By Sam Kovzan – SportingKC.com
Sporting Kansas City (8-18-7, 31 points) fell 3-0 to LAFC (17-8-7, 58 points) on Saturday in the club’s 2024 home finale at Children’s Mercy Park.
Goalkeeper Tim Melia saved his 18th career penalty kick in the first half—second most in MLS regular season history—but LAFC secured three road points behind goals from David Martinez, Cristian Oliveira and Aaron Long to solidify second place in the Western Conference. With the defeat, Sporting saw its 14-match home unbeaten streak in the month of October snapped in a rematch of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final played 10 days earlier in Los Angeles.
Sporting is off next weekend for the FIFA international break and will visit FC Dallas on Oct. 19 to conclude the 2024 campaign. Kickoff at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, is slated for 7:40 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Coaching his 600th match for the club in all competitions, Manager Peter Vermes made five changes to the starting lineup from last weekend’s loss at St. Louis City SC. Among them was a Kansas City debut for Joaquin Fernandez, the 28-year-old center back who joined Sporting in August after playing over 300 professional matches in Europe, including 85 in the top-flight Spanish La Liga.
MLS MVP contender Denis Bouanga threatened twice inside the first five minutes for LAFC, dragging a shot wide off a feed from World Cup-winning teammate Olivier Giroud before seeing a right-footed effort blocked by Joaquin. At the opposite end, Frenchman Remi Walter almost opened the scoring for Kansas City with a 20-yard turf-trimmer that deflected inches off target.
LAFC drew first blood in the 14th minute after Bouanga was fouled inside the box. The LAFC winger missed his ensuing spot kick as Melia held his ground to make the save, but Martinez was first to react and slammed the ball into the roof of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 edge. In addition to having the second-most penalty saves in league history, Melia’s goals conceded percentage on penalties (.561) is the lowest all-time among MLS keepers with 15 penalties faced.
Captain Johnny Russell broke free in the 34 minute and was isolated with his defender on a quickfire Sporting attack, but his low drive was smothered by LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. The chance came a dozen minutes before Los Angeles doubled its lead on the stroke of halftime with Bouanga squaring low to Oliveira for an easy finish.
Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy was one of five second-half substitutes for the hosts and nearly put Kansas City on the scoresheet twice. His dipping drive in the 66th minute was saved by Lloris and his sliding attempt off a delectable Daniel Salloi diagonal pass caromed off the outside of the right post.
LAFC landed its final blow with 69 minutes on the clock. After Sporting was unable to extinguish the danger off a sustained spell of pressure, Long found a pocket of space on the left side of the box and curled a strike inside the far corner for his first goal of 2024.
2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 33
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 18,554
Weather: 80 degrees and clear
Sporting Kansas City 0-3 LAFC
Score
1
2
F
Sporting Kansas City (8-18-7, 31 points)
0
0
0
LAFC (17-8-7, 58 points)
2
1
3
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Jake Davis, Joaquin Fernandez (Robert Castellanos 46′), Robert Voloder, Logan Ndenbe (Tim Leibold 46′); Memo Rodriguez, Zorhan Bassong, Remi Walter (Erik Thommy 60′); Johnny Russell (C), Alan Pulido (William Agada 77′), Stephen Afrifa (Daniel Salloi 46′)
Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Andreu Fontas, Alenis Vargas
LAFC: Hugo Lloris; Sergi Palencia, Maxime Chanot (Eddie Segura 61′), Aaron Long; Cristian Oliveira (Kei Kamara 80′), Lewis O’Brien, Timothy Tillman (Ilie Sanchez 72′), Ryan Hollingshead; David Martinez (Mateusz Bogusz 61′), Olivier Giroud (Marlon 72′), Denis Bouanga
Subs Not Used: Thomas Hasal, Omar Campos, Eduard Atuesta, Nathan Ordaz
Scoring Summary:
LAFC — David Martinez 4 (unassisted) 14′
LAFC — Cristian Oliveira 6 (Denis Bouanga 11, Timothy Tillman 7) 45+1′
LAFC — Aaron Long 1 (Eddie Segura 1) 69′
Misconduct Summary:
LAFC — Timothy Tillman (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 25′
SKC — Memo Rodriguez (yellow card; unsporting behaivor) 25′
LAFC — Cristian Oliveira (yellow card; unsporting behaivor) 80′
Match Statistics
Stat
SKC
LAFC
Shots
11
15
Shots on Goal
4
4
Saves
1
4
Fouls
12
8
Offsides
0
3
Corner Kicks
3
8
Referee: Marcos de Oliveira
Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Greeson
Assistant Referee: Geradr-Kader Lebuis
Fourth Official: Fotis Bazakos
VAR: Daniel Radford
AVAR: Fabio Tovar
