Sporting Kansas City is up 1-0 on rival St. Louis City FC in the best-of-3 first-round series in the MLS Cup Playoffs, after a 4-1 victory in St. Louis on a rain-soaked Sunday night contest.
Logan Ndenbe, Remi Walter, Gadi Kinda, and Alan Pulido scored goals for Sporting, with Ndenbe, a 23-year old, opening the scoring in the 23rd minute with his first goal as a professional.
The loss for St. Louis, the #1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, puts the team in a must-win scenario headed back to Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas for this weekend’s Game 2. St. Louis is the first expansion team to reach the playoffs since Inter Miami and Nashville in 2020.
In Wednesday night’s Wild Card game, Kansas City battled the visiting San Jose Earthquakes to a scoreless draw through regulation time, before Daniel Salloi hit the winning penalty kick in a 4-2 finish for SKC. Johnny Russell was successful on the first penalty kick for Kansas City, with goalkeeper Tim Melia shifting momentum to Sporting with a save on San Jose’s Christian Espinoza.
