Sporting KC still has time to turn things around in 2019

Sporting KC won their first road match of the season on Sunday and now move to  4-7-5 on the year. It’s been a rough year to this point, but SKC still has plenty of time to right the ship.

It took until June 23rd, but Sporting Kansas City finally won a match on the road. They took down the Columbus Crew 1-0 and earned three points in the process. With the win, Sporting moved to ninth place in the Western Conference. They’re in a three-way tie with San Jose and Vancouver, all of whom have 19 points and the season is still young.

Ultimately, Sporting KC played great defense in this game, which is how the game was won. Felipe Gutierrez scored the only goal of the game with Gerso Fernandes playing a huge role in getting the good guys on the board. He kept the play alive and got the ball to Gutierrez, who headed it into the back of the net.

The first half of this game was pretty gross for Sporting Kansas City, but that goal in the second half ended up being the game winner. The Crew looked frustrated near the end and one ugly tackle by Harrison Afful resulted in him getting a red card and Columbus playing with a man down for the final 12 minutes of regulation and the extra six minutes of stoppage time.

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but a win is a win and for this Sporting KC team who has struggled to get three points in matches this year, something went their way for once.

Here’s what’s trending in Sporting KC news.

That’s one! Sporting KC gain first road victory at Columbus [Robert Rusert, The Blue Testament]

"With 10 days off since a 4-1 U.S. Open Cup loss at Minnesota United FC in the Round of 32, the improving health of the side, and the return of key players from international duty, hope for a season-saving run of form from Kansas City had risen."

Finally: Sporting KC grabs first road victory of 2019, makes a move in playoff race [Sam McDowell, The Kansas City Star]

"For several weeks, Sporting navigated its schedule short-handed, the injury and international absence lists combining to feature at least six players, often double digits. On Sunday, a reversal."

Columbus Crew SC 0, Sporting Kansas City 1 [Charles Boehm, MLSsoccer.com]

"After a back-and-forth first half marked by ample scoring chances but negligent finishing, SKC snatched the lead just minutes after the intermission via a smart, skillful hustle play from Gerso Fernandes."

With this win, Sporting KC earned a much-needed three points and hopefully this can be the turning point for them. It’s a long season and these guys have shown they can hang with the best of them, they’ve just had some bad luck hit them in a lot of these games.

The next match comes on Saturday, once again on the road, against Real Salt Lake. The team has not had a home match all throughout June.

An ugly win is still a win and when push comes to shove, Sporting Kansas City earned these three points and hopefully this is the start of a winning streak for the good guys.