Sporting KC finally show signs of life in hard-earned draw against Seattle Sounders
After six straight defeats, Raphael Wicky’s team produced one of its most complete performances of the season in a 1-1 draw
In the immortal words of the legendary Robert Fuller—not the actor, but the American professional wrestler—it can always get worse.
Having found new ways to concede goals and lose football matches, it has felt for weeks like it can always get worse for Sporting Kansas City.
Then, a surprise came to town.
On Saturday night, after losing six straight matches in all competitions, we saw something we hadn’t seen in months. We saw a Sporting Kansas City team that was defensively resilient, created goal-scoring chances, and picked up a point in a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders.
This was the best Sporting Kansas City have played since the 2-1 win away against the LA Galaxy on March 14. That victory in La La Land came around seven weeks ago. In that time, the team suffered humiliation, frustration, and devastation. Against the Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kansas City looked transformed. The play was stronger, the defending was on point, and, above all else, the goalkeeping was stellar.
I walked into my house at 7:30 p.m. UK time having come from my own football match. I thought I’d quickly hop in the shower, get changed, and get back downstairs, with pizza fresh from the oven, before I’d missed anything.
EEEGGGGHHH. Wrong.
By the time I got back downstairs, Sporting KC were losing 1-0 to the Sounders. It was just the second minute of the match and Sporting were already down a goal. My initial thought was, here we go again. That thought was likely the same thing all 11 players on the pitch were thinking 4,200 miles away.
Seattle started slowly, with Sporting’s players holding their shape and baiting them to make a move. In the second minute, the Sounders made that move, playing a long diagonal ball. Wyatt Meyer and Jesus Ferreira challenged for it, with the ball coming off the Sporting KC defender’s shoulder. Of course, with Sporting KC’s fortunes in the toilet at the minute, the loose ball fell to Seattle’s Paul Rothrock, who shot past goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland to make it 1-0.
Here we go again.
Yet, unlike against the Chicago Fire the previous week, Sporting KC did not collapse in on themselves. Rather, resilience was shown by MLS’s most fragile team. Just 16 minutes later, Dejan Joveljic had Sporting KC level. The Serbian hitman pounced on a poor Seattle backpass and hit it first time past goalkeeper Andrew Thomas.
As I’ve said before, Joveljic is MLS’s best finisher. Just imagine if he got more of the ball in dangerous areas.
Stefan Cleveland took his chance
While Joveljic got the equalizer, it was not the striker who was Sporting KC’s most important player. Rather, it was goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland.
Having made mistake after mistake this season, John Pulskamp was finally replaced by Cleveland. Signed to a one-year contract in the offseason from Austin FC, Cleveland was brought to Kansas City to challenge Pulskamp for the No. 1 shirt. With Pulskamp playing so poorly for much of the season, Cleveland did not have to provide much competition. However injuries kept the veteran from playing at times.
With that said, let’s be fair to Pulskamp, he has made some big saves this season. Although, I will certainly argue he has struggled to make some of the more basic saves. Pulskamp faced seven shots on target and conceded five against the Fire. That tells you a lot about his play in 2026.
Ridiculously, I’ve read comments on social media from clueless fans backing Pulskamp, writing posts about how goalkeepers like Manuel Neuer and Gianluigi Donnarumma would not be able to save the shots Pulskamp was conceding. Those were some of the stupidest comments I’ve ever read. It shows these types of fans do not actually watch or know anything about football.
Pulskamp is just 24 and was thrust into the Sporting KC goalkeeping job more out of necessity than because of strong play. Most goalkeepers do not hit their prime until their late 20s or early 30s. Cleveland is 31. He has seen more football and has had more experience over the years, even if he has not regularly been a No. 1.
Cleveland is a well-traveled goalkeeper. He started with the Fire before moving to the Tulsa Roughnecks, Lansing Ignite, Seattle Sounders, Tacoma Defiance, and Austin. While Cleveland has played a mere 66 times as a professional footballer, he has still spent years in professional environments training, watching, and learning.
Cleveland had not played an MLS match since 2023. Over the last two seasons, the goalkeeper saw limited action for Seattle and Austin, appearing mostly in the Leagues Cup or U.S. Open Cup. His performance on Saturday against the Sounders did not show a player short on minutes. Rather, it showed a goalkeeper who produced a brilliant display, took his moment, and solidified himself as the man who should be in goal moving forward.
How good was Cleveland against the Sounders? Firstly, he received Fotmob’s highest rating of the match at 8.5. Cleveland made seven saves, conceded one goal, and prevented 1.96 goals. He made three diving saves, and six of his seven saves came inside the penalty area. Cleveland looked sure-handed and gave the defense confidence in its goalkeeper—something Pulskamp has not.
The defense finally looked organized
Sporting KC fans have blasted center-back Ethan Bartlow this season. Yes, Bartlow has had some poor games. Yet, so has every other player at Sporting KC over the last seven weeks.
What the typical fan will not know is that Sporting KC’s one win and two draws this season all featured Bartlow and Meyer in central defense. They did not feature the slow, positionally unaware Diego Borges. They did not feature Ian James or Jansen Miller. They featured the two center-backs Sporting KC signed from their trials, two players with varying degrees of MLS experience at other clubs.
It was not just Bartlow and Meyer who were the common thread in all three of those matches in which Sporting KC picked up points. Left-back Jayden Reid started all three fixtures.
So, what is the moral of the story?
Having a regular defense will likely improve your chances of collecting points.
This looked like a team with a plan
I’ve said all season that I will be completely honest with anything I write about Sporting KC. I thought the team played brilliantly against Seattle.
Sure, the Wizards gave up possession, tallying just 34%, but possession is the most overrated stat.
What was most impressive were the chances Sporting KC created. The team had 10 shots, seven on target, an xG of 1.29, and two big chances created. Yes, Seattle had 26 total shots with nine on target. But Sporting conceded just once, showing an improved defensive performance.
It also showed that putting more pressure on Seattle’s defense took pressure off Sporting KC’s backline.
Looking deeper, Seattle produced only an xG of 1.81. Sporting KC’s defense prevented the Sounders from generating a wave of truly high-quality goal-scoring chances.
This performance was the improvement fans had been waiting for. It was a great point against one of the Western Conference’s best teams. Like the 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy, this is a result to build on.
Now, with the Portland Timbers up next, Sporting KC should feel confident they can get more points in a week’s time. However, they will need to reproduce this defensive performance to ensure points are possible.
Remember, it can always get worse.
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