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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Falls to 2-1 Setback at FC Dallas

March 18, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (0-2-2, 2 pts.) suffered a 2-1 defeat on the road to FC Dallas (2-1-1, 7 pts.) at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night. Daniel Salloi scored Sporting KC's first goal of the 2023 season to give the visitors the lead, but Dallas rebounded in the second half to take all three points with goals from Alan Velasco and Jesus Ferreira.

Manager Peter Vermes was forced into one change from last weekend's 0-0 draw with the LA Galaxy at Children's Mercy Park, with Ben Sweat coming in at left back to replace Tim Leibold who missed out with a hamstring injury.

Sporting KC began the match on the front foot and had the first shot of the contest in the fifth minute when the team's high press allowed Roger Espinoza to win the ball high up the field but his right-footed shot whistled wide of the post.

Sporting found the breakthrough in the 11th minute as Salloi found the team's first goal of the 2023 campaign. After Erik Thommy had been dispossessed on the edge of the area, Salloi latched onto the loose ball and fired home an effort that took a slight deflection and flew beyond Maarten Paes into the back of the Dallas net, making the score 1-0.

The two teams traded blows over the next quarter hour, with Ben Sweat sliding in to deny Ferreira a tap-in while Willy Agada saw an effort from all of 50 yards almost catch Paes out in the Dallas goal. In the 27th minute, Dallas left back Marco Farfan lashed a half-volley over the bar when well placed inside the area.

Dallas star man Ferreira almost pulled his side level in the 31st minute but his shot from 12 yards was deflected inches wide by the boot of Robert Voloder. Agada almost latched onto a delectable through ball from Thommy in the 39th minute but Paes beat him to the ball by a split second on the edge of the area, resulting in a big collision.

Agada was proving to be a constant nuisance to the Dallas backline and he threatened again in first-half stoppage time, firing over from a tight angle after being found by a perfect ball from Espinoza.

Dallas were the first to create danger in the second half as Paul Arriola's effort from distance was deflected narrowly wide by Remi Walter.

Dallas found the equalizer in the 55th minute, as Velasco exchanged passes with Sebastian Lletget and curled a brilliant effort into the top corner. The goal was Velasco's second of the year and snapped Sporting's 318-minute shutout streak - the second longest in MLS this year.

Sporting earned a penalty in the 61st minute when Agada got in behind the Dallas backline and was tripped up by goalkeeper Paes. Agada stepped up and saw his effort saved by Paes down low to his left, but the Dallas gloveman had stepped off his line and Sporting was afforded a re-take. This time Thommy stepped up and his effort was also denied by Paes during a remarkable sequence.

Dallas took the lead in the 84th minute through Ferreira who saw his initial effort saved by Pulskamp but he fired home the rebound to give the hosts a late lead.

In the 88th minute, Sporting were initially awarded another penalty after substitute Felipe Hernandez was upended by Paes, but after consulting with the VAR, referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere overturned the decision as Hernandez was in an offside position when the ball reached him, despite deflecting into his path off a Dallas defender.

Sporting threw numbers forward for the remainder of the match and had a number of set pieces in dangerous areas but ultimately weren't able to find an equalizing goal as Dallas claimed all three points with the 2-1 scoreline.

Sporting returns home next weekend to take on perennial Western Conference contender Seattle Sounders FC at Children's Mercy Park. Kickoff is set for 7:39 p.m. CT with tickets available viaSeatGeek.com.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On Sporting KC scoring its first goal of the season...

"We've been very good going forward in all of our games. The problem is when you don't create chances. We knew the goals were going to come at some point. I wasn't worried about that at all. I was more focused on making sure that we didn't provide easy opportunities for the other team, which we (made it easy) on their second goal tonight. Our focus has probably been more on that than anything else."

On conceding two second-half goals and missing two penalty kicks...

"I think their first goal was a good goal. It was good buildup by them. They kind of turned the ball over in the middle of the midfield and I don't know if there was a foul or not, but we had a chance to defend. They moved the ball pretty well on the lefthand side and it was a good finish. That's just going to happen. The second goal, I can't really speak about it. We had two opportunities to score penalties and we don't. You're supposed to score those, at least 80 percent in your favor. Their goalkeeper made two great saves, but we've got to score."

