Sporting Kansas City’s midweek loss to Nashville was a gut-punch (in multiple ways)

After the highs of a late road win against Minnesota over the weekend, Sporting KC came out flat against Nashville SC and never looked close to scoring. Nashville on the other hand, put three goals in, including two from set pieces, while controlling most of a 3-0 road victory at Children’s Mercy Park.

“I don’t think they created many chances other than the set pieces,” Sporting manager Peter Vermes said after the match. “And that’s where they killed us.”

Sporting’s flat start was especially notable considering the playing styles of the teams participating in Wednesday’s match.

Nashville is known for being willing to sit deeper and defend while looking for opportunities to counter-attack. But through 20 minutes, the visitors had more possession than Sporting did and looked in complete control of the game.

“They had a lot more energy,” Vermes said. “We looked tired, we looked slow.”

Vermes said the game against Minnesota had taken more out of his team physically than he originally thought.

“I wouldn’t have figured that to be the case yesterday,” Vermes said. “No chance.”

Nashville’s Fafà Picault scored the match’s first goal with a towering header off a corner kick. Nobody picked up his late run to the back post.

Leading up to that goal, Sporting and Nashville players jostled for position in the box. Nashville midfielder Anibal Godoy appeared to bump Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia just as the ball was kicked.

Melia said he wished he would’ve made an adjustment to the team’s marking scheme earlier, instead of waiting until halftime.

“We needed to get our guys in better zones to allow us to be able to attack the ball versus trying to block people away from me,” Melia said. “It’s not something we traditionally do, so that’s on me.”

Vermes tried to make a change for the second half, bringing on Gadi Kinda, to help the team avoid looking “stale,” something Melia said Vermes told the team at halftime. But it didn’t really help the overall performance.

Nashville added a second goal around the 67th minute. The Sporting KC back line attempted to step up to pull several Nashville players offside, but U.S. Men’s National Team center-back Walker Zimmerman made a late run from an onside position and received a long pass from goalkeeper Joe Willis.

Zimmerman had acres of space and multiple teammates to choose from. He picked out the reigning MLS MVP, Hany Mukhtar, who ripped a shot past Melia from a tight angle.

Jack Maher added Nashville’s third goal, which, like the first, came off a set piece.

“We need to be better and stronger in those situations, especially against a team that we know (set pieces) is what they use,” Sporting’s Andreu Fontás said.

With the loss, Sporting (9-13-8) moves into 11th place with 35 points. Taking care of home matches was a key for them during their final stretch of the season, according to Fontas.

“Obviously, today was a very important one,” Fontas said. “And we failed.”

The match also guaranteed Sporting KC would be at least three points back of the playoff line (with potential for more) by the end of the night.

Sporting KC will face a red-hot Houston Dynamo team at home on Saturday. That match is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Children’s Mercy Park.

This story was originally published September 20, 2023 at 9:57 PM.