Sporting Kansas City Defeats St. Louis City 4-1 in Opening Match of MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Series

Eighth-seeded Sporting Kansas City outshined top-seeded St. Louis City, netting three goals during a 12-minute stretch; Playoffs' Round Two match poised to decide series continuity.

• Sporting Kansas City, ranked eighth, secured a commanding 4-1 victory over top-seeded St. Louis City in the first round of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, with goals by Logan Ndenbe, Remi Walter, Gadi Kinda, and Daniel Salloi.
• St. Louis City's solitary goal was scored by Tim Parker, but the expansion franchise has struggled recently, losing their last three matches by a cumulative 9-1 score.
• Sporting Kansas City, which had a disappointing start to the season (0-7-3 in its first 10 matches), managed a significant turnaround and only qualified for the postseason on the last day of the regular season.
• Despite St. Louis City having won two of the three regular-season meetings with Sporting Kansas City, the latter have come back strong, winning their last four consecutive matches since their 4-1 loss to St. Louis on Sept. 30.
• Sporting Kansas City will now host St. Louis City in the second match of the best-of-three series with the potential of progressing to the conference semifinals with another victory.

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