Sporting KC 1-1 Seattle Sounders: Player ratings and tactical analysis in hard-fought draw

Sporting Kansas City earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw with the Seattle Sounders in MLS Week 10. The draw ended a six-match losing streak in all competitions for Sporting Kansas City. The match was notable for the club debut of goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland, who shined in earning player of the match.

The game also saw Sporting show resilience, something that was in short supply in recent weeks. Having gone a goal down in the second minute, Sporting KC fought back, scoring through Dejan Joveljic and putting in a rare strong defensive effort. It is a result to build upon.

How did Sporting KC’s players perform on the day? Let’s look at Fotmob’s ratings of each player and analyze their performances.

Goalkeeper

Stefan Cleveland – 8.5

Cleveland was the star of the show. The well-traveled goalkeeper had not played an MLS match since 2023, yet you would not have known it from his performance. He looked strong, sure-handed, and organized the defense well. After weeks of poor performances from John Pulskamp, Cleveland was a breath of fresh air. Cleveland made seven saves, three of which were diving saves. Six of the seven shots Cleveland saved were from inside the penalty area. One word described Cleveland’s performance: dominant.

Defenders

Right-back

Jake Davis – 6.5

With Justin Reynolds sidelined by another hamstring injury, Davis stepped into right-back. His heatmap shows he was a constant threat in attack, but he did not give up any defensive duties. Davis was involved from the start with 59 touches, a 77% pass success rate, and six passes into the final third. The problem was he completed zero of three crosses. A constant issue with Sporting KC remains failed service into the box.

Center-back

Ethan Bartlow – 7.4

A lot of Sporting fans have lambasted Bartlow as a terrible center-back. Wrong. Bartlow is the only Sporting KC center-back with any real MLS experience. Yes, he had a few bad performances, but the rest of his teammates did too. Bartlow was brilliant against Seattle, thanks in part to having an experienced goalkeeper behind him. Bartlow had 62 touches, completed 45 of 52 passes, and posted five defensive contributions.

Center-back

Wyatt Meyer – 6.5

Meyer and Bartlow are Sporting KC’s best center-back pairing. All five points this season have come with the duo in central defense. Meyer had the joint-most defensive contributions with eight. He also completed 87% of his passes.

Left-back

Jayden Reid – 6.2

Along with Meyer and Bartlow, the other defensive constant in Sporting KC’s five points this season has been Reid at left-back. Having been left on the bench in recent matches, Reid returned with a steady performance. He had only 36 touches, but rarely ventured forward into attack. Reid’s heatmap shows he spent most of the time in Sporting KC’s half focusing on defending. He completed 83% of his passes, had one shot on target, and made five defensive contributions. Reid also won 50% of his aerial duels.

Midfield

Defensive midfielder

Lasse Berg Johnsen – 6.5

Raphael Wicky focused on a more defensive 4-2-3-1 formation, with Johnsen as one of the team’s No. 6s. He spent most of the game focused on protecting the back four, with his heatmap showing him mostly in the Sporting KC half. Johnsen completed 97% of his passes, with four of those passes made into the final third. Johnsen’s performance was not just based on numbers. It was based on his positioning and taking away passing angles from the Seattle midfield.

Defensive midfielder

Jacob Bartlett – 6.7

Bartlett had another strong performance, which is still a rarity. He too was deployed as a No. 6, pairing with Johnsen in midfield. Like Johnsen, he mostly stayed in the Sporting KC half protecting the back four. Bartlett completed 97% of his passes and made five defensive contributions. Impressively, Bartlett won three of three ground duels and 50% of his aerial duels.

Forwards

Right wing

Capita – 6.6

We are still waiting for Capita to explode onto the scene in MLS; and against the Sounders, we once again saw flashes of what Capita can do. He had just 32 touches, with much of his movement up the right flank and around the halfway line. Capita completed 11 of 13 passes, had one shot on target, eight defensive contributions, and three touches in the opposition penalty area. The one negative area of Capita’s match was losing six of eight ground duels.

Attacking midfielder

Manu Garcia – 6.2

Garcia played an advanced midfielder role, sometimes as a No. 10 and sometimes as a second striker. It was not his strongest game. Garcia did not get as much of the ball as in past matches when playing a deeper role. The Spaniard had just 33 touches in 84 minutes, but still completed 92% of his passes and created two goal-scoring chances.

Left wing

Shapi – 7.2

Shapi was a surprise inclusion in the starting XI. Since being sent off against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks in the U.S. Open Cup, Shapi had been in Wicky’s doghouse. He did not disappoint on Saturday. Shapi was a constant runner up and down the left, whether doubling up to help Reid in defense or combining with fellow attackers. He had eight defensive contributions, joint-most with Meyer and Capita. Shapi completed 23 of 25 passes and had two shots on target.

Striker

Dejan Joveljic – 7.5

It was another goal for Joveljic, taking his total to five this season. The Serbian has six goal involvements, while Sporting KC have tallied a mere eight goals as a team. The captain has contributed to 75% of Sporting’s goals. The team is extremely dependent on Joveljic to score or create. Joveljic had only one other shot on target during the game. This reaffirms that he does not see the ball enough in goal-scoring areas.

Substitutes

Calvin Harris – 6.2

Harris came on for Capita as Wicky needed fresh legs to see out the game. Harris had a mere three touches in 16 minutes. As has been the problem all season, Sporting KC struggled to get the speedster the ball. Harris had a 100% pass success rate.

Taylor Calheira – NR

Calheira was a surprise sub off the bench. He played just six minutes, tallying six touches of the ball. The winter transfer signing had one shot on target and could have won Sporting KC the match with a better-placed shot. Calheira continues to find minutes difficult at the MLS level.

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