Sporting Kansas City remains on the road this week with a trip across Missouri to take on St. Louis at Energizer Park on Wednesday night. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. CT and will be nationally televised on FS1 and FOX Deportes while also being available to stream on Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass. The game will also be broadcast locally on the radio via ESPN 94.5 FM.
1. UP AND DOWN STRETCH CONTINUES
Sporting Kansas City continued a grueling stretch of matches in May with a 1-0 setback against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Saturday night and is now readying for another pair of road matches this week, starting with a visit to St. Louis at Energizer Park on Wednesday night.
Sporting has won three of the club’s six matches since Kerry Zavagnin took over as interim head coach at the end of March. After conceding seven goals in their first three games under Zavagnin, Sporting has solidified defensively and has conceded just three in their last three games - with the last two coming courtesy of stunning bicycle kicks from Cincinnati’s Kevin Denkey and Portland’s Santiago Moreno that both served as game-winners.
Saturday’s result in Portland continued a trend of roller-coaster action over the past month, as the team has gone W-L-W-L-W-L since Zavagnin took charge for the first time with the 2-0 win over St. Louis on April 5.
On the other end of Wednesday’s clash with St. Louis, Sporting will jet back to the west coast to face expansion side San Diego FC for the first time on Saturday, May 17.
2. ANOTHER CLASH WITH RIVALS ON SHORT REST
Sporting Kansas City continues a tough road schedule this week with a visit to cross-state rivals St. Louis at Energizer Park on Wednesday night. Sandwiched in between two road games on the west coast, Wednedsay’s game marks the fourth time in eight regular-season meetings that Sporting will face St. Louis on short rest, and the third time on the road.
Sporting has already beaten St. Louis this season, earning a 2-0 victory on April 5, 2025 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kerry Zavagnin’s first match in charge as interim head coach. After a scoreless first half, striker Dejan Joveljic scored a pair of goals in the second half to lead Sporting to their first win of the campaign.
Sporting last faced St. Louis at Energizer Park on Sept. 28, 2024, suffering a 3-1 defeat three days after falling in the U.S. Open Cup Final after extra time at LAFC. Stephen Afrifa scored Sporting’s only goal of the night with a brilliant hit from distance, but St. Louis saw out the three points against a fatigued Sporting side.
Sporting trails the all-time regular-season series 2-3-2, but holds a 2-0-0 edge in the postseason after the club’s rout of their rivals in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. Sporting earned a thumping 4-1 win at Energizer Park in that postseason series, while St. Louis is yet to win a game in five attempts at Children’s Mercy Park, where Sporting holds a 3-0-2 record.
3. GARCIA MAKES SPORTING TICK
Sporting Kansas City newcomer Manu Garcia is showing all the qualities that made Sporting bring him in as a Designated Player this past offseason, producing top performances in the heart of the club’s midfield week after week.
Garcia leads Sporting in assists (four) and key passes (19) this season while ranking third in MLS in progressive passes (102), fourth in goal-creating actions (eight), fourth in successful passes into the final third (88), ninth in successful through balls (six) and 20th in distance covered (80.3 miles).
The Spaniard arrived in the offseason from Greek side Aris Thessaloniki alongside teammate Shapi Suleymanov. Garcia scored his first goal for the club in the 5-3 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on April 19 after tallying his first game-winning assist against St. Louis on April 5.
4. RESURGENT SALLOI DRIVING SPORTING FORWARD
Sporting Kansas City forward and Academy product Daniel Salloi is enjoying a resurgent 2025 campaign, and his performances on the left wing have been driving Sporting forward over the past month of the season.
The Hungarian frontman was a constant thorn in Portland’s side this past weekend during the club’s 1-0 defeat at Providence Park, taking six shots and putting three on target - accounting for over half of the team’s shots and all of Sporting’s shots on goal in the contest.
After struggling throughout the 2024 season where Salloi could only muster seven goal contributions (2 goals, 5 assists), the 28-year-old has already reached six goal contributions (4 goals, 2 assists) in 2025.
Salloi is Sporting’s longest tenured player, having initially signed as a Homegrown Player in 2016. He currently ranks in Sporting’s top 10 in games played (8th), goals (4th), assists (7th), shots (3rd), shots on goal (2nd), fouls suffered (10th) and game-winning goals (1st).
5. PULSKAMP CONTINUES FINE STRING OF PERFORMANCES
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp continued his string of excellent recent performances this past weekend, producing one of the saves of his career in the club’s 1-0 defeat to the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Saturday night.
The 24-year-old stopper could do little about Portland’s only goal of the match - a stunning bicycle kick from Santiago Moreno - but showed his quality in the 21st minute to scurry across his line and stick out his left foot to prevent what looked like a tap-in for Moreno.
Pulskamp recently moved into a tie for seventh in club history in both shutouts (eight) and wins (12) in the regular season following his shutout victory over the LA Galaxy on May 4.
Pulskamp, who is in his first season as a full time starter between the sticks for Sporting, made his 100th professional appearance on Saturday in Portland, having now played 56 matches for the Sporting first team and 44 matches for Sporting KC II.
