Sporting Earns 2-2 Tie in Houston
July 8, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Forward Alan Pulido continued his sensational summer surge on Saturday by scoring twice to help Sporting Kansas City (6-10-7, 25 points) secure a 2-2 road draw against Houston Dynamo FC (8-9-4, 28 points) at Shell Energy Stadium.
In a wild encounter between longtime Western Conference rivals, Pulido twice gave Sporting the lead to move into a tie for third in the MLS Golden Boot race with 10 league goals this season. Houston replied in stoppage time of both halves, equalizing through Ibrahim Aliyu on the brink of intermission and in the 98th minute through substitute Ivan Franco to avoid its second home defeat of 2023.
There will be no rest for the weary as Sporting returns to the pitch on Wednesday, hosting another bitter adversary in Real Salt Lake (9-7-6, 33 points) at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. CT showdown are available at SeatGeek.com and fans can catch the action live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Manager Peter Vermes made one change to Sporting's starting XI from a 3-0 win over Vancouver last Saturday. German midfielder Erik Thommy, who scored off the bench a week ago, returned to the lineup as Nemanja Radoja missed out with an adductor injury. Further up the field, homegrown forward Daniel Salloi hit a notable milestone by earning his 150th career start for Sporting in all competitions.
With temperatures hovering at a humid 90 degrees by kickoff, both sides exchanged early half-chances as Sporting defender Andreu Fontas had a shot saved by veteran goalkeeper Steve Clark before Houston's Nelson Quinones dragged a volley wide of the near post.
In the 24th minute, Sporting goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh was called to action for the first time as he dropped low to coral a snap header from Aliyu, who had risen to meet a teasing right-wing cross from full back Franco Escobar.
Less than a minute later, red-hot Pulido fired Sporting in front on a delectable assist from Kinda. Fontas kickstarted the play by winning the ball near midfield and pinging a 30-yard pass into the attacking third. With his back to goal, Kinda flicked a mouthwatering back-heel delivery into the path of Pulido, who made no mistake by dinking a cool finish over the advanced Clark. Pulido has scored in six of his last seven appearances, while Kinda has assisted in back-to-back matches and has seven career goal contributions (four goals, three assists) in as many games against Houston.
Pulido's strike gave Sporting a lead to protect and put Houston in an unfamiliar spot, as the Dynamo had trailed at home for only 18 minutes all season entering Saturday. Longtime Mexican international Hector Herrera almost drew the hosts level on 43 minutes, but his blistering free kick from nearly 35 yards was parried over the bar by McIntosh.
Sporting were less fortunate on the stroke of halftime. A well-orchestrated Houston attack through the middle culminated with Aliyu slotting into an empty net following a back-heel nutmeg from Corey Baird that broke Sporting's defensive line and a simple square pass from Herrera to set up the Dynamo striker for his first career goal.
Another wave of Houston pressure in the 48th minute required McIntosh to produce a smart reflex save, denying Baird what would have been a go-ahead goal. Shortly thereafter, Quinones beat his marker along the left endline and fizzed a dangerous cutback ball across the face of the six-yard area, but Sporting left back Tim Leibold intervened crucially by booming the ball clear upfield.
After setting up Sporting's opener in the first half, Kinda won the penalty for his team's second goal in the 60th minute by drawing a foul on Artur near the endline. Referee Nima Saghafi promptly pointed to the spot, ushering Pulido into the spotlight. The Mexican striker sent Clark the wrong way, side-footing his penalty low into the right corner for his team-leading 11th goal of the season in all competitions and his ninth MLS goal in a torrid seven-game stretch since the start of June. Pulido, who has converted all six of his career penalty attempts in a Sporting uniform, now ranks first in club history with 0.47 goals per game in the regular season (minimum 20 goals).
Artur tried to atone for his penalty concession with a speculative strike from beyond the penalty area that curled narrowly over the crossbar midway through the second half. Herrera then went close in the 69th minute, planting an open header high of the target.
The Dynamo piled men forward in search of a late leveler. With 85 minutes on the clock, Escobar wasted an open look by dragging his shot wide from the right side of the box. Shortly after Saghafi issued an eye-watering 10 minutes of stoppage time to be played, McIntosh dove left for an strong save to deny Herrera what would have been a clutch free kick goal.
Sporting's bid for three points was cut short at the death, with Franco latching onto Thor Ulfarsson's hopeful header into the box and finishing low into the far corner for his second goal of the campaign, bringing the score to 2-2.
Petulance marred the final moments of the match as Houston substitute Sebastian Ferreira blatantly pushed Kinda to the turf in a dead ball situation, yet escaped with only a yellow card for his reckless and violent transgression.
QUOTES
Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match...
I think, for other than the last two minutes of the first half and the last three minutes of the second half, we were very good in the game. But our smelling of the situation to close out the game was not good enough and we gave away two points. We were in a fantastic position, both leading 1-0 and then being up 2-1 and there's no way that the last ball should drop on the ground, no matter what. For us to concede a ball dropping on the ground 25 yards away from goal when we have five in the back shouldn't happen. Unfortunately, we gave the points away tonight.
