In a match dominated by Sporting Kansas City everywhere but the scoreline, the home side had to come from behind to defeat the Chicago Fire, 2-1, in the opening match of group West 4 in the 2024 Leagues Cup.
Dressed in their Kansas City Wizards throwback uniforms, the MLS originals dominated possession for most of the match. Sporting coach Peter Vermes fielded an aggressive side that would take the ball into the attacking third with regularity.
Their first real chance came in the 19th minute, when Dániel Sallói found Willy Agada inside the box with the outside of his foot. Agada settled, found an opening, and launched a rocket that flew past Spencer Richey, but couldn’t clear the crossbar.
The Fire, who came into the match with 11 players unavailable due to injury or illness, were more than happy to absorb the pressure and pounce on loose passes.
In the 22nd minute they pounced on an errant ball by Agada. Brian Gutiérrez then sent an inch-perfect pass to Georgios Koutsias, whose fantastic first touch deadened the ball for his right foot, which blasted it home. It was the Greek international’s first goal since last September.
SKC did not panic, however, and quickly took control of the game again, with more probes into the attacking third.
Their resilience finally paid off in the 39th minute when Canadian international Stephen Afrifa won a free kick near the end line. Defender Robert Castellanos used his head to redirect Rémi Walter’s delivery to level the score.
It was the 11th set piece goal this season for Sporting.
The start of the second half saw possession even out more toward Chicago’s favor, and both sides forced saves out of each goalkeeper in the first 15 minutes. But SKC found the ball again and continued to pepper the Chicago goal. The most dangerous of which came via Afrifa, who nearly scored on a great turn and run into the box. His effort, like Agada’s in the first half, found the woodwork in the 74th minute. They both finished with five shots.
Two minutes later, Afrifa and Agada combined for the match winner. Afrifa made another run down the right flank and crossed the ball into the box, where Agada met it with a diving header. This time, the only thing his shot hit was the back of the net.
“The second goal was actually a really nice goal,” Kansas City coach Peter Vermes said. “I thought we had the better of the actions to goal. The better the chances.”
The goal scorer himself gave all the credit to the player who gave him the service.
“It was an amazing assist from Afrifa, shoutout to him.” Agada continued. “I can’t do anything but score that. It was the only option. It was a great cross.”
The 2-1 loss puts even more pressure on Chicago, with only a few days to get healthy before hosting Toluca, who currently sit fifth in the LIGA MX standings. As for SKC, they have the luxury of winning maximum points and waiting a week before they face los Diablos Rojos to determine who wins group 4 West.
