Sporting Kansas City crushes Orlando City ... even after red card to Willy Agada

It took only moments for Sporting Kansas City to send its first warning shot at Orlando City.

Following the kickoff of Saturday night’s match at Children’s Mercy Park, Erik Thommy ripped a shot just over the bar from the halfway line. What followed was a relentless attack in Sporting KC’s return to MLS play for the first time since July 20.

“There was a great fight from the team from the opening whistle,” manager Peter Vermes said. “We take the shot from the kickoff, which right away we go and press high. All of that was part of the intensity.”

Sporting earned a 3-0 win over Orlando City SC, possibly showing a hint of life as the stretch run of the MLS regular season gets underway.

One aspect of the intensity came from the defensive midfield duo of Jake Davis and Zorhan Bassong, the latter of whom was a surprise inclusion in that pairing.

Bassong played defensive midfield during a brief stint in Romania before joining Sporting KC and eventually moving to left back.

“It’s funny to see two outside backs playing together in the midfield,” Bassong said, acknowledging Davis’s original breakout with the team at right back.

Together, they put out plenty of fires, keeping Orlando’s counterattack from ever getting out of first gear. Vermes credited their work ethic for laying the foundation for the rest of the team’s performance.

“They were workhorses,” Vermes said. “And because they’re doing what they do, it helps everybody in the game.”

And it was one of those two who finally opened things up on the scoreboard.

Davis opened the scoring just before halftime. He picked up a loose ball at the top of the penalty area and dribbled past multiple Orlando City players before firing a left-footed shot into the top corner.

Daniel Salloi doubled the lead on the other side of halftime thanks to an effective counterattack jump-started by his clearance in the defensive penalty area. Salloi intercepted a cross and cleared it to Davis, who took the ball the length of the field.

Salloi made a lung-bursting run to get upfield. Davis played a pass to Thommy, who laid it off for Salloi; he fired a shot past goalkeeper Pedro Gallese for his 100th career goal contribution with Sporting (60 goals, 40 assists).

“As I cleared the ball, I just took off and started sprinting, and I was hoping the ball would find me,” Salloi said. “And as soon as Jake played that ball, I was screaming Erik’s name. He even looked back and saw me and set me up.”

It looked like Sporting would simply cruise to victory, but Willy Agada’s red card in the 70th minute made things a little more complicated. His foul on Facundo Torres was initially deemed a second yellow card, but it was upgraded to a straight red for serious foul play by head referee Tim Ford after video review.

“In those moments, you sort of get galvanized,” Vermes said. “You become upset that your guy got thrown out, and now all of a sudden you want to prove to the ref and everybody else that, ‘You’re not going to break us.’”

Sure enough, Sporting KC’s back line held on down a man, even through 12 minutes of stoppage time.

And Sporting even added to its lead.

In the 92nd minute, Alan Pulido chased down a ball to the end line and sent a pass back into the wide-open space in the midfield. Remi Walter, who came on as a second-half substitute, had plenty of time to set up a shot on his favored left foot. He found the top corner to make it 3-0.

“I think the team has grit,” Salloi said of the 10-man performance. “We fight for each other.”

Sporting KC has a quick turnaround, returning to action on Tuesday night for a high-stakes U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Indy Eleven of the USL Championship. That match kicks off at Children’s Mercy Park at 7 p.m.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published August 24, 2024 at 10:03 PM.