On forward Willy Agada's start to the season...

"He's had chances tonight and he's had chances in every game. When you say he's started slow and you mean he hasn't scored, then yeah, I guess I would agree. But he's had chances and he just needs to keep getting himself in front of the net and having the courage to put them in."

Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi

On scoring Sporting KC's first goal of the season...

"I'm happy to score that first goal of the season, but I'm not happy about the result. Hopefully the first win will come very soon because we can't keep dropping points like this."

On the second half of the match...

"We gave them way too much space. I think we dropped back too much. Dallas is a good team. They are going to create their chances and do well with them. They scored two good goals, and we missed our penalties and some other chances. It's not good enough, I feel like."

FC Dallas Head Coach Nico Estévez

General thoughts on the match...

"We are happy with the win, winning at home is important. The boys know that and in the second half they turned it on and showed we were hungry for the win. We were a bit unlucky with the deflected goal we conceded, and some things were not going our way. Even though we had some brilliant moments in the first half. The opponent plays well, and the results do not reflect the numbers they put up and how they perform on the field. Things like this show us how difficult and close these games can be."

On Maarten Paes' penalty kick save...

"I always say that soccer is about momentum. You could have a lead with the opponents not playing at their best, but scoring one goal can change the momentum of the game. This psychological part of the game is difficult to control. We have seen big teams winning and have ended up falling short at the end because the opponent's caught momentum with one goal that they scored. In our instance, the penalty kick save was massive for us. The message Maarten (Paes) sent to his teammates was 'Hey I am here; do your job and I will do mine. Let's go'. We know how competitive he is and how good of a goalkeeper he is. We are grateful to have him here."

On the momentum shift leading to the comeback...

"We are not at the level we would like to be consistently. We have good moments throughout the match but consistently we are not where we want to be. We disconnect for a second, but we go back to what we are supposed to be doing. We need to continue to work on that. There are final sequences that we need to perfect. Whether it's the final pass, the final action, and the previous pass before the final pass are things we need to adjust and correct. At the half time break, I told them that I do not care how we ended the first half, we needed to come out playing our way. I did not care if we would win, lose or tie. All I cared about was us being ourselves. The other item we talked about was to focus on completing the action the right way. It does not matter how it ends, as long as you do the action you know you are supposed to. We score one and then we focus on getting the second one. The guys might have had a boring second half, but we got the job done and that is all that matters."

FC Dallas forward Alan Velasco

Thoughts on his two goals this season...

"Compared to last season, this year I am here from the beginning of the season. This is really good for me and boosts up my confidence."

On the two consecutive wins at home...

"A win is always important for our team and that is our job. We train for this every day, and it helps us be more confident to go out and win the game."

On Jesús Jiménez's debut...

"I am very happy, a new player to the team means we will have more potential. Jesus came in and was great. We will continue working throughout the week to have more results like todays."

FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes

On the penalty saves...

"We always do our homework. Agada came first and had six stutter steps, so it's almost impossible to time as a goalkeeper with these rules now. You have to time really well, so I think it was a little harsh. The second one, like I said, we did our homework. I just went full out and I didn't think he hit it that well, because I had to adjust with my left hand. Luckily, I was able to push it out first. Crazy rollercoaster game, but we managed to get three points. At the end of the season, no one talks about how we did it. Most important thing is we got three points."

On what's going through his mind during the video review where he might've been sent off...

"I was ready for Agada to head the ball, then he headed to Nkosi (Tafari), then it dropped in the middle, and I went to get the ball. I think I barely touched the guy. There was some slim contact maybe, but I barely touched him, so I thought they were going to review it for the fall. Then on the bench I heard it might've been offside, so with both incidents I thought there was a big chance it would get canceled. It's weird because you have to re-focus, but luckily, we were able to keep the door closed with our great defensive work."

On what goes through his mind after a game like this...

"Welcome to the MLS. I think the way they played was really dangerous because Agada and Salloi had a lot of speed. I don't know if you remember but in the first half, I had a collision with Agada. I had to be really far off my line and help them with through balls and sometimes you collide. Sometimes they're first and sometimes I'm first. I think with the first penalty, I was a bit too eager to get the ball, but it was a great learning lesson. I know I had to redeem myself and I think I've got an okay penalty record."

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