Sporting Kansas City forward Willy Agada was named to the Audi Team of the Week bench for week 24 for his phenomenal performance in Sporting KC's 4-2 thumping of the LA Galaxy on Saturday night at Children's Mercy Park.
Agada opened his Sporting scoring account with a tenacious effort in the 40th minute and bagged a brace in the fifth minute of first half stoppage time. The Sporting KC newcomer paced the club with three shots on target and 27 attacking runs in Saturday's match. His shooting was not the only impressive stat as he completed 91.7% of his passes throughout the contest.
Sporting KC got ahead of LA after an impressive volley from Erik Thommy in the 10th minute. The home side did not let off the gas following the goal and continued to ask questions of Jonathan Bond and the Galaxy back four.
In the 40th, the backline cracked as Roger Espinoza got to the byline and sent a cross right into the path of Agada. Bond did well to deny the first attempt and appeared to keep a second and even a third effort out of the goal. However, after a VAR review, a goal was given and Agada made a beeline for the sideline to celebrate with Manager and Sporting Director Peter Vermes.
Just over 10 minutes later, Daniel Salloi was played in behind the Galaxy defense and unselfishly fed Agada with a delicious ball across the face of goal. Agada hammered it into the open net with authority and punctuated his second goal with some acrobatics in front of the South Stand.
After joining up with Sporting in late July following four years of professional experience in Israel, Agada has started two of three MLS appearances. His first two goals in Sporting blue has earned him his first appearance on the MLS Team of the Week.
Team of the Week (3-4-3, left to right): Drake Callender (MIA); Andrew Gutman (ATL), Joel Waterman (MTL), Henry Kessler (NE), Alvaro Barreal (CIN); Lucas Zelarayan (CLB), Jonathan Osorio (TOR), Sebastian Driussi (ATX); Cristian Arango (LAFC), Gyasi Zardes (COL), Kacper Przybylko (CHI)
Bench: William Agada (SKC), Djordje Petrovic (NE), Ranko Veselinovic (VAN), Xherdan Shaqiri (CHI), Lorenzo Insigne (TOR), Santiago Moreno (POR), Diego Rubio (COL)
Next up for Sporting is a brief stop in the Lonestar State capital for a match with Austin FC on Saturday, August 13. Kickoff for the match is set for 8 p.m. CT and the contest will air in its entirety on 38 The Spot with 30 minutes of pregame coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT. Following the quick road trip, Sporting will return to Children's Mercy Park for matches against the Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes.
