Sporting Kansas City moving onto Round of 16 in MLS is Back Tournament
With their win over Real Salt Lake, Sporting Kansas City now is guaranteed a spot in the Round of 16 in the MLS is Back Tournament. They won 2-0 over RSL on Wednesday morning.
After a tough start to the tournament when Sporting KC fell in stoppage time to Minnesota FC United, they rebounded against the Colorado Rapids and continued to climb in their win over Real Salt Lake.
This was a much nicer win than what we saw transpire on Sunday against the Rapids, as Sporting immediately got off to a 1-0 lead less than a minute into the match, thanks to a beaut of a goal from Johnny Russell.
Things were quiet until the 86th minute when Gerso Fernandes put the nail in the coffin for Colorado’s advancement hopes. Sporting shut out Salt Lake for the duration of the match and secured another three points, giving them six for the Group Stage.
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Minnesota and Colorado haven’t played yet, but Colorado is officially eliminated now, as there’s no scenario where they can climb out of the fourth place spot.
Sporting is either going to be in first or in second, depending on what Minnesota does. They currently have four points, but a win over Colorado gives them the top spot while a draw would put them just one point shy of SKC.
Placement isn’t a huge deal and the important thing here is that Sporting KC advanced despite their rough beginnings in the tournament.
Real Salt Lake did control the flow of this match, but weren’t able to put the ball in the net. Starting a match off strong hasn’t been Sporting KC’s problem at all, they’ve been rather good at getting off to a hot start. Their issue has been finishing strong and crumbling down the stretch, which we saw in the loss to Minnesota.
Sporting Kansas City bucked that trend this time around with their second goal and completely shutting out a team who has had their number in recent years.
dark. Next. SKC Given High Percentage to Advance
We don’t know what’s in store for Sporting, as the rest of the matches will have to finish out before the Round of 16 matches are announced. Even still, it was a great turnaround for Sporting KC after that brutal opening game, as they now have won four of their five games this year and are looking poised to go on a run in the tournament.