Sporting KC knows its Round of 32 opponent in Leagues Cup following loss to Toluca

Sporting KC stumbled in its final Leagues Cup group stage match at Children’s Mercy Park.

With passage to the knockout round secured before Monday night’s match against Toluca kicked off, the result was more about which bracket Sporting would be placed into for the Round of 32. A 2-1 loss means Sporting will face a tougher opponent as the knockouts get underway.

Sporting KC and Toluca played for the second straight year in Leagues Cup play. Last season, Sporting was dumped out of the Round of 32 with a 4-1 loss at home to “Los Diablos.”

This time around, Sporting KC held serve and could’ve even escaped with a result.

“We were very direct, and I thought that caused them problems,” manager Peter Vermes said. “I think as much as they were countering, so were we. And they had a tough time with that. We created chances off of those situations.

“The difference is they scored two, and we only scored one. But we had the chances to either go ahead, then see where a game goes, or at least keep it level.”

Toluca opened the scoring 40 minutes in. Tim Leibold failed to clear the ball after it dropped at his feet. Toluca’s Jesus Angulo recovered the loose ball and dribbled around a defender before shooting past goalkeeper Tim Melia.

Stephen Afrifa leveled the score in first-half stoppage time with a wonder strike. From 30 yards out Afrifa cut inside and ripped a shot that, at one point, looked like it had ballooned over the net. But the ball dipped down, fooling Toluca goalkeeper Tiago Volpi, and kissed off the underside of the crossbar and down into the goal.

“The way the goalie looked, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s going over easily,’” Afrifa said. “So when it hit the crossbar and it bounced and went back in, I was surprised.”

In the second half, Toluca brought on its star power, including Maximiliano Araujo, who broke out during Uruguay’s semifinal run at the Copa America this summer. Araujo scored the winning goal for Toluca in the 66th minute.

During a spell of possession, a late run in behind the back line from Brian Garcia was rewarded with a perfectly weighted pass over the top. Garcia headed the ball back across goal for a tap-in from Araujo.

The second half from Sporting KC may well be remembered for the chances that didn’t go in. Just minutes into the second half, Willy Agada skied a shot in front of a wide-open goal from the top of the six-yard box.

Afterward, Agada held up his hand for the miss.

“I thought we played really good, apart from the chances we missed,” Agada said. “Which is on me. I got a few good chances that could change the whole narrative of the game. But you know, it’s part of the game.”

Vermes said he wants Agada to be more ruthless in front of the net when he gets his chances.

“When he gets that way, he’ll be banging goals home like crazy,” Vermes said. “And he has that ability, because he gets in really good spots and guys find him with his movement. So now it’s about him just being ruthless, killer, merciless … whatever you want to say.”

Sporting KC will move to the East bracket with the loss, facing off against the defending MLS Cup Champions: the Columbus Crew. Sporting lost 4-0 to Columbus earlier in the season.

That match is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Central.

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

This story was originally published August 5, 2024 at 10:30 PM.