KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A three-goal effort in the second half by Gerso sank Seattle Sounders FC (2-5-4, 10 points) in a 3-0 defeat to conference-leading Sporting KC (6-2-4, 22 points) Wednesday evening at Children's Mercy Park. The second leg of a two-match road swing, Sounders FC previously fell 4-1 at the Chicago Fire last Saturday, and now returns home to CenturyLink Field for a Saturday afternoon fixture against Real Salt Lake (2:00 p.m. PT / JOEtv, Univision-Seattle, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
After holding Sporting without a shot for the first 50 minutes of action, Seattle surrendered a pair of goals just minutes apart early in the second half. The home side scored the breakthrough goal following a corner kick in the 56th minute, with Gerso knocking in a low shot amidst a crowd inside the near post past the shielded Stefan Frei.
The Guinea-Bissau international scored his second of the night two minutes later, initially hitting the post before seeing the ball bounce back to his feet for an easy finish. He completed the hat trick in the 69th minute, converting an open chance from close range after build-up play from Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi.
Seattle now returns home from its two-match road trip to play its third game in eight days this Saturday, May 20 against Real Salt Lake. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. PT from the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field, with JOEtv and Univision-Seattle providing English and Spanish television broadcasts, respectively.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 0 - 3 Sporting KC
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Venue:
Children's Mercy Park
Referee:
Ted Unkel
Assistants:
Joe Fletcher, Adam Wienckowski
Fourth Official:
Sorin Stoica
Attendance:
20,139
Weather:
Partly cloudy and 77 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SKC -
Gerso 56'
SKC -
Gerso 58'
SKC -
Gerso (Graham Zusi, Benny Feilhaber) 69'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA -
Jordy Delem (caution) 3'
SEA -
Tony Alfaro (caution) 85'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Joedy Delem, Chad Marshall, Tony Alfaro, Oniel Fisher (Brad Evans 78'); Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson (Harry Shipp 72'); Alvaro Fernandez, Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris (Seyi Adekoya 77'); Will Bruin
Substitutes not used: Tyler Miller, Nouhou, Zach Mathers, Clint Dempsey
Total shots:
10 (3 players, 2)
Shots on goal:
5 (Fernandez, 2)
Fouls:
6 (Delem/Alfaro, 2)
Offside:
3 (Lodeiro, 2)
Corner-kicks:
3 (Lodeiro, 3)
Saves:
3 (Frei, 3)
Sporting Kansas City - Tim Melia; Graham Zusi, Ike Opara, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic; Roger Espinoza, Illie Sánchez, Benny Feilhaber (Daniel Salloi 89'); Gerso (Latif Blessing 83'), Dom Dwyer, Jimmy Medranda (Soni Mustivar 79')
Substitutes not used: Adrián Zendejas, Kevin Ellis, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Cameron Porter
Total shots:
12 (Gerso, 6)
Shots on goal:
6 (Gerso, 5)
Fouls:
8 (3 players, 2)
Offside:
1 (Opara, 1)
Corner-kicks:
5 (Feilhaber, 5)
Saves:
5 (Melia, 5)
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC is now 2-5-4 in the 2017 regular season and currently sits in ninth place in the Western Conference.
- Seattle falls to 7-5-3 all-time against Sporting in regular-season action, including a 4-3-1 mark on the road. Sounders FC is winless in its past six matches against Sporting KC in MLS play (0-4-2), but Wednesday's contest was the first meeting since the Rave Green defeated Sporting 1-0 in the 2016 Western Conference Knockout Round.
- Midfielder Osvaldo Alonso and forward Clint Dempsey both rested for Wednesday's fixture, marking the first match each player has missed in the 2017 campaign. Alonso was sidelined due to right quad tightness, while Dempsey sat as an unused sub after playing 81 minutes and scoring a goal last Saturday against the Fire.
- Seattle lost both matches and was outscored 7-1 during its two-match road trip, and the club is set to play its third fixture in eight days on Saturday against RSL. For the second time in franchise history, Sounders FC has lost consecutive contests by at least three goals apiece (Last: 10/5/13 at COL, 1-5; 10/9/13 vs. VAN, 1-4).
- For the first time in club history, Sounders FC sits with just two wins through 11 matches. The previous low was three wins to open the 2010 season (3-5-3).
- Sporting KC's Gerso netted a hat trick on Wednesday, becoming the fourth opposing player to record a three-goal performance against Sounders FC (Kekuta Manneh, Robbie Keane, Bradley Wright-Phillips). He joins Keane as the only players to do so in a single half, and the 13-minute span is the fastest by an opposing player to score three goals. As an opposing team, the 13-minute span is tied for the second-shortest margin score three goals against Seattle.
- Forward Seyi Adekoya made his MLS debut in a reserve role. The UCLA product signed a Homegrown Player contract prior to the 2017 season.
