Musings on the Sporting Kansas Match: Another Draw

by Jason Goodbody

The match on Saturday started off strong for St Louis CITY SC, closing the first half with a 2-1 lead and edging Sporting Kansas by most measurables throughout the game. Despite Kansas' season-long tendency to collapse after the 60', the same CITY defense that blanked Austin last week had two significant lapses; a Bürki own-goal off of forward Dániel Sallói's chip from a Klauss-deflected free kick in the 65' and midfielder Erik Thommy skooching past Tim Parker and Kyle Hiebert in the 77'. It appeared as though Parker was trying to hold Thommy in an offside position but his defending compatriots may not have been perfectly in line, keeping Thommy onside and letting him make the run. Gotta fix that.

But a minute and change into extra time, Tomas Totland equalized the match after a pass by Aziel Jackson as a continuation of a Chris Durkin, Nökkvi Thórisson, Célio Pompeu, João Klauss pinball-like connection. So a 3-3 draw after being ahead is less than ideal. But stripping away a win from Sporting Kansas leaves me with a level of soccer schadenfreude that I didn't think I had.

Ties aren't great but they aren't awful…sometimes

All things considered, I'll consider this as a ok tie, with CITY leaving Kansas with just a point, but also an area rug and two-piece sleeper sectional from The Nebraska Furniture Mart. So, not an awful trip.

To date, my attempt to redefine the traditional W(in)-L(ose)-D(raw) scoring system to W-L-GD-BD-RD has not taken off but I remain undeterred. That said, we have a record of 2 wins, 1 loss, 2 good ties, 3 bad ties, and 1 regular tie. For all this nuance, it's still 12 points and 8th in the west.

CITY's troll game remains strong

The St Louis CITY SC fandom, along with Coach Carnell, CITY players, many commentators including this commentator, and a surprisingly not small segment of the soccer world refers to Sporting Kansas City as simply Sporting Kansas, or more simply Kansas, and maybe/hopefully one of these days more simply by its postal abbreviation KS. This reference is not meant to be knee-slappingly hilarious or clever or make some grand statement. It is merely a slight dig at the two-city/two-state duality that is Kansas City. It is a commentary on the out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-Kansas placement of Children's Mercy Park, and perhaps a bit of territory grabbing by Missouri's soccer team. No biggie.

However, this silly Kansas reference is reinforced with every visit. Situated next to the Kansas Speedway and Legends Outlets and snuggled up against a furniture store's employee parking, the home field of Sporting Kansas continues to befuddle visiting fans who are looking for a broader gameday experience, although I understand Great Wolf Lodge is something special.

One day this area will be an entertainment megaplex with a bustling night scene filled with restaurants that don't have a bright red chili in its logo. But today is not that day. And today they will continue to be referred to as Sporting Kansas and perhaps one day just the sound the two letters "ks" make together.

Scattershot Musings

• Saturday morning my son and I boarded a van bound for One Sporting Way as part of a contingent of STL Santos, the Spanish speaking supporters group. I must say that the food we had throughout the trip and at the tailgate was exceptionally tasty and just the right amount of spicy. Not being a Spanish speaker outside of a semester in seventh grade I found some of the words I learned on the trip to also be exceptionally tasty and spicy. Many thanks to this special group of people for welcoming with such open arms….and the passion fruit margaritas. Thank you for those as well.

• CITY has been vulnerable to the counter attack since its inception. It is a known risk to the pressing and counter pressing style of play that Carnell runs. He'll just need to draw up a counter to their counter to the counter press. Soccer is like a chess game where knights are Brazilians apparently, and the pawns can go backwards…and they all can kick little soccer balls.
• I'm digging the physical play. I like more not getting fouls called on the physical play that could admittedly have gone either way. Chris Durkin just bodied defender Tim Liebold leading to João Klauss' goal. Klauss himself had his very own high school physics word problem moment: A 1.91m 85kg man runs into a 1.75m 70kg man. They approach each other at a combined 8m/s. What is the force applied that propels the smaller Sporting Kansas City forward Willy Agada into the Cabelas parking lot?
• Children's Mercy Park wifi is the worst. I had to re-register my email address at least a dozen times. I suspect I will receive a dozen emails from the club asking me to vote on the most profane and vulgar chant to be rolled out at Sporting Kansas' next home game vs St Louis CITY SC.
• Children's Mercy Park had a great halftime show. Just quality production. The light show was spectacular and the music was pumping. Would like to see something similar in CITY Red, that or at least frisbee dogs.  Great job whoever Sporting KCs equivalent of Matt Sebek is. FIx your wifi though.
• Célio Pompeu hit that shot from Stateline road. Goodness.
• Célio on Totland's Man of the Match performance and game tying goal: "Tots, he can get there, and it's a good finish. Like a striker, I like it." Like a striker. Did you read that? One, I love Tomas "Tots" Totland's versatility and what he adds to CITY's game. Two, I love that his teammates call him "Tots". Do you think he had that nickname at Swedish club Häcken or is this the first time he's heard that? I like to think that Tots isn't a thing in the Nordic countries and this came out of nowhere.

See you next time.  #AllForCITY

Check out musings from the Austin FC match. 

Photos courtesy of St Louis City SC and my iPhone