KANSAS CITY – The game each team circles on their calendars each year. This rivalry might not be old but it is BIG. The fans, the staff, and the players DO NOT like each other. This was apparent just seconds into the game. From the first whistle, this game was exciting. And it stayed that way for the full ninety minutes.
STL started off creating two decent chances in the first five minutes but, SKC responded very well after this with many chances themselves. The best chance coming from outside the box on a shot from Tim Leibold. He bent in a ball headed for the top right corner but it went off the crossbar.
This chippy game was full of action, Remi Walter went off for a bit for the trainer to attend to his hand but he was all good. A flurry of corner kicks for each team throughout the match but none of them led to be dangerous. Roman Burki was called to action multiple times from looks from Salloi and Radoja but Buerki kept the game level.
Right before the end of the first half, STL went on a big counter-attack and Nokkvi Thorisson found himself cutting up the SKC defense. He cut in, he cut out, he slipped, he got back up, took a touch, and then buried the ball in the right of the goal to put St Louis ahead before the break.
Sporting moved the ball extremely well in the second half but was unsuccessful in the final third. St Louis was on their heels for nearly the whole second half and for a while, SKC just didn’t have enough to find the equalizer. That was until substitute, Alan Pulido, played a perfectly chipped ball across the goal to find a flying Willy Agada to head the ball home! Children’s Mercy Park erupted in excitement as the game was now level with lots of time to play! This was Willy’s fifth goal in five games and his 10th goal across all competitions this year. He leads the team in goals!
The rest of the game was intense and nerve-wracking for each team. Multiple fouls and multiple chances kept everyone on the edge of their seats but time expired and the two teams were level. This is now the second draw of the season for this matchup and the second draw of the history of the matchup.
Vermes said SKC just lacked a good push at the end mainly due to the amount of games they’ve been playing recently. Vermes also gave credit to Roman Burki for his performance in preventing SKC from scoring more than one goal.
The two teams meet one more time this regular season in September in St Louis. SKC plays their next match on July 28th against the Chicago Fire in the Leagues Cup!
