Battered and bruised, Sporting KC is still finding goals, picking up crucial points

You wouldn’t know it from its record, but Sporting Kansas City is in a string of bad luck.

The squad just can’t stay out of the trainer’s room long enough to field a full-strength team. Twelve games into its Major League Soccer season, that’s hardly mattered for SKC: A 2-1 come-from-behind win against Los Angeles FC on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park gave it 23 points on the season, one point behind the Western Conference leaders Seattle Sounders.

But injuries hurt. They certainly did for right back Jaylin Lindsey (hamstring) and striker Alan Pulido (foot), who each left Sporting’s match Saturday. Yet the points just keep on coming.

“Everybody understands their role and responsibility when they go in,” SKC coach Peter Vermes said after the match. “And there’s an accountability factor as well. It’s hard to go into a game and not realize that you have a role to play to try to help capture the result. The guys feel that, and that’s the sign of a team that wants to compete.”

Sporting has had to deal with nearly every area of the pitch being affected by some sort of injury bug, forcing Vermes to adjust tactically.

The defensive backline, for instance, has had the likes of starting-quality players Graham Zusi and Nicolas Isimat-Mirin miss multiple games due to injury. The midfield has been without Gadi Kinda as he deals with a foot injury picked up on international duty with Israel, nor has it been with Remi Walter as he nurses a knee injury. Not even goalkeeper is safe: Three of the teams shot-stoppers, including starter Tim Melia (chest), were out for the season-opening match at the New York Red Bulls. Melia wound up missing SKC’s first five games.

Constant squad rotation is a headache for any manager. For example, after reaching his maximum allowed opportunities for substitutions, Vermes said he likely would’ve made a tactical change after winger Daniel Salloi scored what proved to be the winner in the 87th minute on Saturday. But because of the injuries, he couldn’t.

“The other problem, too, is that you’ve got to remember you have certain guys that are injured that are already out which actually could’ve started this game,” Vermes said. “(I) maybe not (have) started Roger Espinoza in this game or maybe Wednesday. It’s that rotation of the roster that you’re also unable to do.”

Zusi, himself likely not 90-minute fit as he returns from a hamstring injury, was quickly thrust into the right back spot after Lindsey was forced to come off. Despite saying it took him “until halftime” to catch his wind, Zusi was a worthwhile contributor in attack, particuarly after Los Angeles FC went down to 10 men following Tristan Blackmon’s red card in the 58th minute.

“We’ve always been a team that’s used our depth extremely well,” Zusi said. “There’s guys like Felipe (Hernandez) now stepping up and having a huge role in the last couple of games. (It’s) just guys being ready when their number’s called.”

Hernandez, who’s garnered increased minutes in Kinda’s absence, has indeed been a significant in Sporting’s two wins this week. He had a goal and an assist in a midweek 3-1 win against the Colorado Rapids, then laid off a pass to Salloi on Saturday for the Hungarian’s match-winning goal.

Salloi hasn’t seemed to be affected by the constant rotation in the squad this year, which is a compliment to both him and Sporting’s production as a whole. It certainly hasn’t slowed him down en route to seven goals, one behind the league lead.

“It’s not me that has to adapt, it’s them, and they’re doing a great job,” Salloi said of those going in and out of the Sporting squad. “Perfect example is Zusi and Jaylin, the way they are switching from game to game. ... In the Euros, you watch Italy, they use every single one of their players. And that shows I think a great team chemistry.”

Three matches in eight days for Sporting certainly didn’t help injury matters, but getting six points out of that stretch did.

Now, imagine what Sporting can do when it’s finally healthy.

“You know, I’m amazed sometimes at how guys get injured,” Vermes said. “For all the things that we do and all the training and all the preparation, all the things. But it’s a tough game. You have to run a lot, it’s a lot of demand. This was a tough week ... so hopefully we’ll get healthy and be back.”