Sporting Kansas City threw substantial resources toward its preparation of the opening weeks of the year, complete with its players spending nights in altitude tents and cutting short their offseasons. To be sure, they handled it admirably.
It’s the aftermath that proved the greater challenge.
Three days after a trip to Mexico, Sporting KC allowed Los Angeles FC forward Adama Diomande to strike at the final whistle, the game-winner in a 2-1 result Sunday night on the West Coast.
“You work so hard all that time,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said, “But I think we were a little lax there in the last couple minutes of the game.