Tag: Sporting KC

by Brian Turrel

For the second time in as many meetings, Real Salt Lake delivered a loss to Sporting Kansas City with a goal in stoppage time. The stakes were bigger the second time around, and the loss ended Kansas City’s season on Sunday in front of 21,650 fans at standing-room-only Children’s Mercy Park.

Kansas City held a 1-0 halftime lead thanks to a Johnny Russell penalty kick in the 21st minute. Gadi Kinda earned the penalty when he was hit with a late challenge by Aaron Herrera just inside the Salt Lake 18-yard box.

Kansas City had a chance to double the lead in the 45th minute when Remi Walter won a challenge in the Salt Lake end and fired a long-range blast up the middle, but Walter’s shot was just wide to the right.

Salt Lake upped its offensive intensity in the second half. Though the visitors didn’t record a shot in the first 20 minutes after the break, they then created 5 shots in quick succession, including the equalizer in the 73rd minute. Andrew Brody crossed the ball from the left wing for Anderson Julio to nod in.

After conceding the goal, Kansas City was on the back foot for the remainder of the match though the team held off Salt Lake’s pressure through regulation.

As the clock hit 90 minutes, overtime looked certain, but Salt Lake got four players out on a fast break in the first minute of stoppage time. The Kansas City defense was slow to recover, and Justin Meram played a cross from the left side to Bobby Wood who redirected it to the far corner of the goal.

A shocked silence settled across the stadium, and Sporting’s late, frantic efforts went for naught.

After the match, head coach Peter Vermes questioned his team’s engagement in the game.

“We just weren’t out putting pressure on them,” Vermes said. “We gave them too much time and space on the ball. If you just look at their two goals, we have chances to win the ball, chase the guy down, and we just weren’t there. We weren’t there. We weren’t in the game as we normally are for some reason.”

Team captain Russell agreed with the coach about the lack of pressure.

“We sat back too much,” the Scottish forward said. “[We] gave them way too much respect, gave way too much of the ball and when you camp that far in your half, they’re going to create chances. Unfortunately for us, they took them.”

Salt Lake advances to the conference final where it will face the Portland Timbers, who won their semi-final Thursday against Seattle.

The MLS season will start earlier than usual next year, due to the 2022 World Cup. Kansas City’s first match will be at Atlanta on Feb. 27, with the home opener March 5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Brian Turrel

Sporting Kansas City enters the MLS playoffs on a sour note, giving up a goal late in second half stoppage time to Real Salt Lake and dropping to third in the Western Conference standings.

The loss came with controversy. A penalty area hand ball by Salt Lake defender Justen Glad went unmarked by referee Ted Unkle in the final minute of regulation. Unkle also declined a video review of the incident, to great displeasure from the crowd and the team.

A call would have given Kansas City a penalty kick and the likely chance of closing out the match ahead 1-0.

In his post-game press conference, manager Peter Vermes ripped into the officials and the league. He called the officials’ failure a “travesty,” noting that it affected not just the teams in the match but also knocked the Los Angeles Galaxy out of the playoffs due to Salt Lake’s win.

Vermes, who earlier in the season pledged to refrain from commenting on officials, didn’t hold back in his post-game press conference. He called the decision a “black mark on this league,” and “unprofessional.”

“The fact that we missed that out there, in any game,” said the coach, “let alone the magnitude of this game, is incredibly disappointing to someone who has been in the league since 1996. We have come so far, but we haven’t come far enough. I’m embarrassed to be part of the league when you can’t do that.”

The 1-0 loss is the third consecutive for the team, which will open the playoffs at home against the sixth place Vancouver Whitecaps.

Following the match, goalkeeper Tim Melia hit a positive note, saying that at the start of the season the team would have gladly accepted the chance to open the playoffs at home.

Kansas City controlled most of the possession and had multiple scoring opportunities, especially in the second half. Daniel Salloi found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper David Ochoa in the 49th minute and again in the 62nd, but was denied by the keeper both times.

The Sporting lineup had multiple changes from the squad that played at Austin on Wednesday, due to a lengthy injury list. Frequent scorers Johnny Russell and Gadi Kinda both stayed on the sidelines, and Grayson Barber and Khiry Shelton started the match in their stead. Center back fixture Ilie Sanchez also started the game on the bench.

The date and time for Kansas City’s first-round playoff match against Vancouver at Children’s Mercy Park will be announced later by the league.