Sporting Kansas City gets equalizer from Johnny Russell, leaves L.A. with tie vs. LAFC

Despite conceding an early goal, Sporting Kansas City earned a draw on the road against the defending MLS Cup champions Wednesday night.

Johnny Russell’s 50th regular-season goal for Sporting KC canceled out Denis Bouanga’s opener in a 1-1 finish at BMO Stadium that afforded each team a point in the standings.

Sporting KC (2-7-4) continued a run of good form in recent MLS games. On Saturday, Sporting KC beat Minnesota United 3-0.

Sporting manager Peter Vermes hailed the response of his squad in L.A. after going down a goal in the first 15 minutes. Plenty of times this season, Sporting KC’s heads have dropped after conceding and falling behind.

“Their mentality is in a really good place,” Vermes said. “We’re building confidence week after week and this was a massive point and a massive performance against a really good team.”

As expected on the road against the defending champs, Sporting KC took some punches. LAFC struck first through superstar forward Bouanga, whose low-driven shot got past Sporting KC goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh in the 13th minute.

It was Bouanga’s 16th goal in 17 matches across all competitions this season.

But Sporting KC punched back in the 20th minute thanks to captain Johnny Russell, whose weaving, dribbling run through the box gave him space to unleash a shot past the LAFC keeper.

The goal was Russell’s 50th in the MLS regular season, ranking him third all-time for Sporting. He’s the third Sporting KC player to score 50 regular-season goals for the club, joining Preki (71) and Dom Dwyer (57).

Russell’s goal also marked a turning of the page for Sporting, symbolic of a mentality that has “completely shifted,” as the captain put it.

“We’ve managed to turn a corner recently,” he said, “and we’ve managed to build on every game. I think it’s another step in the right direction that we can show we can come from behind against a team like that.”

Wednesday night’s draw, combined with the L.A. Galaxy’s 2-0 loss at Columbus, elevates Sporting KC out of the Western Conference cellar.

McIntosh started for the injured Tim Melia and made six saves. Melia sustained a hip flexor injury in Saturday’s win over Minnesota and, according to Vermes on Tuesday, will undergo a scan later in the week to determine its severity.

McIntosh was thankful for the opportunity to make his third MLS start.

“That beginning was a little scary,” McIntosh said, “but I’m glad that the boys picked me up and we all had really good responses. It is an awesome group to be a part of and I’m really happy we got the point.”

Sporting KC next heads to St. Louis ahead of Saturday night’s match against Major League Soccer newcomer St. Louis City SC. It will be the first matchup between the geographic neighbors ... and perhaps soon enough, rivals.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 8:55 p.m. Central Time at CITY Park in St. Louis.