Sporting KC advances to the knockout stage of the Leagues Cup. Here’s how they did it

With Alan Pulido suspended for Sporting KC’s marquee matchup against his former team, his current club was able to knock off Chivas Guadalajara 1-0, thanks to a goal from captain Johnny Russell.

Sporting KC was the dominant team through the first 45 minutes. Sporting maintained over 70% of the possession and, for the final 15 minutes, Chivas barely ventured into the attacking half.

“As much as we have to be very respectful of our opponent, we always have to try to play our game,” Sporting manager Peter Vermes said. “Our team has always been a possession-oriented team.”

For that, there wasn’t much for a largely pro-Chivas crowd in Kansas City to cheer for — save for the moments when the crowd entertained itself with “the wave.”

After the match, Chivas manager Veljko Paunovic gave a candid assessment of how the first half unfolded.

“In the first half, they absolutely dominated,” Paunovic said. “And we sucked.”

Sporting could’ve been up early in the match, but a chance created by Gadi Kinda and Russell was stonewalled by Chivas goalkeeper Jose Rangel. But Sporting wouldn’t be denied, and Russell finally put the home team ahead.

In the 27th minute, Kinda scanned across the Chivas back line, seeing a numbers advantage in the box. Kinda’s cross came in, leading to an Erik Thommy bicycle-kick attempt that deflected the ball right to Russell.

Russell slammed a left-footed shot into the net for a 1-0 lead. Typically, Russell spends most of his time on the right. But a move to the left side for the last two games presented him with a few different looks.

“I would rather come in from the other side, (so) when I cut in on my left foot, I’ve got the whole goal,” Russell said. “But I managed to connect really well with it.”

Chivas never really responded in the half and, for that matter, the rest of the match. Sporting KC confidently saw out the result down the stretch to avoid another instance of letting points slip away.

One of the ways Sporting maintained control of the match was by, well, maintaining control of the ball and working relentlessly to win it back after a change in possession.

In turn, Chivas never established major stretches of possession or built the attacking momentum necessary to break through.

“When we lost the ball, we just wanted to get the ball back very fast,” said Sporting midfielder Remi Walter. “We put them under pressure, and they can do nothing, so they lost the ball again.”

Without Pulido, Sporting turned to Thommy at striker.

Thommy, naturally a winger or attacking midfielder, played more of a “false-nine” role as the striker, using his movement to drop deep and pull Chivas defenders out of position and open up gaps for others to run into.

“Thommy played excellent in the way that he played the position, because he was a very good reference point as a number nine who came underneath,” Vermes said.

With the win, Sporting KC totaled four group-stage points to finish second in the Leagues Cup group. The club will face Toluca in a rematch of the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16, which Sporting won 5-0 on aggregate.

That match will kick off from Children’s Mercy Park on Friday, August 4, at 8 p.m.

This story was originally published July 31, 2023 at 11:27 PM.