First-Place Sporting Earns 2-1 Win at Minnesota
August 21, 2020 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City (5-1-0, 15 points) moved four points clear atop the Western Conference standings with a 2-1 road victory over second-place Minnesota United FC (3-1-2, 11 points) on Friday at Allianz Field.
Gadi Kinda vaulted the visitors ahead early before the clubs traded own goals on either side of halftime, giving Sporting their first-ever away win against the Loons and avenging a loss to Minnesota by the same scoreline at the MLS is Back Tournament last month in Walt Disney World. The result also ended Minnesota's unbeaten start to the regular season as Sporting stayed within a point of Columbus Crew SC in the Supporters' Shield race.
Riding a three-game regular season winning streak, Sporting will now prepare for the club's first home fixture since March 7 when the Houston Dynamo (0-2-4, 4 points) visit Children's Mercy Park on Tuesday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus and FOX Sports GO, serving as a rematch of Sporting's home-opening 4-0 triumph over five months ago.
A new-look Sporting lineup was headlined by the MLS debut of English Premier League veteran and New Zealand international Winston Reid, who partnered Graham Smith in central defense. Twenty-year-old Jaylin Lindsey made his first appearance of the season at left back, fellow Sporting KC Academy product Gianluca Busio was deployed as a holding midfielder behind Kinda and Roger Espinoza, and Alan Pulido spearheaded a three-pronged attack alongside wingers Johnny Russell and Khiry Shelton. Veteran goalkeeper Tim Melia and right back Graham Zusi rounded out the starting XI for Sporting's first match in a home market since March 7.
Melia entered the night with a regular season shutout streak that dated back to Feb. 29 and did brilliantly to prevent the Loons from drawing first blood inside three minutes. Minnesota winger Ethan Finlay was afforded an excellent opportunity when Luis Amarilla's shot deflected fortuitously into his path on the right side of the box, but Melia produced a sprawling save to keep the game scoreless.
Undeterred by the early scare, Sporting broke through in the 12th minute. Pulido dropped deep to receive the ball and spread it wide to Lindsey, who picked out Kinda with a pocket of space on the left flank. His teasing cross into the six-yard area was intended for the on-running Espinoza but skipped through untouched and beat Minnesota's debutant goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh, who was expecting a redirect from the Sporting midfielder. The play gave Kinda his third goal of the regular season, tied with Pulido and Shelton for the team lead.
Pulido almost doubled his side's advantage in the 16th minute, settling a clever pass from Kinda and firing low from the top of the box, but Ranjitsingh made an impressive reflex save. Ten minutes later, Melia conjured a spectacular stop of his own by leaping to touch Hassani Dotson's sweetly struck volley over the crossbar.
Sporting were unfortunate to concede an equalizer with 32 minutes on the clock. A flowing Minnesota attack resulted in a Finlay strike that caromed off Lindsey and slipped inside the near post to level the score at 1-1, ending Melia's regular season shutout streak at 347 minutes. The last chance of the first half then fell to Kinda who raced onto Russell's clever through ball, but his shot was smothered between the legs of Ranjitsingh.
Another stunning stop from Melia denied Dotson a goal two minutes into the second stanza. The midfielder's flick-on header was destined for the far left corner, but Melia pushed the ball aside at full extension to record his third and final save of the evening.
Kinda was again involved in Sporting's 55th-minute game-winner, accelerating into the attacking half and laying the ball to Russell on the left wing. The Scottish international beat his defender along the endline and pulled back a driven cross that thumped off Minnesota defender Michael Boxall and nestled into the back of the net. This decisive moment would mark the first MLS match in Sporting's 25-year history to feature multiple own goals.
Midway through the second period, Kinda continued to pull the strings with a lobbed diagonal ball to Zusi, who unfurled a venomous 22-yard blast that Ranjitsingh managed to corral.
Vermes made a pair of notable substitutions in the late stages, awarding 19-year-old Cameron Duke his MLS regular season debut and inserting 22-year-old Felipe Hernandez. The shuffle meant that Sporting's midfield trio featured three Sporting KC Academy products in Busio, Duke and Hernandez.
Seeking a late leveler, Minnesota dominated possession and territory in the dying embers but were unable to carve out a clear-cut chance. A fleeting opportunity came and went in the 80th minute when Robin Lod's low delivery fizzed dangerously across the face of goal, narrowly past the reach of a lurking Raheem Edwards.
QUOTES
Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the game...
