Sporting Kansas City interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin says his side’s inability to gain control in the first half was key to their 3-0 hammering by the Vancouver Whitecaps last month.

Emmanuel Sabbi, J.C. Ngando and Mathias Laborda were on target at BC Place on July 27 as Vancouver eased to victory before the MLS Leagues Cup break.

Sabbi, Ngando, and Laborda all found the net to pave the way for a comfortable victory, leaving Zavagnin’s side in 13th place in the Western Conference.

Zavagnin admitted that slow starts have been a recurring problem.

“We were on the backfoot [against Vancouver] and we wanted to be on the front foot,” the interim Kansas boss reflected after the match.

“Although we started the second half of the game in a decent way, we just couldn’t command control of it.

“Unfortunately, we gave up two goals, two goals that were preventable, and went into half-time down 2-0.”

Zavagnin added that despite an improved second half, it wasn’t enough for his side to claw back a result.

“We had to make some tactical changes, and it shifted the game in a decent way for us in the second half. I thought we were going to get a goal midway through that half.

“But once again, it’s a story of the first half and not being able to gain control of that, which did us in against a good team tonight.”

Sporting KC have another stern test ahead of them this Saturday as they host Western Conference leaders San Diego FC, who are enjoying a positive MLS run despite crashing out of the group stages of the Leagues Cup.

Mikey Varas’ side suffered losses to Pachuca and Tigres UNAL in the Leagues Cup, though they restored some of their confidence with a 2-0 win over Mazatlan on Wednesday.

Their last MLS outing saw them hold off Nashville SC 1-0, courtesy of a decisive second-half goal from Hirving Lozano, extending their impressive away win streak to four matches.

“We always look at it as different opportunities, different challenges, different phases of the season,” Varas said ahead of Saturday’s match.

“This Kansas game is kind of a closing of this congested summer phase, so for us, it's about finishing this moment really strong.

“We’ll be coming off a game three days prior, so it’s just about being able to turn that around, recover, take the things we did really well against Mazatlan and some things we still want to be better at, and then finish this moment strong to set us up for this final push in the league.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sporting KC – Dejan Joveljic

Dejan Joveljic has been one of Sporting KC’s most prolific players this regular season. He leads the club with 13 goals through his 22 matches.

Against Vancouver, despite an overall poor team performance, Joveljic managed two shots inside the box and created one big chance at an individual expected goals (xG) value of 0.32.

San Diego FC – Anders Dreyer

Anders Dreyer recorded his 15th assist in his 25th MLS match, setting up the lone goal in San Diego FC’s win over Nashville SC on July 25.

Only Marco Etcheverry (19), Carlos Valderrama (19) and Lionel Messi (18) had more assists in their first 25 career MLS matches than Dreyer’s 15.

MATCH PREDICTION: SAN DIEGO WIN

San Diego have won four straight regular-season away matches this season, totalling 14 goals in those matches and becoming the first expansion team to win four straight regular-season away matches outright (excluding breakaway shoot-out victories).

They lead the West with 48 goals scored this season and 16 conceded, making them the best offence and second-best defence in the Western Conference.

Sporting KC, meanwhile, faced 21 shots in their defeat to Vancouver, marking the sixth time they have faced 20 or more shots in a match this season, tied with Colorado for the most such matches in MLS this season.

While their current form may not inspire much confidence, the hosts have a strong record against expansion sides to look back on ahead of Saturday’s clash. They are unbeaten in eight straight home matches against expansion sides (including playoffs), with CF Montreal in 2012 the last expansion side to win at Kansas City.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Sporting KC – 30.8%

Draw – 25.1%

Atlanta – 44.1%