Five Observations from Sporting KC II versus St Louis FC

Sporting Kansas City II had a disappointing result at the tail end of their third game in eight days (and fourth in 12). They drew late against St. Louis FC after being ahead and the better team for much of their fifth consecutive road game.

Let’s look at what stood out from the game.

The Final Goal Sequence

I’m going to break this into three parts, as there was some potential controversy. The “extra” stoppage time, the corner kick and the goal itself.

Extra Stoppage Time

Extra time or stoppage time is something that is always in contention. When you are leading it’s always too long. When you are trailing, it seems the ref blows their whistle early. And of course, the stoppage time added is a “minimum” but sometimes it doesn’t even make it to the minimum before the ref blows his whistle.

In this case, the game ran for an extra minute beyond the minimum five minutes that was to be added. The only thing that could have added time was Remi Priuer’s stupid yellow card for time wasting (from the bench). Even then, the ball went out at 94:22 and was thrown back in at 94:42, half of which was the Saint Louis player deciding where to throw the ball. Stoppage time is weird but adding a minute for this feels harsh.

Should it Have Been a Corner?

This one is tougher to tell. I watch the replay frame by frame and you just can’t tell if Brooks Thompson pushes it over the bar. It’s incredibly close but the frame where his hand is nearest the ball there is a gap. That said, it’s potentially just my terrible gif making technology. It’s unlucky as the ref could have easily blown the whistle at this point because play was beyond the “end” of stoppage time anyways.

Was St. Louis Offside?

This one is more clear. From the initial replay I thought the player who touches/tries to touch the ball back to Phanuel Kavita for the game tying goal was offside. However, upon further review, it appears Jaret Townsend, who is on the near post, doesn’t step quick enough and he’s onside when the ball is played his direction. Here is the initial shot and a zoomed shot from the broadcast. You’ll see Townsend on the far right next to Thompson keeping the player on. It’s also possible the player is even with the next SKC II defender (maybe Kaveh Rad?) as well. These frames are from the kick point.

Missed Chances

Fredlin “Fredinho” Mompremier probably played the best game of his Kansas City life so far. His best chance came in the 68th minute that hit the crossbar from inside the box.

Fredinho still took too many touches at times but he did have the pass that setup the not-quite game winning goal. He also sprayed a few other delightful passes into the box, including one Wilson Harris should have gotten a free header on goal but somehow didn’t.

In addition, Enoch Mushagalusa was one-on-one with the keeper early in the game. He probably just needs to take a touch around the keeper and pass it into the net but instead he fires a shot directly at Berner and he makes the save. Directly afterwards, Enoch regathers the ball and instead of a simple square ball to Harris to put it away, he takes too many touches in the box and loses possession. Enoch did have SKC II’s only goal on a tap in rebound.

Another miss came late in the game when Dominik Resetar got in a great spot all alone with the keeper for a sure goal but somehow missed the target entirely. If SKC II put away any of those four chances (among others) then the late goal from St. Louis FC is nothing but a consolation goal.

Brooks Thompson is Legit

The 18-year-old goal keeper once again played out of his mind, though he was tested less than in prior games because Saint Louis struggled to put shots on target. You can see what Paulo Nagamura and Peter Vermes see in the kid and why they were so disappointed he missed nearly all of 2019 with a back injury. He made four saves, including some big spots throughout the game. He definitely looks like someone with a first team future.

SKC II get a rare weekend off and will return to action next Wednesday against Louisville City FC at 7:00 PM CT. Sporting split the first two games at Lynn Family Stadium so far this year. As they are playing 14 of 16 games on the road, they’ll had back to Kentucky for the rubber match.