Sporting Kansas City (10-6-3, 33 points) delivered an emphatic second-half display to surge atop the Western Conference standings on Saturday night, defeating the Colorado Rapids (5-5-4, 19 points) by a 4-0 scoreline at Children’s Mercy Park.
After a scoreless opening 45 minutes, Alan Pulido, Andreu Fontas, Gadi Kinda and Gerso Fernandes all found the back of the net as part of a wire-to-wire performance in which goalkeeper Tim Melia earned his 50th regular season shutout for Sporting and moved into a tie with Tony Meola for first place on the club’s all-time regular season saves chart.
Saturday’s result vaults Sporting a point ahead of Seattle Sounders FC and the Portland Timbers at the top of the West with three regular season matches remaining.