Sporting KC Hosts LA Galaxy in Home Opener
March 10, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Press release from Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City hosts the LA Galaxy at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT for the club’s highly anticipated home game. Tickets are available online at SeatGeek.com – including the release of general admission tickets – and the first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive SKC foam bags courtesy of game sponsor Central Bank, who will also be giving away fixture magnets after the game, as supplies last.
The Western Conference clash begins at 7:39 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on Apple TV in both English and Spanish for MLS Season Pass subscribers, with pre-game programming beginning at 7:10 p.m. CT. The MLS Season Pass subscription – currently available free to all T-Mobile customers – will include every MLS game in 2023 and fans can watch it on billions of devices via the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, etc. -top boxes and gaming consoles, and on the web at tv.apple.com.
In addition, radio coverage will also be broadcast locally in English on Sports Radio 810 WHB or ESPN 94.5 FM/1510 AM and in Spanish on La Grande 1340 AM, with streams available on the Sporting KC app.
Both founding members of Major League Soccer, Sporting Kansas City and LA Galaxy are the top two most successful teams in the Western Conference of all time. LA has the most regular-season wins in MLS history at 377 — as well as the most MLS Cup championships (5) and Supporters’ Shield trophies (4) — while Sporting has 350 regular-season wins of all time, along with two MLS Cups -Triumphs and a Supporters’ Shield title.
The regular-season streak between the two clubs has stalled after 68 all-time head-to-head meetings dating back to the opening game in May 1996. Both teams have 26 wins and 16 draws to their name, but Sporting are unbeaten in their last four meetings, including a 4-2 win at Children’s Mercy Park in 2022.
Willy Agada scored his first two MLS goals in the win and the 23-year-old won Sporting’s Golden Boot with eight goals and two assists in 12 MLS games after joining the club last summer. The result also started a run of six straight home wins to complete the campaign and equal the club record at Children’s Mercy Park. SKC can now equal the club’s all-time record of seven straight home wins in the regular season – a mark set at Arrowhead Stadium in 1998 and 2000 – with a win over Galaxy.
Sporting Kansas City goaltender John Pulskamp comes into play on Saturday with a 174-minute shutout streak after making four saves and one shutout in a goalless tie at the Colorado Rapids last weekend. The 21-year-old is the youngest player in MLS to keep a clean sheet this season, and the former Galaxy Academy member is 2-0-1 on record with LA, most recently saving Chicharito’s 97th-minute penalty with 2 :2 draw last September.
The Galaxy are without Chicharito, who scored twice in both meetings against SKC a year ago with a hamstring injury, and his World Cup veteran Douglas Costa is also out with a calf injury. LA added five players during the offseason, including former SKC midfielder Uri Rosell, and three made their club debuts in a 3-1 loss at FC Dallas last Saturday, with Tyler Boyd, Memo Rodriguez and Chris Mavinga all earning minutes. The latest addition is 21-year-old Brazilian right-back Lucas Calegari, who joined after Julian Araujo’s transfer to Barcelona last month.
LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney, who is ranked 10th in MLS history with 114 regular-season wins but is winless in nine games against Sporting (0-5-4), has a roster spanning from 23- year-old former Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig and 20-year-old Mexico men’s midfielder Efrain Alvarez. At the helm was 23-year-old Serbian striker Dejan Joveljic, who was second to the team in 2022 with 11 goals and picked up exactly where he left off in 2023 with a goal in the club’s season opener last week after matchday one at rivals LAFC on February 25 was postponed due to winter weather.
Joveljic has scored in three straight games since last season – when Galaxy finished the regular season with a 5-1-4 record and 26 goals scored in their last 10 games – and now has a chance to join an elite group of Galaxy- Players to score in four consecutive MLS away games: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2018-19), Robbie Keane (2012-13) and Landon Donovan (2009).
Sporting Kansas CIty is 16-3-8 all-time in home regular-season opens, including a 5-1-6 record at Children’s Mercy Park, but will be without four players Saturday through injuries. Kortne Ford (Achilles), Logan Ndenbe (hamstring), Gadi Kinda (knee) and Johnny Russell (hamstring) will all miss Saturday’s game while designated player Alan Pulido (knee) remains questionable in the club’s player availability report.
Sporting Kansas City vs LA Galaxy
2023 MLS regular season | game 3
Saturday March 11 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:39 kick-off)
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kan.
Broadcast schedule:
Apple TV | MLS Season Pass
English Radio | 810AM or 94.5FM/1510AM
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340h
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