Sounders unable to make early lead stand up in 2-1 loss to Sporting KC
SEATTLE – After the goal remains an issue for the Sounders.
The Sounders find ways to score lately – although not enough – but in the moments after getting a lead they let it all slip away. Saturday was another example.
Seattle scored early against Sporting Kansas City and it allowed the equalizer minutes later. As the match ticked to its finish, the Sounders conceded another late goal, losing 2-1 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
Sporting snapped a seven-game losing streak. Last year, Kansas City used a Sounders error to snap a 10-game losing streak to open its season and gained momentum to advance to the Western Conference playoff semifinals.
The cruelty is the Sounders (4-7-6) showed they can defend.
The club played the final 17 minutes plus stoppage time down a man after Reed Baker-Whiting was shown a second yellow card in the match and sent off.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer subbed off striker Raul Ruidiaz for Cody Baker to keep a strong backline. Sporting (3-9-5) increased its pressure and hogged possession. Erik Thommy had a shot brush over the crossbar in the 78th minute.
The inability to close out a possible draw fell on Sounders keeper Stefan Frei. He botched his defense of a ball played by Alenis Vargas for the winner in the 85th minute. Frei was crotched in position and the ball bobbled into goal.
It’s the fourth consecutive match in which Seattle conceded a late goal – the first that ended in a Sounders loss.
Alan Pulido nearly whipped a game-winner past Frei in the 69th minute. The keeper made the save but in the lead-up to the shot attempt, Sounders center back Jackson Ragen made a slide tackle against Daniel Salloi that appeared to clip the midfielder’s right ankle.
As he winced in pain on the ground, teammate Johnny Russell and Sounders center back Yeimar Gomez Andrade got into a shoving match in defense of their teammates. Both were shown yellow cards and Salloi was subbed off with an apparent injury.
Joao Paulo played a nice through ball to get the Sounders their goal in the 12th minute. The touch found Jordan Morris behind the Kansas City defense, the forward calmly slotting a right-footed shot past keeper Tim Melia.
Morris has eight goals against Kansas City, the most against Sporting among active players.
Kansas City found a quick response in the 19th minute. Seattle’s defense closed in on the ball in the box to deflect a possible attempt. But the clearance was in space near Russell, who powered a left-footed shot past Frei.
Baker-Whiting made his first start of the season. The defender has only played in six matches due to a long recovery from a hamstring injury suffered last fall. Baker-Whiting replaced Nouhou at left back. Nouhou was called up by his Cameroon national team for a pair of World Cup qualifying matches. He scored his first international goal Saturday in a 4-1 win against Cape Verde. Cameroon plays Angola on Tuesday.
The Sounders return to host Minnesota at Lumen Field next week.