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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Earns 2-1 Open Cup Win over Houston

May 25, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Captain Johnny Russell lifted Sporting Kansas City into the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals by striking twice in the second half of a 2-1 victory over rivals Houston Dynamo FC on Wednesday night at Children's Mercy Park.

Down 1-0 at halftime in the Round of 16 clash, Sporting rallied emphatically as Russell bagged a sensational equalizer in the 52nd minute and a decisive penalty kick in the 73rd.

Recording their second straight comeback win in the tournament, Manager Peter Vermes' men have booked an Open Cup quarterfinal date with USL League One outfit Union Omaha at 7:30 p.m. CT on June 22 at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets for the match are included in Season Ticket Member packages and will go on sale to the general public via SeatGeek.com at 10 a.m. CT on Friday.

Wednesday's result means Sporting has prevailed in 11 consecutive Open Cup home matches since 2015 and boasts a 5-1-2 home record in all competitions this season. With just one loss in their last eight games over the last month, Sporting will conclude a busy stretch of seven fixtures in 22 days by hosting Vancouver Whitecaps FC in MLS regular season action on Saturday. The Western Conference tilt will kick off at 8 p.m. CT with tickets available on SeatGeek and live coverage on 38 The Sport, SportingKC.com and the Sporting KC app.

Suiting up for the sixth time in 19 days, Sporting fielded a lineup that featured three changes from Sunday's regular season road draw against the San Jose Earthquakes. Goalkeeper John Pulskamp replaced Tim Melia, while Center back Andreu Fontas and forward Daniel Salloi returned from red card suspensions as defender Robert Voloder and veteran Roger Espinoza dropped to the bench.

Fresh off an impressive 3-0 triumph at the LA Galaxy on Sunday, Houston entered the night with two away wins this season-double their paltry total from 2020 and 2021 combined-and nearly silenced the Children's Mercy Park faithful inside three minutes if not for goalkeeping heroics from Pulskamp. Houston playmaker Memo Rodriguez surged into the attacking third and unleashed a 30-yard sledgehammer, forcing the 21-year-old into a fingertip save that kept the game goalless.

Sporting gradually gained a foothold, however, and were awarded a dangerous set piece on 18 minutes after Felipe Hernandez intercepted a pass at midfield and played to Remi Walter, who was clattered from behind by Darwin Ceren. Russell, who scored in the 1-1 stalemate at San Jose last weekend, curled his ensuing free kick around Houston's four-man wall and inches wide of goalkeeper Michael Nelson's left-hand post.

Close to the half-hour mark, the Dynamo responded with another well-crafted move of their own. Midfielder Brooklyn Raines, a 17-year-old U.S. youth international, motored down the right side and slipped a pass to the overlapping Griffin Dorsey, who lashed a shot high and wide of the target.

Houston's incisiveness was on display once more in the 41st minute as Baird vaulted the visitors ahead 1-0. Midfield talisman Darwin Quintero received a pass with his back to goal, swiveled and squeezed a through ball to the feet of Baird, who tucked low past Pulskamp for his fifth career goal against Sporting and his first in Open Cup competition. Hernandez almost conjured an instant reply for the hosts, but his right-footed sledgehammer from 30 yards was touched over the crossbar by Nelson.

Vermes, who leads active MLS coaches with three Open Cup titles, freshened his side with a pair of substitutions at halftime. Espinoza, the club's all-time Open Cup appearance leader, relieved Uri Rosell and Ben Sweat made way for forward Khiry Shelton, who had missed the previous two league matches with a calf injury. Five minutes into the second stanza, Espinoza had a good look to level terms off a Logan Ndenbe cutback but lifted his first-time effort wayward.

A moment of Russell magic restored parity in the 52nd minute. The Sporting captain won possession on the right edge of the penalty area, and although he initially toppled to the turf on a tackle attempt from Beto Avila, Russell instantly regained his footing and split a pair of defenders before sending a left-footed blast low into the left corner.

Russell had a chance to double his tally in the 61st minute, planting a header high off Ndenbe's looping cross, before Shelton and Walter both saw their efforts blocked through traffic during a chaotic moment in the penalty area. Sporting kept its proverbial foot on the pedal and went agonizingly close to jumping ahead in the 70th minute. Duke's long-range piledriver was blocked from a central position but Fontas kept the ball alive with a bicycle kick in behind the Houston backline, prompting Nelsen to advance off his line and smother Salloi's shot at a tight angle.

Undeterred, Salloi did wonders for his team just a moment later by slithering into the box and drawing a foul on Houston center back Daniel Steres. Referee Calin Radosav immediately pointed to the spot and Russell promptly buried the spot kick for his team-best sixth goal of the 2022 campaign and the 49th of his heralded Sporting career.

Pacey winger Fafa Picault provided a spark for Houston from off the bench, dashing down the left flank and racing through on goal in the 81st minute, but Pulskamp delivered a clutch save to keep his team in front.

QUOTES Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes

On the performance from Johnny Russell...

It's what the captain is supposed to do. At the end of the day, that's why he's the captain and I don't mean that comically. He's the captain. He's the leader. That's why the guys respect him. He wins all the time. He wins in practice. He brings it to the game week in and week out and that's why the team follows him. He brings a level of energy and a level of competitiveness that is a great example for every guy on our team and it's infectious. Don't get me wrong, the other guys are working, they're trying, they're fighting, but at the end he finds a way. It's apropos.

On the play of Cam Duke...