On the combination between Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido...
They're finally playing together and they're on the field and they're not injured. I mean, it's as simple as that. They had the same connection when we started in 2020 in the first two games of the season in Vancouver and in Houston. It was the same exact thing. Now they're just getting getting fitter and fitter, and they're starting to connect again. That part of it is very good, but we can't give up the two goals that we gave up tonight. It's incredibly disappointing to me.
On the yellow card to Sebastian Ferreira...
I was told that the two things that you look for is brutality and force, and there wasn't enough of either. It's our kickoff. The guy comes from 10 yards away and shoves our guy to the ground. And I don't know how that's not enough force. Where do you want me to go? Where do you want me to go? How many times does this stuff have to happen? For the most part, I think that the referee did a good job in the game. I just think that those things are unacceptable. That's not a soccer play. I don't care about force. I don't care about anything. That is a non-soccer pla. It has nothing to do with anything. Their guys are over the line. Our guy holds the ball and doesn't play it. Why would he play and let the other team get five yards jump into our half of the field? Why would he do that? He didn't do anything wrong. Players do that stuff all the time. And for him to come from there and do that and not get a red card, it's unfortunate because this has happened to us a few times now. And what happens is that player now plays in the next game and that's not the way it should be.
On if the draw is a good road result...
No. I'm very disappointed. I'm very disappointed. Like I said, in the last minute of the first half, we even told the guys and we were yelling to them. And then the second half, we went to put ourselves in a position to deal with those kind of balls coming into the box and for us not to be able to get on the end of that ball and be as timid as we were, it disappoints me. It disappoints me.
On Tim Leibold's yellow card...
When the guy pushed Gadi down, a few of our guys got up off the bench and I think he encroached on the field.
Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido
On the team's performance...
We are frustrated because we feel like the team will win tonight. We can win it. But this happens in soccer. We need to get the mentality. We are not happy. This is true because in the last minutes we tied. It's okay. We need to keep it forward. We don't need to lose our mind.
On his connection with Gadi Kinda...
He's a very good player. He had the injury last year like me, but now he plays more minutes and now he has more confidence. He helps the team a lot. So I am very happy for him because he has come back to play better. And, for me, it's very important because I need these players in the team.
Major League Soccer Stories from July 8, 2023
- LAFC Play to 1-1 Draw with San Jose - Los Angeles FC
- Rapids Rally to Earn 2-1 Win at Home Over FC Dallas - Colorado Rapids
- 'Caps Fall Late in Thriller at BC Place - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- LA Galaxy Down Philadelphia Union, 3-1 - Philadelphia Union
- Nashville SC Suffers 1-0 Defeat to Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field - Nashville SC
- Orlando City Drops 4-0 Decision to Real Salt Lake - Orlando City SC
- Houston Dynamo FC Earn Draw with Stoppage-Time Equalizer Versus Sporting Kansas City - Houston Dynamo FC
- Chicago Fire FC Defeats Nashville SC 1-0 at Soldier Field - Chicago Fire FC
- Driussi Scores Twice as Austin FC Defeats Minnesota 4-1 on the Road - Austin FC
- FC Cincinnati Erase Two-Goal Halftime Deficit, Draw 2-2 with Charlotte FC - FC Cincinnati
- Sporting Earns 2-2 Tie in Houston - Sporting Kansas City
- Atlanta United Defeats CF Montreal 1-0 - Atlanta United FC
- Academy Products Shine in Hard-Fought Draw at D.C. United - Inter Miami CF
- St. Louis CITY SC Tallies Third Consecutive Win with a 1-0 Victory at Toronto FC - St. Louis City SC
- New England Revolution Fall to New York Red Bulls 2-1 - New England Revolution
- Columbus Crew Draws NYCFC, 1-1 - New York City FC
- Full Time: Charlotte FC Draw 2-2 with Eastern Conference Leaders F.C. Cincinnati - Charlotte FC
- FC Cincinnati Mount Second Half Comeback to Earn Draw at Charlotte FC - FC Cincinnati
- LA Galaxy Play Host to Philadelphia Union at Dignity Health Sports Park Tonight, Saturday, July 8 - LA Galaxy
- Inter Miami CF Signs Israel Boatwright and Lawson Sunderland on Short-Term Agreements from Inter Miami CF II - Inter Miami CF
- Sounders FC Travels to Vancouver Whitecaps FC for Saturday Night Matchup - Seattle Sounders FC
- FC Cincinnati Add Ben Stitz to First Team Roster Ahead of Match at Charlotte FC - FC Cincinnati
- New York Red Bulls Signs NYRB II Midfielder Ibrahim Kasule on a Short-Term Agreement for Tonight's Match - New York Red Bulls
- Toronto FC Sign Three Young Reds to Short-Term Agreements - Toronto FC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
