Sporting KC lets 3-0 lead slip away at home vs. Portland Timbers, settles for tie

Sporting Kansas City couldn’t have gotten off to a better start against the visiting Portland Timbers on Sunday afternoon at Children’s Mercy Park.

Willy Agada scored twice and Dany Rosero once — via a perfect header on a corner kick — and KC led the visiting club 3-0 at halftime.

But for the second time in three weeks, Sporting KC collapsed at home in the second half. The Timbers scored three times after intermission to pull even entering 10 minutes of stoppage time.

And that’s how it ended: 3-3. The “tale of two halves” cliche had struck again.

Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes was short and to the point afterward, saying the result reflected “bad management.”

“I’m not going to tell you what I told the guys at halftime,” he said. “But what I told them to do, we did the complete opposite, which resulted in the ball being in our end most of the half, or at least until they tied the game up.”

In the first half, Sporting indeed controlled the ball. Vermes’ team put six of 11 shots on target — including the three that found the back of the net.

In the second half, however, Portland won the possession battle despite ceding most of the final 10 minutes after pulling even. The Timbers put seven of nine shots on target, and until the equalizer Portland had 60% of the second-half possession.

So what changed, and why did Vermes think his instructions went unheeded?

“I wish I could tell you,” he said. “But I’ll find out for sure, and that ain’t gonna happen (again) because it’s what put us in the position that we’re in.”

When media were allowed to enter the post-match locker room, Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell — who missed his third straight game due to injury — was wrapping up a passionate message to his teammates about dropping points in such fashion at home.

Sporting KC has now lost seven points from winning positions in the second half of matches at Children’s Mercy Park this season.

Defender Tim Leibold said the team needed to hear Russell’s message.

“We are not winning the Philly game at home because we concede the goal at the end of the game,” he said. “We’re losing the L.A. game at home; we’re scoring twice.

“And we’re scoring three goals today. We’re not winning (this) game as well. We have to talk about that, because that’s (a lot of) points. And I hope (we’re) not going to miss them at the end of the season.”

After an unlucky night in Toronto last weekend, Agada found some good fortune in the 13th minute of Sunday’s match. His left-footed volley from outside the box deflected off a Timbers defender and into the top corner of the net.

Then Rosero and Memo Rodriguez teamed up for what felt like an alley-oop off a corner kick. Rodriguez’s service gave Rosero a slam-dunk header as the latter man beat Timbers goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau to the ball.

Sporting KC scored another goal off a set piece just before halftime. Rodriguez played provider again, serving to Portland’s back post. Robert Voloder headed the ball back across the face of the goal for Agada to tap in.

But what looked like an opportunity for Sporting to go up 4-0 became a 3-2 scoreline in less than 10 minutes.

First, Agada pulled a penalty kick wide with an opportunity for a hat trick in the 61st minute.

Three minutes later, Portland earned and converted a penalty kick of its own. And two minutes after that, Felipe Mora tapped home a ball to make it 3-2.

The Timbers completed their comeback in the 80th minute when Eric Miller smashed home a rebound from KC keeper Tim Melia’s initial diving save off a free header in the box.

Agada said mistakes will happen — he pointed to his own penalty miss as an example — but acknowledged that Sporting KC must do more than just talk about correcting things.

“I know we cannot just keep saying we’re gonna fix it all the time,” he said. “I think that this time around, we really just have to fix it. It’s on every player, not just the defenders, strikers or midfield. I think it’s on each and every one of us, especially me.”

Sporting KC next play host to Inter Miami and international soccer superstar Lionel Messi next Saturday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.