April 21, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
In a hotly contested battle between bitter Western Conference rivals, Sporting Kansas City (2-2-5, 11 points) and St. Louis City SC (2-1-6, 12 points) battled to a wild 3-3 draw on Saturday night at electric Children’s Mercy Park.
Alan Pulido gave Sporting the early lead on a majestic team goal before St. Louis responded to take a 2-1 halftime advantage. An own goal forced by Daniel Salloi drew Sporting level in the 65th minute and Erik Thommy fired Sporting ahead once more on 77 minutes, but the visitors restored parity on the stroke of full time through Tomas Totland to split the points in a heavyweight clash that delivered one haymaker after another.
A sold-out crowd of 19,637 provided an atmosphere worthy of what has quickly become a must-see MLS fixture and one of the league’s fiercest rivalries. The attacking deluge on Saturday-which treated fans to a rematch of the 2023 playoff series in which Sporting swept top-seeded St. Louis-saw Manager Peter Vermes’ side bag multiple goals for the sixth straight match, marking the first time that Kansas City has accomplished that feat since its inaugural 1996 season.
With a three-game homestand in the rearview mirror, Sporting will hit the road next Saturday, April 27, to face another Midwestern counterpart in Minnesota United FC. Kickoff at Allianz Field is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Wielding an unchanged lineup from last weekend’s historic contest against Inter Miami CF at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Sporting was part of yet another end-to-end encounter that dripped with intensity. After St. Louis had a flurry of early half-chances go begging, the hosts drew first blood on a wonderfully worked goal in the 17th minute.
Just as he did last weekend versus Miami, left back Tim Leibold ignited the breakthrough with an assertive interception at midfield before pinging the ball forward to Pulido. From there, the Mexican played a delectable give-and-go with Willy Agada on the edge of the box before sweeping a superb finish into the far corner past St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Burki. Pulido now has three goals and three assists in six MLS appearances against St. Louis dating back to 2023 and has become the third-fastest player in Sporting history to hit 30 regular season goals for the club, doing so in 69 matches.
St. Louis responded in impressive fashion, peppering the Sporting goal and almost…
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