March 30, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City (2-1-3, 9 points) earned an emphatic 3-1 road win at Toronto FC (3-2-1, 10 points) on Saturday with three second-half goals securing all three points to move the club up the Western Conference table.
Remi Walter opened the scoring with his second goal of the season before Jake Davis and Alenis Vargas each struck for the first goals of their MLS careers.
Playing without club captain Johnny Russell and Designated Player Alan Pulido against a Toronto FC defense that had conceded just twice all season – fewest in MLS – Sporting KC scored a season-high three goals to remain unbeaten in three road trips this year (1-0-2). The victory north of the border also keeps Sporting KC unbeaten in 11 straight regular season matches against Toronto (7-0-4) and in nine trips to BMO Field under Peter Vermes (5-0-4).
Meeting for the first time since 2019, the two sides wasted little time in creating chances during a lively first 10 minutes of an end-to-end first half.
Daniel Salloi squeezed between two Toronto FC defenders inside the penalty area in the eighth minute only to have the ball taken off his foot by goalkeeper Luka Gavran near the penalty spot. The loose ball fell to Willy Agada at the top of the box who first-time attempt was blocked at the edge of the six-yard box by Sigurd Rosted.
Less than a minute later, Gavran was called into action again to parry away a half volley from Nemanja Radoja who came close to scoring in back-to-back matches.
On the opposite end, Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia produced a superb save of his own in the 10th minute to deny Toronto FC playmaker Federico Bernardeschi. Matty Longstaff was poised to hammer home the rebound however his volley sailed over the bar from 10 yards out.
Robert Voloder did well to keep the match scoreless with a key block on Prince Owusu in the 32nd minute and from there, Sporting would threaten to break the deadlock on four separate occasions before the halftime intermission. Tim Leibold forced a strong save from Gavran from a tight angle in the 36th minute.
Just over a minute later, Gavran once again was at his best to keep out a header from Agada on a corner kick from Remi Walter. After scoring last week, the 24-year-old Agada nearly put his name on the scoresheet in the 41st minute with a thunderous strike that crashed into the crossbar.
Sporting Kansas City nearly found the breakthrough on the cusp of halftime with an…
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