MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Fights Back for 1-1 Draw with Dallas

Published on September 3, 2020 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (5-2-2, 17 points) came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw for the second straight game, sharing the spoils with FC Dallas (2-1-4, 10 points) on Wednesday night at Children's Mercy Park to stay atop the Western Conference standings.

Dallas landed the first punch on an early goal from Franco Jara, but center forward Khiry Shelton conjured an equalizer on the stroke of halftime to match an MLS career-high with his fourth goal of the season. Sporting outshot their opponents 22-5 over the course of the evening, but the visitors finished with 14 blocks -- tied for the most in an MLS game since the dawn of the Opta era in 2010 -- to emerge with a point.

A youthful Sporting Kansas City lineup included five changes from Saturday's 1-1 draw at the Colorado Rapids. Forward Alan Pulido and defenders Winston Reid and Graham Zusi were rested, Roger Espinoza missed out through injury and Gadi Kinda served a red card suspension. For the first time in club history, Manager Peter Vermes deployed an all-Homegrown midfield of 18-year-old Gianluca Busio, 19-year-old Cameron Duke and 22-year-old Felipe Hernandez, while Luis Martins and Roberto Puncec slotted into defense and winger Johnny Russell donned the captain's armband. Wednesday notably marked the second match ever to feature four Homegrown starters for Sporting, with right back Jaylin Lindsey joining the midfield three to round out the quartet.

Jara's first MLS goal vaulted the visitors ahead in the ninth minute. Dallas midfielder Bryan Acosta created a turnover on the edge of Sporting's own penalty area and the ball rolled kindly to the Argentine striker, who chipped a shot over goalkeeper Tim Melia to open his scoring account after arriving from Mexican side Pachuca in July.

Two major chances would fall Sporting's way just shy of the 20-minute mark. Luis Martins advanced into the attacking third and picked out Shelton, who swiveled near the penalty spot and hammered a left-footed strike over the bar. Shortly thereafter, Gerso did wonderfully to keep possession along the left endline, shrug off a defender and pull it back for Russell, but his blistering effort also sailed high from 12 yards.

Shelton again went agonizingly close to leveling terms in the 29th minute, outleaping Dallas defender Matt Hedges to redirect an acrobatic Russell cross from the right flank, only to see his header skip inches wide of goalkeeper Jimmy Mauer's righthand post.

In a notable plot twist, Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez was forced into a pair of first-half substitutions. Eighteen-year-old Tanner Tessman replaced the injured Acosta in the 19th minute and a hobbled Mauer made way for MLS debutant Kyle Zobeck on the cusp of intermission.

A wonderfully worked attack restored parity three minutes into first-half stoppage time. Busio won possession at midfield and Hernandez spread the ball left to Gerso, who squeezed a clever pass through to Shelton. The striker took a smooth touch and finished lethally with the outside of his right boot past a helpless Zobeck. Shelton moved into a tie for the team lead with his fourth goal of the campaign, while Hernandez tallied his first assist at the MLS level.

Russell was unfortunate not to put his name on the scoresheet in the 52nd minute. Neat interplay between Martins and Gerso set the latter free along the endline, and although Russell managed to get a touch to the ensuing cross inside the six-yard area, Dallas defender John Nelson did enough to prevent the Scottish international from striking the ball cleanly as Zobeck pounced to extinguish the danger.

Sporting continued to threaten down the left wing, and Russell's luck eluded him once more in the 68th minute when his diving header off Martins' teasing delivery flashed marginally wide of the post. The 30-year-old remained lively, however, and his driven cross in the 84th minute nearly resulted in a goal as Hernandez and Zusi, a second-half substitute, both had bites at the apple but saw their shots blocked in a crowded box.

The game's final scoring opportunity fell to Daniel Salloi, who on the hour mark became the fifth Sporting KC Academy product to take the field. Deep into second-half stoppage time, the Hungary-born forward raced onto Zusi's well-weighted through ball and prompted Zobeck to make an outstretched save with a low shot that was destined for the far left corner.

Sporting's busy stretch will continue Saturday when the club takes the field for the fifth time in 16 days, visiting rivals Houston Dynamo in a 7 p.m. CT kickoff at BBVA Compass Stadium. Vermes' side previously hosted Houston on March 7 and Aug. 25, prevailing 4-0 in the 2020 home opener before suffering a 5-2 defeat Saturday's contest will air live on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports GO, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On the play of Cam Duke in his first pro start...

Like a lot of players when they first start out, they're maybe a little skittish or a little nervous. But he started to get into the swing of things and I thought that he finished the half really well. When you look at all the young guys that got their starts tonight, the other part of it as well is that they helped get a result. I think we deserved three (points) but all three guys (in the midfield) also came off the field at halftime helping us to be even or ahead at halftime, which is a big goal of ours each time we step out onto the field. They worked hard to do it and I thought Cam really started to get into a little bit of routine in the game as the game wore on. It was good for him. I think when he started the second half, he was much different than the way he started the first half. I think he had a good performance.

