They may still be near the top of the Western Conference, but after embarking on their first losing streak of the 2018 season, frustration is starting to bubble up for Sporting Kansas City.
After dropping a tricky road fixture, 2-0, against the Montreal Impact over the weekend, Sporting lost a 4th of July clash, also on the road, to Real Salt Lake by a 4-2 scoreline. While SKC took the lead through Daniel Salloi and pulled to within a goal after going down 3-1, RSL's offensive output and Kansas City's defensive frailties were laid bare in the loss.
Immediately following the game on the Sporting broadcast, SKC head coach Peter Vermes was succinct in his assessment of the match.
“We shouldn’t have given up two goals in the first half," he said. "Then the third [goal] just killed us. You can’t come back from deficits like that all the time.”
Adding to the woes on the night was the way Sporting unraveled late. Red cards in stoppage time picked up by Salloi and Roger Espinoza closed the door on KC's comeback hopes, and a very late penalty conceded by Ilie Sanchez -- while avoiding yet another red card -- meant Sporting conceded two penalties on the night.
“It’s embarrassing," said Sporting 'keeper Tim Melia. "We really need to look within and look at us as individuals because we’re not playing like a team. We’re making mistakes all over the field, from back to front. We really need to take a look at ourselves, unwind after this game and figure this out.”
Sporting have a short turnaround before their next match, as they'll host Toronto FC on Saturday (8:30 pm ET | TSN - Full TV & Streaming Info).
