Sporting Kansas City took the field at Children’s Mercy Park in perhaps the most uncomfortable position they’ve been in since the stadium opened in 2011. Sitting in 10th place in the West with just nine games left in the 2019 season, SKC pretty much had to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes if they had any hope of making the postseason.
It may not have been pretty the entire time, but thankfully Sporting KC found a way to get it done.
The game started out entirely in the Earthquakes favor. San Jose had been threatening for much of the first 20 minutes, with Cristian Espinoza’s speed clearly giving Luis Martins trouble in his first MLS start.