Sporting Kansas City 4, Colorado Rapids 0 | 2020 MLS Match Recap

On Saturday night, the Colorado Rapids stepped on the pitch for the first time in over a month. They were rudely welcomed back by Sporting Kansas City as the home side dominated, finishing with a 4-0 win on a cool fall evening at Children’s Mercy Park. 

The Rapids spent most of the first half attempting to shake the rust off and fight back the Sporting attack. SKC had several good opportunities, but weren’t able to find the back of the net. Colorado goalkeeper William Yarbrough had four saves in the first 45 minutes, parrying a blast from Johnny Russell off a free kick just outside the box and a knuckling shot from Alan Pulido.

Pulido, in his first game back following international duty with Mexico, was hungry for a goal and put his side on the scoreboard with his fifth shot of the night. The Rapids gave him a little too much space to move at the top of the 18, so the forward took a couple of dribbles, turned and took the shot through defender Lalas Abubakar’s legs.

Center back Andreu Fontas added a second goal off a corner kick to register his first goal of the season and double Sporting's lead. In the dying minutes of the game, Gadi Kinda scored his sixth goal of the season and then Gerso Fernandes chipped Yarbrough in stoppage time to add a fourth and seal the win for the home side.

Goals

• 54' — SKC — Alan Pulido | WATCH
• 67' — SKC — Andreu Fontas | WATCH
• 88' — SKC — Gadi Kinda | WATCH
• 90'+3' — SKC — Gerso Fernandes | WATCH

Three Things

• THE BIG PICTURE: Three points tonight gave Sporting Kansas City their third win in five games and moved them above the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders to the top of the Western Conference. After postponing five games and not playing for a month, the Rapids need to get back into match fitness quickly. For now, they will stay in 11th place in the Western Conference, but will look to get as many points as possible in the remaining games.
• MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Despite multiple opportunities in the first half, the home side couldn’t find the back of the net and went into halftime 0-0. Pulido opened scoring less than 10 minutes into the second half, which eventually led to all three points for SKC.
• MAN OF THE MATCH:​ Alan Pulido blasted in shot after shot and finally broke through early in the second half. He finished the night with six shots on goal.

Next Up

• SKC: Wednesday, October 28 at FC Cincinnati (7:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+, Star64, FOX Sports KC in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada)
• COL: Wednesday, October 28 at Minnesota United FC (8 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+, Altitude, FOX Sports North in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada)