Recap: Sporting slips to 2-0 loss against CF Montreal
Sporting Kansas City (0-7-3, 3 points) lost 2-0 to CF Montreal (3-6-0, 9 points) in their 200th game of the regular season at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. The visitors clinched their first win in Kansas City since 2013 on first-half goals from Bryce Duke and Mathieu Choiniere, and doomed Sporting Kansas City to their fourth straight MLS defeat.
Sporting manager Peter Vermes made two changes to his starting lineup from his trip to New England last weekend when 21-year-old Jake Davis – who earned his first MLS start of his career – replaced Cam Duke on the right flank and the 21 -year-old Robert Voloder who replaced Andreu Fontas in central defence. Between the posts, goalkeeper Tim Melia has eclipsed 250 games for the club in all competitions.
Sporting forward Alan Pulido, who scored in Tuesday’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup win over Tulsa Athletic, put Montreal goaltender Jonathan Sirois to the test in the 13th minute. The Mexico international received a skillful square pass from left-back Logan Ndenbe and tried with a touch to dislodge it from his marker on the edge of the box before parrying his shot with his left foot.
On the other hand, Melia did well to keep Montreal off the scoresheet in the 20th minute, diving right to snag a well-placed shot from Choiniere. He saved Sporting another blush five minutes later by thwarting striker Chinonso Offor from close range with a stop that earned a round of applause from Children’s Mercy Park supporters.
A back-and-forth continued with Daniel Salloi – another player who scored in Tuesday’s 3-0 triumph over Tulsa – who threatened next after half an hour. His sizzling strike at the top of the box had the makings of a miracle goal but was touched over the bar by a bouncing Sirois.
Duke, acquired from Montreal in a lucrative swap from Inter Miami CF earlier this month, gave the visitors the lead in the 35th minute by scoring one after a fierce attack down the middle involving Choiniere and Sean Rea scored a cool finish in the far left corner. It was Montreal’s first away goal of 2023 after the club failed to score in their first five away games this season.
Montreal exacerbated Sporting’s problems in first-half stoppage time, taking a 2-0 lead when Choiniere netted from 10 yards out after an Aaron Herrera cross and Rea added another second assist.
Sporting were ahead after half-time and almost conceded another goal in the 52nd minute. Salloi charged over the top on Dany Rosero’s long ball, muscularly parrying a tackle from Herrera and uncorking a right foot shot that lacked direction to beat Sirois. Salloi then turned assist in the 58th, clipping a delicious ball for Russell at the back post but Sirois made an excellent save to thwart the Scottish winger and keep Sporting at bay.
Sporting midfielder Gadi Kinda, who made his long-awaited return to the pitch in the Open Cup win over Tulsa, came off the hour mark in his first MLS appearance since November 2021. His introduction was preceded by another superb performance from Salloi, whose 25-yard curl was flown over the bar by an in-form Sirois.
With the game out of reach and Sporting searching deep into injury time for a consolation goal, Russell thought he had achieved just that, smashing a right foot shot through traffic into the far corner. However, to the great dismay of the hosts, the flag was flagged for offside and the duel ended 2-0 in Montreal’s favour.
Sporting will look to bounce back next Sunday, May 7th and take on Seattle Sounders FC in a nationally televised duel at Lumen Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:55 p.m. CT, with live coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m. CT on FOX and Apple TV.
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Jake Davis, Dany Rosero, Robert Voloder (Robert Castellanos 46′), Logan Ndenbe; Remi Walter, Roger Espinoza, Erik Thommy (Gadi Kinda 62′); Johnny Russell (C), Alan Pulido, Daniel Salloi
Subs not used: John Pulskamp, Chris Rindov, Cam Duke, Felipe Hernandez, Khiry Shelton, Marinos Tzionis
CF Montreal: Jonathan Sirois; Gabriele Corbo, Rudy Camacho, Joel Waterman; Aaron Herrera, Victor Wanyama (C), Mathieu Choiniere, Ariel Lassiter George Campbell 83′); Bryce Duke (Sunusi Ibrahim 75′), Chinonso Offor (Robert Thorkelsson 90+5′), Sean Rea (Nathan Saliba 74′)
Subs not used: Logan Ketterer, Zachary Brault-Guillard, Ahmed Hamdi, Ousman Jabang
Review summary:
MTL – Bryce Duke 1 (Mathieu Choiniere 2, Sean Rea 1) 35′
MTL – Mathieu Choiniere 2 (Aaron Herrera 1, Sean Rea 2) 45+1′
Summary of Misconduct:
MTL – Victor Wanyama (yellow card; unsportsmanlike conduct) 27′
SKC – Dany Rosero (yellow card; unsportsmanlike conduct) 30′
SKC – Alan Pulido (yellow card; unsportsmanlike conduct) 52′
SKC – Roger Espinoza (yellow card; unsportsmanlike conduct) 57′
MTL – Joel Waterman (yellow card; waste of time) 65′
MTL – Mathieu Choiniere (yellow card; unsportsmanlike conduct) 90+6′