It was a very good start and a good first goal. We were pushing. We deserved the first goal. They get a crazy goal on their goal but defensively, I thought we were good. We didn't lose ourselves in the game from the beginning to the end. The lineup produced a lot of what we trained over the last couple of weeks. The individuals did a really good job. The guys who came in had to fulfill a role because we went to a 5-3-2 at the end of the game just based off the personnel. We knew what they would probably do late in the game and I thought we handled it really well. I think that we took probably their biggest asset away from them, which is that they serve the ball in the box really well and they get good runners into the box. It puts teams under pressure. We managed that.
On our second goal, when you go at a team and you put them under pressure - you create mistakes for them. Johnny (Russell) does a great job in getting to where he got to. He puts the ball in an excellent and dangerous position. Guys are going to make mistakes and they did. It was excellent on our part and definitely deserving of three points.
On playing Gianluca Busio as a holding midfielder...
There was a guy who was a pretty good player in his day. His name was Pirlo and he played as a deep-lying playmaker. I thought Busio was excellent today. He gave us something a little different in the game. His work ethic, his ability to win balls, he got out of a lot of stuff, he connected to the group - all without a lot of training in that spot. He did a really good job and adjusted to the position very well and was effective. I think, for any player, opportunities on the field - no matter where you get them - you've got to have the right attitude. Busio had a great attitude today and I thought he played really well. He had a good performance.
On being back on the road for an MLS match...
We're getting back to some sense of normalcy by playing at somebody else's stadium as opposed to in Orlando. That was surreal, for sure. It still is, a little bit, with not having fans in the stadium. But traveling here and then going into the locker room and just having a regular kind of sequence within the way the game starts and plays, it was good. I thought both teams competed pretty well for not having fans in the stadium. It seems like the guys are kind of getting used to it a little bit. We had a good run up in Orlando. It's going to continue to be very interesting. Obviously, it's not what we want to do but it's the best thing that we have right now and I thought our guys handled it well from an enthusiasm perspective. It can be difficult to play without fans. I've said that before. Fans make the ambiance of the stadium, the environment that people love to be a part of - players, staff and fans themselves. We missed that but we've got to kind of, for right now, create our own environment, ambiance, enthusiasm in the stadium.
On the play of Winston Reid...
Fantastic from beginning to end. I know he was probably getting tired a little bit at the end. Actually, it was hot here tonight. It was very humid, which is not the norm here. It's crazy how humid it was and he's not used to humidity even though he's been training in it in Orlando and also at our place. He's just not used to it. Toward the end of the game, he probably got a little bit tired but he managed the game really well. He was excellent. His 1v1 defending, his reading of the game and the situations, he cut balls out, great leadership in the back from a communication point of view. He was tremendous.
On the midfield trio of Sporting KC Academy products...
As well as (Jaylin) Lindsey at left back. I have confidence in those guys in that this is also a time for them to kind of cut their teeth and feel what it's like to come in and have to secure a result. Obviously I have confidence in them because I put them in the game. I'm proud of them and I'm proud of the way that they came in. There's growing pains there and there always will be when you bring young players in. It's not like older players don't make mistakes either. With the young guys, getting the experience of being out on the field and feeling what that's like and being part of and having an impact to a result, builds confidence. Those guys did a tremendous job in the game today. I think they really, really helped us late in the game. Because we needed what they were able to bring and that's a big step forward for them and for the club. It says a lot about what we're trying to do with our pro player pathway. It's not just a marketing stunt. It's real. We want those kids to keep getting opportunities. That was big. To have four kids out of our Academy in the game tonight is big.
On the play of Alan Pulido...
Very good. Alan is a special player. He helps us immensely. I always say it, how well he holds the ball up and plays in between the lines - just so dangerous and finds himself out of so many tight spaces. It's not easy. He gives us a chance to take a breath and he knows how to bring other players into the game. He's just a big presence on the field. He's a big player and he's excellent for the team. Tremendous effort by him.
Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell
Thoughts on the game...
It was a difficult game. We knew that coming in. Like you said, not the cleanest of goals but it's not often we get a little bit of luck on our side. Sometimes you need that. I felt that we created enough chances in the first half to maybe score a couple more. We didn't take them. We'll take goals any way they come. It was a great ball from Gadi (Kinda). Roger doesn't manage to get the touch but it was a great ball in that caused all sorts of problems. On the second one, I just tried to fire it across and find Alan. He was coming in at the back. You fire it in with a bit of pace and you never know what can happen. Luckily for us, we got that important touch albeit it was from them. We don't care. At the end of the day, it's a win.
On finding intensity without fans in attendance...
