Sporting KC is suddenly scoring goals in bunches. Here’s why that hasn’t been enough

For the second game in a row last weekend, Sporting KC scored three goals in a single half of a Major League Soccer match.

But also for the second week in a row, Sporting surrendered late goals to the opponent via the same old mistakes they’ve been making all season long.

If you put together the first halves from their last two matches, Sporting outscored its opponents 7-1. In the second half, however, KC (6-15-5) has been outscored 5-1.

The good news? At least Sporting is scoring now. And newcomers Erik Thommy and William Agada have everything to do with that, according to Sporting KC manger Peter Vermes.

“It’s the same two additions that we kind of missed out of the team,” Vermes said. “When you have another guy in the midfield that has an attacking mind, you have another guy up front that is direct in his pursuit to go score, what happens is that now the other team can’t just concentrate on Johnny (Russell) and Daniel (Salloi).

“So now, all of a sudden it opens other things up and now (opponents) have to play differently.”

Agada and Thommy have been directly involved in four of Sporting’s last seven goals. But Thommy did not get an assist for taking the free kick that was too hot to handle, leading to Andreu Fontas’ rebound goal at Austin last week, nor does he get one for being the player fouled to produce Russell’s penalty kick.

With those contributions included, that’s six of Sporting’s last seven goals in which the duo has had a hand as Sporting gets set to host the Portland Timbers at Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday.

So what’s been the difference between Sporting’s recent first and second halves? Fontas, Russell and Vermes indicated that it has to do with a simple loss of control.

“Just go and play,” Vermes said. “There’s no reason for us to sit back. We didn’t have to sit back, but we didn’t also have to stretch ourselves out.”

“We had to be a little bit more brave,” Fontas said. “Win the ball, keep the ball, get some long possession. I think we had one counterattack that really had a good chance to score for 4-1. Probably everything would change, but it didn’t.”

The opponents’ recent second-half goals, meanwhile, have followed a familiar pattern.

“It’s frustrating because it’s almost never the first ball,” Fontás said. “It’s always like the second or third rebound.

“We obviously have to be more focused, more concentrated on those aspects, knowing that the ball is coming back in, and be ready for every ball. Not just the first one that we’re dealing (with) pretty good.”

So now the Timbers (7-7-12) and Sporting KC play at 6:55 p.m. Sunday. Their last meeting, you might recall, was an absolute beatdown in Portland, where Sporting lost 7-2.

“We’re not looking at that game,” Sporting veteran Roger Espinoza said. “They still want to make the playoffs and so do we.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2022 at 1:22 PM with the headline "Sporting KC is suddenly scoring goals in bunches. Here’s why that hasn’t been enough."