Month: August 2021

Sporting Kansas City (9-4-3, 30 points) fell 2-1 to FC Dallas (4-7-5, 17 points) on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park, suffering its first regular season home loss since September 2020.

Paxton Pomykal and Jesus Ferreira struck early in each half for the visitors, and although captain Johnny Russell grabbed a goal back in the 85th minute, Sporting’s spirited late rally wasn’t enough to extend an 11-game home unbeaten run.

Saturday’s frustrating defeat keeps Sporting in second place in the Western Conference, three points behind leaders Seattle Sounders FC.

Dallas, meanwhile, broke a club-record eight-match road losing streak that dated back to November 2020 and improved to 5-0-1 in its last six meetings against Sporting.

An unchanged Sporting Kansas City side from last Sunday’s 3-1 road win over Seattle Sounders FC fell behind inside three minutes.

A well-worked Dallas attack culminated with Ryan Hollingshead playing to Pomykal, who picked out the low left corner with an impressive 20-yard strike past goalkeeper Tim Melia.

The goal was Pomykal’s first of the season and the earliest conceded by Sporting since June 23, 2018.

The visitors could have doubled their advantage in the eighth minute, but Ricardo Pepi’s close-range chip shot at a tight angle was repelled by Melia.

Sporting gradually grew into the game from there, with Gadi Kinda on the end of two fleeting chances near the half-hour mark. His bouncing header off a pinpoint Graham Zusi cross was smothered by Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Mauer before another headed attempt — this one off a looping Daniel Salloi cross — skipped marginally wide.

Dallas had scored twice in its first seven away matches this season but doubled that haul in the 51st minute.

Following a giveaway at midfield, head coach Luchi Gonzalez’s side cashed in as Ferreira sent an excellent curler into the top right corner from the top of the box. The homegrown forward now has three goals in five career appearances against Sporting, including two at Children’s Mercy Park.

Playing their 400th regular season home match, Sporting gained steam as the second half wore on and almost halved the deficit in the 54th minute. Salloi dashed onto Russell’s high-arching long ball and lobbed his shot over the bar with multiple defenders putting him under duress and Mauer advanced well off his line.

Sporting amplified their pressure and were unlucky not to find the back of the net in the 60th minute. Kinda’s low drive was cast aside by the outstretched Mauer, Salloi was toppled to the turf by Ema Twumasi on the rebound and Russell’s follow-up effort was blocked through traffic.

Shortly after Dallas substitute Jader Obrian spurned a chance to put the game to bed on the breakaway, Kinda tucked the ball into the back of the net amid a chaotic goalmouth scramble. However, the linesman had raised his flag after Salloi was deemed to be offside in the buildup to the goal.

Russell delivered Sporting a deserved goal in the 85th minute, snapping a powerful header low across Mauer off Salloi’s teasing delivery from the right wing. The Scottish winger has three goals in his last four appearances, while Salloi is tied for the MLS lead with 13 combined goals (nine) and primary assists (four).

Salloi’s helper also extended a streak as Sporting KC Academy products have now scored or assisted in 11 straight matches.

Manager Peter Vermes’ men pushed hard in search of a late leveler, but Dallas leveraged the waning clock to their advantage and emerged with all three points.

Sporting will have an opportunity to bounce back quickly as it begins a stretch of six matches in 18 days starting next week. First is a challenging road trip to LAFC (6-5-5, 23 points) on Wednesday, with kickoff at Banc of California Stadium slated for 9:30 p.m. Fans can catch the action live on Bally Sports Kansas City Plus, Bally Sports Midwest Plus, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app.

• Story from Sporting KC