Sporting KC and the LA Galaxy traded blows, and wondrous goals, in a breathless first half at Children's Mercy Park on Sunday night as Brad Davis and Giovani dos Santos produced world-class finishes.
With both sides making significant tweaks to their lineups and formations, there was plenty of space on offer and the match flowed from end to end relentlessly, though Sporting were far more wasteful, spurning many promising looks at goal.
But renewed defensive rigidity slowed the tempo after the break, and the visitors were more than happy to escape with a road point after Ashley Cole earned two yellow cards in less than a minute with some 20 minutes left in regulation time. His team had to hang on tenaciously, but killed off the game's latter stages to extend SKC's winless streak to four games.
Box Score
- 30' -- SKC -- Brad Davis (Graham Zusi, Matt Besler)
- 42' -- LA -- Giovani dos Santos (Gyasi Zardes)
- Full box score
- Stats
- Highlights
Three Things
1. LINEUP CAPERS: Depending on who you asked, on Sunday SKC were either in a 3-4-3 formation with Seth Sinovic at left midfield, or a 4-3-3 with Zusi at right back, while Nuno Coelho was a center mid...while LA were in a 4-2-3-1 -- or was it really a 4-4-2? -- with Mike Magee in the engine room. Watching veteran coaches Peter Vermes and Bruce Arena experiment was fascinating, and might hint at future wrinkles to their teams' well-established identities.
2. ANOTHER GIO GOLAZO: After a bumpy start to his MLS career, Dos Santos has found his form in spectacular fashion, notching four goals and two assists in his last three games. Seen in light of Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio's recent comments, it might just earn GDS a spot on El Tri's Copa America squad next month.
3. COLE CRASHES OUT: Ashley Cole has confounded the skeptics with solid performances early in his Galaxy career, but they may rear their heads again in the wake of his dismissal from this match. His troubles started with a yellow card from referee Chris Penso for time-wasting on an LA throw-in, then he made matters far worse with a rash lunge into the ankle of Benny Feilhaber mere seconds later for what must rank as one of the fastest one-two combinations of bookings in MLS history.
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