Sporting Kansas City Suffers 6-0 Defeat to Portland Timbers

By Kurt Austin – Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Kansas City suffered a 6-0 loss on the road against the Portland Timbers on Saturday at Providence Park.

The hosts opened the scoring in the sixth minute in sublime fashion as Designated Player Kristoffer Velde fired a shot from more than 25 yards out into the top corner for his team-leading fourth goal of the year.

The Timbers would double their lead in the 15th minute as Kevin Kelsy scored his first of two goals on the night on a clever backheel from David Da Costa, who earned the primary assists on each of Portland’s first two goals of the game.

Velde and Kelsy would be involved again in the Timbers’ third goal, this time setting up Cole Bassett with a strike from six-yards out on a recycled corner in the 22nd minute.

Four minutes later, a fourth goal would find the back of the net after touches by three different SKC players as Ethan Bartlow’s clearance deflected off Wyatt Meyer and Jake Davis before crossing the goalline.

Down 4-0 at halftime of an MLS match for the first time in club history, Sporting made two changes to start the second half with the introduction of Calvin Harris and Ian James. The visitors nearly pulled a goal back just 45 seconds into the half as Dejan Joveljic did well to turn a cross from Jacob Bartlett towards goal with a first-time volley however James Pantemis was alert to keep it out. The TImbers goalkeeper was called into action again in the 58th minute to turn away Capita’s attempt from a tight angle on the right side of the penalty area.

On the opposite end, Stefan Cleveland made his lone save of the night 10 minutes later to deny second-half substitute Alexander Aravena his first MLS goal.

Portland would produce the final two goals of the night in short succession with Ariel Lassiter – the son of former KC forward Roy Lassiter – curling a left-footed free kick from 25 yards out past Cleveland in the 71st minute before Kelsy completed his brace as he capped off the scoring in the 74th minute with a first-time finish at the back post.

Sporting midfielder Zorhan Bassong returned from injury to play the final 30 minutes and nearly put his name on the scoresheet in the 84th minute only to see his half-volley deflect narrowly over the crossbar. Sporting continued to push late for a consolation goal and came close in the 89th minute as Harris forced a strong save from Pantemis, who dove low to his left to turn away the attempt and snap the Timbers streak of 21 consecutive games without a shutout dating back to last season.

The result extends Sporting’s winless stretch to eight straight games across all competitions as SKC returns home empty-handed for a seventh time in seven tries at Providence Park.

Sporting will next host the LA Galaxy at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Sporting Park. Tickets for the Western Conference clash are available on SeatGeek and the mid-week match-up will be available to watch live on Apple TV.

2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 11
Providence Park | Portland, Oregon
Attendance: 22,384
Weather: 73 degrees and partly cloudy

Sporting Kansas City 0-6 Portland Timbers

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jake Davis, Ethan Bartlow, Wyatt Meyer, Jayden Reid; Lasse Berg Johnsen (Zorhan Bassong 60′), Jacob Bartlett, Manu Garcia (Calvin Harris 46′); Capita Capemba (Stephen Afrifa 76′), Dejan Joveljic (C) (Taylor Calheira 72′), Shapi Suleymanov (Ian James 46′)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Ryan Schewe, Pierre Lurot, Cielo Tschantret

Portland Timbers: James Pantemis; Brandon Bye, Finn Surman (C), Kamal Miller, Jimer Fory (Ian Smith 61′); Cole Bassett (Joao Ortiz 61′), David Da Costa (Alexander Aravena 61′), Jose Caicedo (Diego Chara 46′); Kristoffer Velde, Kevin Kelsy, Antony (Ariel Lassiter 61′)

Subs Not Used: Trey Muse, Alex Bonetig, Sawyer Jura, Felipe Mora

Scoring Summary:
POR – Kristoffer Velde 4 (David Da Costa 1, Kevin Kelsy 2) 6′
POR – Kevin Kelsy 3 (David Da Costa 2, Cole Bassett 3) 15′
POR – Cole Bassett 1 (Kevin Kelsy 3, Kristoffer Velde 2) 22′
POR – Jake Davis (own goal) 26′
POR – Ariel Lassiter 2 (free kick) 71′
POR – Kevin Kelsy 4 (Ariel Lassiter 1, Alexander Aravena 1) 74′ 

Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Lass Berg Johnsen (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 19′
POR – Jose Caicedo (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 33′
SKC – Jake Davis (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 41′
SKC – Jayden Reid (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 45+3′
SKC – Ethan Bartlow (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 53′
SKC – Capita Capemba (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 76′

Match Statistics

Referee: Ramy Touchan
Assistant Referee: Ryan Graves
Assistant Referee: Kali Smith
Fourth Official: Ricardo Fierro
VAR: Daniel Radford
AVAR: Tom Felice