Sporting Kansas City returns to Children’s Mercy Park to take on the Portland Timbers in a Major League Soccer showdown on Sunday night. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT with a national broadcast provided by FS1.
Sporting KC faced Portland once this season, suffering a loss at Providence Park on May 14. Sunday will be the 20th regular season meeting between Sporting and Portland. Sunday is a crucial match for Portland as they find themselves in ninth place in the West, even with three clubs on points, but losing the wins tiebreaker. With the MLS season winding down, every point matters in the playoff battles.
Below are five things to know about Sporting Kansas City’s match with the Portland Timbers on Sunday, Aug. 21 at Children’s Mercy Park.
Over the last two matches, Sporting Kansas City’s offense has come to life, scoring seven goals in 180 minutes of soccer. Coming into this weekend’s matches, no other MLS club has seven goals in their two most recent matches. In their last two contests, Sporting has scored three goals each of the first halves, something they had never done in club history.
This attacking spark has come from a wide cast of Sporting KC characters. Midfielder Erik Thommy got the party started in style, blasting a volley from inside the 18 past Jonathan Bond, and receiving a nomination for AT&T Goal of the Week. Forward Willy Agada kept it rolling with a pair of first half goals complimented by two memorable celebrations. Forward Daniel Salloi capped off Sporting’s 4-2 win over LA with a stoppage-time goal for himself. Against Austin, Andreu Fontas fired home a rebound off a Thommy free kick, Agada followed up a Roger Espinoza shot on target for his third goal and Johnny Russell sank a penalty kick. Sporting’s attack has come from all three lines of the field over the last two matches.