On the progress of Gianluca Busio...

It's great. A couple games ago, I was having all these questions about him and his defending but I don't look at it in just a game-to-game situation. I've looked at his progress for a long time now. He never looks out of place out on the field. He's taken a big step up. He covers a lot of ground, especially from side to side - not just forward and back. It's not easy in that job to cover as much as he does but he's doing a great job of it. He always maintains a real good composure on the ball, as well. Great progress by him and great evolution of his game.

When you play a certain system, obviously there's a certain role and responsibility that goes with each position. What he's doing is he's letting his qualities make the position different. He can separate himself with the way he turns, with the way he dribbles guys, he can play the ball both with left and right, he's got a long distance shot. There's just a lot of things he brings to that position that is a lot different than other guys can. He keeps getting better. Am I going to tell you that that's his spot for the rest of his career? He can play anywhere in that middle of midfield. He can also play as a winger. He does a great job there, as well. This is really, really good experience for him and, like I said, every game we play, he gets better and better and I think all of his teammates realize it as well.

On the play of the Homegrown midfield trio...

As the game wore on, they became less thinking and more instinctive which is what you want to get to. They started to get into that rhythm and routine that you're expecting so that when the ball moves, when do you actually leave the line and go out and pressure the ball. Their timing got better as the game went on. They did a good job. You've got (Felipe) Hernandez, you've got Cam Duke, you've got (Gianluca) Busio, you've got (Jaylin) Lindsey, even Daniel (Salloi) came on. You've got five guys on the field that have come out of our Academy. That's a pretty big step for us as a club. Can it be better? For sure, but these are all good moments for those guys as they continue to grow and get better.

On the possible offside leading up to the FC Dallas goal...

I had a quick look at it. It looks like when the ball is played there are six guys offside and they're all walking back. The way that I see it, it's always when a player gains an advantage. In this situation, six guys are offside. When the ball goes over and now they turn around, they're higher up the field than they normally would (be) to start pressuring the ball. All of their guys are in better starting positions for when the ball goes backward, so they shouldn't get an advantage for that. That's my opinion. I have seen it called all different ways. What's frustrating to me is that a few years back, we played in Dallas. I have a still photo. They had a corner kick, the ball goes backward to outside the 18, our entire backline moves up to the 18-yard line, the guy serves it and they have five guys offside and they score. I have the still picture of when the guy is kicking the ball. This is the same thing again. It just frustrates me. You can't allow the other team to get an advantage and it's an advantage when they are higher up the field space wise. If they have to get onside, then what happens is they're that much further away from the ball and they probably don't even step up to press and they just stay where they are. But because they stay offside and they're lazy about it, they now get the advantage and I think it's completely incorrect. There's no way that the other team should even have a chance to play on the ball because (Jesus) Ferreira actually goes to press and puts the guy under pressure. It shouldn't be a goal. The discussion between me and the referee was really simple. They have a different interpretation. Of course they do. It's the way it always is.

On the roster rotation due to schedule congestion...

I think we're very similar to a lot of teams in this league. I hate the word, but everybody uses it. It's unprecedented in what we do as a profession. Consistency, routine, all of those things are really important to players and a team. There's just zero of that. That continues to be the thing that you constantly have to overcome. And sometimes it actually is the number one thing you're trying to overcome as opposed to all the other things: the referees, the players on the other team. It's a difficult situation. You can look over the years at all the lineups I've had. I've always been very, very consistent with our lineups over the years - especially when I think I've found the right combination of guys. That's how you build continuity on the field. And it's one of those things that you can't just keep riding guys every 3-4 days and let them play, play, play. At some point, they're going to break down. We're trying to do a good job of managing that. I think the guys have been really good about taking care of themselves and putting themselves in a good position but it's not an easy one.

The good thing is that tonight, (Matt) Besler didn't start but he came in in the second half and I thought he was a big impact in the game for us. He helped us build out. We had so much more pressure going forward. He was calm on the ball. He was good at breaking up tackles...The contribution by the young guys and the different guys that played tonight that don't usually, it was good.

Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell

Thoughts on the match...

It's frustrating to play the way we did with the attack and chances and not to come away with a (better) result. There were a lot of opportunities where we should have done better. Some of the blocks that they made were ridiculous to be honest - some of the goal line clearances and blocks that they made. It just didn't fall for us. It seemed like everything we had was blocked. We felt like we created enough chances and just couldn't get that final touch. That's the frustrating part when you dominate a game that much and you don't come away with three points. It feels like a defeat.

On the blocked shots...