It's difficult. Obviously, we all want to play in front of fans but at the same point, we're professional in what we do. We know the work that we've put in to get ourselves into the position we're in. We want to be where we want this club to be and that's at the top. We're sitting nice at the minute. We know we just need to keep pushing. There's going to be fans eventually in the stadiums. I'm sure when they're back in, they'll be in full voice. At the end of the day, when you pull that jersey on - you go out and you know what you're playing for. That's where we get the energy from. We're all competitive guys. We all want to win.
On the play of the Sporting KC Academy products...
They've been brilliant. And not just when they came in tonight. They've been training brilliantly. They're great kids with great attitudes. It just shows the quality that we've got coming through. Jaylin (Lindsey) and (Gianluca) Busio starting and then (Cameron) Duke and Felipe (Hernandez) coming in as well. They don't look out of place. That's really exciting for us. It's really exciting for the fans when you see guys like that coming through. Really professional performances from them when they came on tonight.
On the play of Gianluca Busio...
Busio is such a quality player. I say it whenever I'm asked. He's got everything. We've got a lot of players in those attacking positions, but Busio when he dropped back I thought he commanded the game very well. He's not the biggest of kids but he's aggressive and he gets around the park well and he's quality on the ball. He really gave us something different tonight and I'm glad for him because he's been working hard and it was a really, really good performance from him tonight.
On the rivalry with Minnesota...
It's just weird playing the same team over and over. They're always competitive games. They're always difficult games. We came into this game knowing where we let ourselves down when we played them in Orlando and knowing the areas that we had to improve in. I think we did that. We were under a little bit of pressure, obviously coming to play a team like Minnesota and you're playing in their stadium. They're going to have a bit of the ball. They're going to cause you problems. I think we dealt with it all night. The guys at the back I thought were solid and then we just worked well all over the pitch. We've been working a lot on how we were going to stop them and shut them down and I think for a large majority of the game we stuck to the game plan very well.
Sporting Kansas City is owned by Sporting Club, an entity founded by a group of local business and community leaders comprised of the Patterson Family, Cliff Illig, Pat Curran, Greg Maday and Robb Heineman. Sporting prides itself on a commitment and vision to provide high-performance experiences. Sporting Club purchased the team from the Hunt Sports Group in 2006, and under its direction has opened Swope Soccer Village, Children's Mercy Park, Compass Minerals Sporting Fields and Compass Minerals National Performance Center while investing in the Sporting KC Academy and Sporting Kansas City II for developing local youth into homegrown talent. A charter member of Major League Soccer, Sporting are two-time MLS Cup champions (2000, 2013) and four-time winners of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017).
2020 MLS Regular Season
Match 6 of 34
Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota
Weather: 85 degrees and mostly sunny
Score 1 2 F
Sporting Kansas City (5-1-0, 15 points) 1 1 2
Minnesota United FC (3-1-2, 11 points) 1 0 1
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Graham Zusi, Graham Smith, Winston Reid, Jaylin Lindsey; Gianluca Busio, Roger Espinoza (Felipe Hernandez 75'), Gadi Kinda (Cameron Duke 72); Johnny Russell (Roberto Puncec 85'), Alan Pulido, Khiry Shelton (Gerso Fernandes 72')
Subs Not Used: Richard Sanchez, Matt Besler, Amadou Dia, Erik Hurtado, Daniel Salloi
Minnesota United FC: Greg Ranjitsingh; Chase Gasper, Jose Aja, Michael Boxall, Romain Metanire; Jan Gregus, Osvaldo Alonso (C), Hassani Dotson (Aaron Schoenfeld 82'); Kevin Molino (Raheem Edwards 65'), Luis Amarilla (Mason Toye 82'), Ethan Finlay (Robin Lod 65')
Subs Not Used: Fred Emmings, Thomas Chacon, Marlon Hairston, James Musa
Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Gadi Kinda 3 (Jaylin Lindsey 1) 12'
MIN -- Own goal (Jaylin Lindsey) 32'
SKC -- Own goal (Michael Boxall) 55'
Misconduct Summary:
MIN -- Jose Aja (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 24'
SKC -- Gianluca Busio (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 46'
SKC -- Alan Pulido (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 77'
MIN -- Osvaldo Alonso (yellow card; dissent) 90+3'
SKC -- Cameron Duke (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90+5'
Stat SKC MIN
Shots 11 12
Shots on Goal 4 3
Saves 3 3
Fouls 16 17
Offsides 3 0
Corner Kicks 3 6
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Assistant Referee: Eric Weisbrod
Assistant Referee: Kathryn Nesbitt
Fourth Official: Ismir Pekmic
VAR: Nima Saghafi
AVAR:Jose da Silva
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