We had to change kind of the formation up front in the first half. It just wasn't hitting the way it should have, but I think that was because of a couple of other things. We made those moves. I really think the big move was in the second half, pushing him back to right back, pushing Remi (Walter) to defensive midfielder, bring Roger on, Khiry (Shelton) goes in the middle and now a lot of guys are in their normal spots. I think it helped the team immensely. I think the energy is one but I also think there was a level of confidence and just familiarity for the group. So I think that changed it a lot. I think we were on the front foot and now all of a sudden that made them have to make decisions. Between the relentlessness in and around the box, which led to the first goal, and then the second goal again we're forcing the issue. Daniel (Salloi) is coming in the box and he gets the foul. So again that relentlessness in and around there is what I think caused all of that and it's a credit to the guys because the energy was high and they were not letting them out. We pushed them back so deep that when they won it, they couldn't even play out to anybody. It just kept coming back to us.

On Daniel Salloi playing at center forward...

It's not his fault. I don't think that worked until we change things around. I was probably a little hesitant in doing it anyway because I think that sometimes when you have got guys that are playing as well as both Daniel and Johnny are in their spots, that sometimes you don't want to mess with that. You don't want to take them out of their rhythm. But because of the team and the way the team is at the moment with so many guys being out, we had to rotate some guys around. In some respects, it actually worked pretty well because I don't think that they were ready for it.

On the mentality of the team...

When you go through tough moments in sports, and I'm not talking about in life because there's two different things here, but this is our profession, this is what we do. So when you go through those tough moments, those tough moments are when you're not finding the success that you maybe normally are accustomed to. I think sometimes you can start doubting yourself. You can start doubting each other. You can start doubting everyone around you. But one of the things that has happened with the guys is that they realize that the only people that are going to get us out of this is ourselves. We have to find ways. We can't blame all the other things out there. They are what they are for us and we have to find ways. And I think it's a credit to these guys because you can see their commitment, you can see their effort. They compete. They're trying everything they have inside them. And so from that point of view, I'm incredibly proud to be a part of the group just because you don't get around a lot of people that will fight when it gets tough. The last thing is that you never become a master of something unless you actually experience it. I'm not telling you I'd like to experience this every year like this, but you don't know until you start doing it. And you have to come up and you have to be adaptable. You have to be flexible. It's not just us as a staff, but it's also the players. And like I said, Johnny tonight played right wing, he played center forward and then he's back out on the right wing. He had to do that last week. I'm putting guys in positions that I would say that they're not accustomed to, but they're finding a way. I really appreciate and I'm extremely proud to be a part of the group.

On the quick turnaround to Saturday...

We have a great training facility with a lot of modalities. We got to use all of them as many times a day as we have to to get ourselves recovered. We have got to recharge the battery and we have got to get ready for the weekend and then they'll have some time off after that because it's a break. That'll be their light at the end of the tunnel.

On playing Union Omaha next in the U.S. Open Cup...

They got this far for a reason, obviously. They're playing well. We have to get ourselves prepared, at least for this weekend. When that game comes around, believe me, we will do everything that we have to try to put our best group out there and we will fight with everything we have because we know that's going to be an incredibly difficult game.

Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell

On the message to the team at halftime...

I think we created the chances first half. There was just a couple of little tactical things that we had worked on that we weren't doing on the field. So we tweaked a couple of things. I think we stepped higher as a team. When we've got the energy and the guys that can press the way that we can, we won a lot of balls up the field and that equates to chances and we took them. We created a few more. We could have had a couple more goals as well. Obviously, it was a disappointing first half to go in down, but it's pretty similar to the last Cup game as well. We came from behind and it's a good win at the end of the day and into the next round and at home as well.

On being patient to find the goals...

It was just not to get frustrated. We were getting in behind. We had a few chances, so it was all just about that final execution. I think we did that a lot better in second half, obviously getting the goals. There wasn't a lot of things we had to change. Just a couple of tactical things that we should have done in the first half that we didn't. We changed it and we made the (substitutions) as well, which brought a bit more energy in as well. It's a great result. Now we rest and get ready to go again at the weekend.

On the schedule congestion and playing through injuries...

I've been struggling with a couple of things, but I'm not the only guy struggling at the minute. There's a lot of guys pushing through things. It's not just me. I'm never going to use that as an excuse. I've made myself available for my team and I'm going to continue to do that until it's physically impossible.

Sporting Kansas City defender Andreu Fontas

On the team's toughness...

We're fighting through it right now. It's a mentality. We need to be tough. We know that we are suffering this season and that things are not as we expected at the beginning of the season. No excuses. We have to fight through it and get results. We are going in the right direction. Everybody is fighting, everybody is giving everything that they have. We probably are not doing our best the whole game, but everybody is pushing together in the same direction and it's huge. We need to keep doing what we are doing. Obviously getting results always helps, but there's a lot of positives. Going forward in this competition, it's huge for us. The game that we came back against Dallas was really good. Again, today we conceded a goal in the first half and did not play well, but then in the second we had a good reaction. Again, we have to keep having good games, good performances, especially good results and then we will get there.

On Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell...

He's special. His first goal was unbelievable. Everything he does is amazing. He's a great player, but also outside the field, he's a great captain. He's our leader and we all follow him. When he leads with the tempo, he fights through everything. With small injuries, other players probably would not play, but he plays. He goes through everything and plays lots of minutes. He is an example, and again, having leaders like that is huge for the rest of the team because we cannot be less than him. We have to try to be at his level.

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