We had so many opportunities, so many shots and good shots that were on target and probably goals, and they just throw a body in the way. Credit to them, that's the way you want your team to defend. They were very good at it tonight. Sometimes you just get that luck when you're defending everything. It just seems to be blocked, (they) get bodies in the way, deflections, we couldn't get the final touch. We had a couple of chances with balls fired across, but we couldn't get full contact on them. It just seemed like one of those nights where no matter what we did, it wasn't enough.

On the growth of Gianluca Busio...

I think over the last few games he's grown massively. I know it's a position that he's not familiar with, but that just shows the I.Q. and quality that the kid's got. For someone that a lot of people see as such a technical, attacking player, for him to play that role the way that he has, breaking up plays, throwing himself into tackles, it seems like he's done that a lot. He's got no fear and he's been massive for us - obviously getting the goal for us the other night and just his overall performance, awareness and positional sense. His distribution of the ball tonight was a different class.

On Cam Duke...

We've had to make changes that we normally wouldn't have to make just with the games coming so close. Those boys have been up and training well for so long and deserve an opportunity. They took it tonight and didn't look out of place at all. When you look at the three guys in midfield, how young they are, like I said, they didn't look out of place. In the game, we started a little nervous as a team but as the game went on, we grew as a team and especially those guys. I thought it was a very, very impressive game by those three kids.

Sporting Kansas City forward Khiry Shelton

On the young midfield...

I think they did a great job. They're still learning and growing each day, and this is their opportunity to prove something and I think they did that. Obviously, we wanted to get the win at home, but we'll take it for what it is and push forward.

On playing at center forward...

It brought back a lot of memories from 2018. It was good and fun. I should've scored maybe two or three more goals, but that's something I'll work on this week.

On scoring his goal...

It was a buildup play and I was able to get it to Felipe (Hernandez) and he was able to get it to Gerso (Fernandes) out wide really quickly. Gerso found the gap and I took a good first touch and slotted it.

On walking away with a draw rather than win...

Obviously, we want to win at home. We had some young guys on the field and for (Cam Duke), this was his first start. We didn't lose like we did last time we were at home, so this is a positive for me. I think we're going to continue to push forward and grow as a team. There's a lot of games being played within a short time period, but we have to keep pushing and we're going to get our results.

On the dialogue between Black Players for Change and the league...

The communication has been very open. As a team, we've gotten together and talked about things we can do to be more involved in the community and be there and be supportive of one another. I think from MLS, they have done a good job. There are other areas they could do better in but there's a learning curve for everyone and we're all trying to figure out a solution. That's going to take some time but it's a step in the right direction.

2020 MLS Regular Season

Match 9 of 23

Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas

Weather: 81 degrees and mostly sunny

Watch: Khiry Shelton scores first-half equalizer

Score 1 2 F

Sporting Kansas City (5-2-2, 17 points) 1 0 1

FC Dallas (2-1-4, 10 points) 1 0 1

Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Jaylin Lindsey, Graham Smith (Matt Besler 46'), Roberto Puncec, Luis Martins; Gianluca Busio, Felipe Hernandez (Erik Hurtado 90+3'), Cam Duke (Graham Zusi 57'); Johnny Russell (C), Khiry Shelton, Gerso Fernandes (Daniel Salloi 57')

Subs Not Used: Richard Sanchez, Amadou Dia, Andreu Fontas, Wan Kuzain

FC Dallas: Jimmy Mauer (Kyle Zobeck 42'); Ryan Hollingshead, Matt Hedges (Bressan 46'), Reto Ziegler (C), John Nelson; Thiago Santos, Bryan Acosta (Tanner Tessman 19'), Brandon Servania (Santiago Mosquera 64'); Michael Barrios, Franco Jara, Jesus Ferreira (Bryan Reynolds 64')

Subs Not Used: Edwin Cerillo, Ricaurte Velez, Zdenek Ondrasek, Ricardo Pepi

Scoring Summary:

DAL -- Franco Jara 1 (Bryan Acosta 1) 9'

SKC -- Khiry Shelton 4 (Gerso Fernandes 2, Felipe Hernandez 1) 45+3'

Misconduct Summary:

DAL -- Brandon Servania (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 31'

DAL -- Michael Barrios (yellow card; delaying a restart) 54'

DAL -- Thiago Santos (yellow card; dissent) 84'

Stat SKC DAL

Shots 22 5

Shots on Goal 3 5

Saves 4 2

Fouls 14 11

Offsides 0 2

Corner Kicks 7 5

Referee: Ramy Touchan

Assistant Referee: Kyle Atkins

Assistant Referee: Brian Poeschel

Fourth Official: Jon Freemon

VAR: Younes Marrakchi

AVAR:Ian McKay

Check out the Sporting Kansas City Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from September 3, 2020


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