Sporting Kansas City lost 5-0 to the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on April 26, with all five goals coming in the second half.
The match was notable as head coach Raphael Wicky returned to face his former club. Wicky made four changes to Sporting’s lineup from their previous game, bringing back Lasse Berg Johnsen, Jake Davis, Ian James and Jansen Miller. Diego Borges and Justin Reynolds missed the match due to injury.
Sporting Kansas City started strong and nearly scored in the eighth minute when Calvin Harris hit the post after a run up the left wing by Capita Capemba and Dejan Joveljic. The first half saw few chances for either side.
In the second half, Chicago was awarded a penalty after Ian James was penalized for handball. John Pulskamp saved Hugo Cuypers’ penalty kick but Philip Zinckernagel scored on the rebound in the 51st minute. Sporting tried to respond with an attempt from Capita that went wide under pressure from Jack Elliott. Zinckernagel added another goal in the 65th minute after a series of passes near Sporting’s box.
Chicago extended their lead further with goals from Cuypers in the 73rd minute and Maren Haile-Selassie six minutes later. Cuypers scored again off a corner kick deep into stoppage time, ending with a final score of 5-0.
Sporting Kansas City will return home next weekend to play against Seattle Sounders at Sporting Park on May 2.
