KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Two steps forward, one step back.
That's the dance Sporting Kansas City is doing these days.
After not winning a match for its first 10 MLS games this season, Sporting then surged back, winning four matches and tying another in May.
The team then continued its stellar play in June with a draw against Vancouver and a 4-1 win over Austin FC.
The push vaulted SKC over the Playoff Line in the Western Conference.
But then came last week.
"Obviously we slipped up. It just happens," Sporting KC forward Daniel Salloi said.
Sporting lost at home to LAFC, drew on the road at the LA Galaxy and then lost another at home to Chicago.
"We did lose some momentum, especially in two of the games, in the two games at home," Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said.
Sporting now sits in 11th place in the west, two spots below the playoff line.
"We are the ones who put ourselves here and we are the ones that have to find a way to get out of it," Vermes said.
A win at home on Saturday against Vancouver could propel Sporting back over the playoff line, but the team will be in a dogfight the rest of the season.
"What's still more annoying than this late bad form is the first 10 games," Salloi said. "Because this would be fine if you didn't have the first 10 games."
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