Sporting KC scores twice via headers, beats Chicago Fire in Leagues Cup showdown

Willy Agada’s diving header in the 75th minute led Sporting Kansas City to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire in a Sunday night Leagues Cup soccer match at Children’s Mercy Park.

The final score doesn’t reflect Sporting KC’s attacking dominance in this one. And with some better finishing, it wouldn’t have been that close: Two shots hit the crossbar as the hosts took 18 shots in all, putting six on target.

“I thought we had the better of the actions to goal, the better chances,” said Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes. “We got the three points and that was very important, especially the way the groups are in (the Leagues Cup format).”

The Fire scored first on a powerful volley by Georgios Koutsias. His goal was made possible by a perfectly weighted pass over the head of Sporting KC defender Robert Castellanos.

Castellanos made up for that by scoring the equalizer in the 39th minute. Remi Walter took a free kick from near the corner flag, and Castellanos headed the ball into the net to make it 1-1.

Both Castellanos and Vermes said they had talked about having something to target on set pieces. They did, and it worked. Castellanos even helped open up more space for himself with some instructions for teammate Agada.

“Prior to that one, me and Willy were in the same spot,” Castellanos said. “I just told Willy, ‘Dude, they know you’re going the second post; just move a little bit, pull the player (away), and whoever is marking me is not gonna get there.’ It worked out exactly how we talked about it.”

Sporting KC turned up the pressure in the second half, taking eight shots and two corners in the final 45 minutes. It took the hosts 30 minutes to find the winner, but when it arrived, it came in style.

Sporting KC had possession on the left flank as the clock ticked into the 75th minute. Erik Thommy switched the ball from the left to the right side and found Stephen Afrifa, who whipped in an early cross.

Agada met the cross in midair, diving like Superman to head it into the top corner. He was quick to credit Afrifa for hitting the cross as perfectly as he did.

“Shout to the boys, especially Afrifa, with the cross,” Agada said. “Sweet cross, and the only option I have there is to (dive) for that ball.”

Agada has now scored 20 goals in 20 matches at Children’s Mercy Park. Sunday’s winner was his sixth goal in his last six matches.

He credited his teammates for his recent form.

“At the end of the day, you have to be a little bit selfish as strikers,” Agada said. “But we try to play with each other, so that’s why we try to create opportunities around the box. Shout-out to the boys … we’re just trying to play for the team.”

Chicago hardly threatened Sporting KC’s net over the final 15 minutes Sunday night.

The win places Sporting KC atop its Leagues Cup group with three points. Each group is comprised of three teams, and the top two advance to the tournament’s knockout stage.

Sporting KC will next face Toluca of Mexico on Monday, Aug. 5 at Children’s Mercy Park. It’s likely that match, scheduled for 8 p.m., will decide first place in the group.

Toluca will have played Chicago by then (they meet Thursday night) ... so Sporting will probably know before match time next Monday whether a knockout stage is in the offing.

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

This story was originally published July 28, 2024 at 10:04 PM.