Tag: Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City’s run in the MLS is Back Tournament ended Thursday with a 3-1 quarterfinal loss to the Philadelphia Union at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World in Florida.

The Union struck three times in the space of 15 minutes to build a commanding first-half lead, and although Alan Pulido pulled a goal back on the stroke of intermission, Philadelphia emerged victorious to reach the semifinals and eliminate Sporting from the competition.

With Sporting’s participation in the MLS is Back Tournament now complete, the club will begin preparations for the resumption of the 2020 MLS campaign later this summer.

MLS plans to continue its 25th season with a revised schedule, followed by the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and Audi MLS Cup.

Manager Peter Vermes made two lineup changes from Sunday’s penalty shootout win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC by giving starts to Homegrown duo Gianluca Busio and Daniel Salloi, who replaced Gadi Kinda and Khiry Shelton.

Busio was involved in Sporting’s first notable attack at the 18-minute mark, creating a turnover to set up Pulido, but the Mexican’s low drive from the right edge of the box was smothered by Philadelphia goalkeeper and MLS saves leader Andre Blake.

In the 24th minute, the Union drew first blood and ended Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia’s MLS shutout streak at 429-minutes dating back to Feb. 29. A flowing move involving Santos, Ray Gaddis and Alejandro Bedoya was finished off by Jamiro Monteiro, who slotted into a gaping net off Bedoya’s cross.

Philadelphia doubled its advantage just two minutes later, as Santos galloped free on a counterattack following a Sporting set piece and tucked a right-footed shot into the left corner of the net.

Santos bagged his second goal of the night and his third of the tournament on 39 minutes, racing onto Brenden Aaronson’s diagonal through ball and side-footing a first-time effort just inside the near post.

Facing a three-goal deficit, Sporting responded with a much-needed tally of their own seconds before halftime.

Shortly after Blake sprawled out to push aside Johnny Russell’s long-range blast, the Sporting winger found a pocket of space on the right flank and curled a cross to the far post. Pulido was on hand to steer a diving header past Blake for his team-leading fourth goal of the season in all competitions.

Vermes’ men began the second half brightly and Pulido nearly notched his brace in glorious fashion four minutes after the restart.

His 28-yard free kick bent over Philadelphia’s four-man wall and had Blake well beaten, but the ball smacked off the post and denied the Mexican what would have been a glorious strike.

Russell and Pulido continued asking questions of the Union defense, and Sporting thought they had made the score 3-2 in the 57th minute. Russell beat multiple defenders along the right endline before crossing low to Pulido, whose sliding attempt was blocked by Blake. The rebound was poked home by Russell, but the forward was deemed to have been in an offside position.

A pair of second-half substitutes conjured threats of their own as Sporting remained on the front foot, with Kinda and Gerso Fernandes both seeing their left-footed efforts turned away by Blake.

• Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City advanced to the MLS is Back Tournament Quarterfinals on Sunday night with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC following a scoreless draw at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World in Florida.

A one-sided contest saw Sporting outshoot Vancouver 36-8 through 90 minutes, setting a club record for most shot attempts in an MLS match, but Whitecaps goalkeeper Thomas Hasal made eight saves as the Canadian side forced penalty kicks to decide the Round of 16 encounter.

The shootout, however, belonged to Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia, who saved two penalties as Sporting prevailed 3-1 with successful spot kicks from Alan Pulido, Ilie Sanchez and Gianluca Busio.

Sunday’s result sets up a marquee quarterfinal showdown between Sporting and the Philadelphia Union at 7 p.m. Thursday on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN app.

The fixture will be the first of four MLS is Back Tournament quarterfinal matchups as competing clubs vie for the 2021 Concacaf Champions League berth awarded to the tournament winner.

Manager Peter Vermes’ men dominated from wire to wire, notably finishing the first 45 minutes with 22 shots-the second-most in the opening half of an MLS match in league history.

The first of several opportunities fell in the 10th minute to Johnny Russell, who chested down Graham Zusi’s superb diagonal ball and beat defender Jake Nerwinski, only for Ranko Veselinovic to block the winger’s right-footed effort.

Weathering wave after wave of Sporting pressure, Vancouver survived three close calls near the 20-minute mark.

An excellent buildup involving Pulido and Russell afforded Zusi space to cross from the right wing to the far post, where Gadi Kinda’s leaping header was pushed aside by the 21-year-old Hasal.

Not long later, Hasal dove at full extension to save Roger Espinoza’s long-range screamer before Russell fired marginally high along the left side of the box.

A rare Vancouver foray into the attacking third required Melia to make two fingertip saves in the space of a minute, with Cristian Dajome and Inbeom Hwang both trying their luck from distance.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Sporting nearly broke through on the stroke of intermission as Graham Smith’s header narrowly missed the mark and Hasal dropped low to palm away Russell’s chested shot off an Espinoza cross.

On the final play of the half, Hasal thwarted Russell’s audacious free kick attempt before Espinoza’s rebound effort was blocked by Derek Cornelius.

Russell continued to push the envelope after the restart, his searching ball from the left channel finding Zusi on the right side of the box, but the defender’s strike lacked the direction to beat Hasal.

Less than 15 minutes later, Russell advanced into the penalty area and unfurled a shot that fizzed wide of the near post and into the side netting.

Despite holding an upper hand throughout the night, Sporting almost fell behind in the 54th minute when Theo Bair’s shot near the top of the box took a wicked deflection off Smith and trickled inches wide of Melia’s right-hand post.

Pulido entered the night with a goal or an assist in his first five appearances for Sporting and very nearly extended his impressive streak in the 66th minute.

A well-worked attack involving several players on the edge of the box culminated with an incisive run from the Mexican, whose left-footed belter was touched onto the post by Hasal.

Gerso Fernandes, Daniel Salloi entered the fray as offensive reinforcements – the latter making his 100th competitive appearance for Sporting – but a resolute Vancouver defense remained difficult to breach.

Smith latched onto another corner kick in the 90th minute, Busio providing the service, but the center back’s header grazed over the woodwork. In second-half stoppage time, Melia notched his last of five saves by smothering Ali Adnan’s knuckling free kick from 25 yards.

The decisive penalty shootout began ominously for Vancouver, as Cristian Dajome’s unsuccessful attempt rattled the post.

Pulido and Whitecaps midfielder subsequently buried their penalties before Ilie picked out the corner to give Sporting a 2-1 advantage.

Melia then thwarted Cornelius, giving Salloi a chance to win the game for Sporting, but his effort was also saved.

Yet Melia wouldn’t be outdone, as he snuffed out Yordy Reyna’s strike to set the stage for Busio.

The 18-year-old stepped to the spot and coolly nestled his shot into the upper corner to seal the shootout win in a game that finished close to 1:30 a.m. local time in Florida.

• Story from Sporting KC