 (unassisted) 54'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC -- Logan Ndenbe (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 11'

SKC -- Memo Rodriguez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 24'

LAFC -- Sergi Palencia (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 60'

SKC -- Nemanja Radoja (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 65'

LAFC -- Yaw Yeboah (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90+3' STATSKCLAFC Shots118 Shots on Goal24 Saves22 Fouls1412 Offsides03 Corner Kicks111

Referee: Ismir Pekmic Assistant Referee: Cameron Blanchard Assistant Referee: Logan Brown Fourth Official: Alexis Da Silva VAR: Kevin Terry Jr. AVAR: Fabio Tovar

-- SportingKC.com --

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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.

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