Not a League of Their Own: Sporting Kansas City 2, Chicago Fire 1

Kansas City, Kan. — It was a fresh start for both the Fire and their hosts Sporting Kansas City as they kicked off their Leagues Cup campaigns in the midst of disappointing MLS seasons. Ultimately, the Fire fell short, losing 2-1 to the hosts in a game where it felt like they never really had control.

Both teams knew that a win would likely see them through to the next round: Fourteen of fifteen teams that won their groups in last year’s edition of the tournament advanced. On the other hand, both teams also likely knew that the best chance for three points – or any points at all – came in this match, with the other team in the odd-numbered group Liga MX side Toluca, who have recently invested heavily in their squad in an attempt to return to a place amongst the elite of the league that they enjoyed just over a decade ago, and the Fire’s failure to secure a point against a team below them in the MLS table puts the team’s chances of advancing in serious doubt.

Ultimately, the Fire can take some comfort from the fact that the loss came with a heavily depleted squad and from the fact that several first-team debuts seemed to acclimate themselves quickly to MLS-level duties.

Fire Head Coach Frank Klopas, speaking to reporters the day before the match, said that the team’s goal was to have a “good start in the tournament,” and “to put the strongest team we can out there,” but ultimately had a forced hand after excused absences and illness sidelined several key players, including center back Rafael Czichos. As expected, Xherdan Shaqiri, who was named team captain ahead of the 2024 campaign, and whose return to the squad has seemingly been delayed, was not in the lineup, nor were tema-leading scorer Hugo Cuypers or Allan Arigoni, which Klopas said after the game were planned absences after both had played half a season in Europe before arriving with the Fire.

As with a number of other MLS head coaches, Klopas gave his backup goalkeeper the nod for Leagues Cup, granting Spencer Richey his second start with the first team this year and allowing the veteran to reprise his role of tournament goalkeeper that he played throughout the team’s U.S. Open Cup. Richey, ultimately, did not have a memorable outing: Although his athleticism was on full display, he ultimately resorted to punching balls in clearances that all to often landed at the feet of an opponent.

With Cuypers out, Georgios Koutsias and Tom Barlow, neither of whom have managed to find the back of the net this season, started at forward. Tobias Salquist made his first start for the Fire since an injury waylaid his campaign in late April, playing alongside Arnaud Souquet and Jaylen Shannon, a Fire II player getting his first luck with the first team. The midfield was more conventional, featuring Kellyn Acostia, Brian Gutiérrez, and Gastón Giménez, with Maren Haile-Selassie and Fabian Herbers playing as wingbacks.

Longtime Sporting Kansas City Head Coach Peter Vermes also rotated his squad, though featured two of Sporting KC’s three designated players in the Starting XI, with only Alan Pulido, who had begun to fall out of favor, out of the lineup alongside. Unlike Frank Klopas, Vermes opted to playTim Melia, the team’s veteran starting goalkeeper who has a perfect record when games go to penalty kicks – a valuable skill in a competition that has no draws.

From the kickoff, the hosts maintained possession and had the first real chance, when Erik Thommy took a shot from outside the box that Spencer Richey forcefully pulled away for a corner. On the restart, the cross from Sporting KC’s Rémi Walker crossed the ball for William Agada whose header sailed wide of Richey’s net.

The home team continued to press, but the Fire would counter on occasion, with Georgios Koutsias getting the first shot for the Fire a few minutes later. It would be a harbinger. Against the run of play, Brian Gutiérrez played a long pass to Koutias into the box. Koutisas took the pass off his chest and settled it before blasting it past Tim Melia to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

The Fire seemed energized by the goal but within ten minutes, the hosts again had the momentum, with Stephen Afrifa looking especially dangerous for Sporting KC, winning loose balls and making space for himself in the box. In the 38th minute, he earned a free kick after being fouled by Arnaud Souqet which was ultimately converted on a header from Robert Castellanos off a pass by Walter, leveling the game at 1-1 at half.

On the restart, the Fire tried Melia with a shot from Maren Haile-Selassie but were unable to take best Tim Melia as the first half came to a close.

The second half was more end-to-end, but Kansas City clearly helped the lion’s share of momentum and repeatedly tested Richey. Ten minutes in, Omari Glasgow came on after Jaylen Shannon was hurt in an apparent collision that earned him a yellow card, with the team’s short bench forcing Klopas to get creative with his substitutions. That change, or one a few minutes later that saw Christaian Koffi make his MLS debut as Tom Barlow was subbed off, did little to change the tenor of the game.

Although the subs – Koffi in particular – did not look out of place on the pitch, the game still felt like it was Kansas City’s to win, with Agada, Stephan Afrifa and Erik Thommy in particular having time and space in the Fire’s half.

In the 74th minute, Afrifa made his way into the Fire’s box seemingly unopposed, creating time and after beating Souquet as Salquist looked on, but the ball landed with Richey. Two minutes later, however, the Fire netminder wouldn’t be as lucky: Afrifa crossed the ball and found a diving William Agada who headed the ball into the back of the net. Kansas City 2, Fire, 1.

In the ensuing minutes, the Fire would knock, but never with particular force except for a pair of shots in the 85th minute from Haile-Selassie and Giménez which forced saves from Melia.

The Fire – with a somewhat ramshackle lineup, partly by chance, partly by choice – ultimately fell, failing to repeat the feat the team accomplished last year when they beat a strong Minnesota United side away from home.

Given the three team groups, where a win is a ticket, and a point subsequently all but punches it, the team’s advancement out of the group stage is now in serious doubt as they now head home to will face Liga MX powerhouse Toluca in their final – and Toluca’s first – match of the group stage match.