MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Kansas City Drops 3-2 Decision at Chicago Fire

Published on March 26, 2011 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City fell 3-2 to the Chicago Fire on Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, suffering their first defeat of the 2011 season. Playing with 10-men for the majority of the match after Designated Player Omar Bravo was sent off in the 30th minute, Sporting Kansas City scored twice in the second half despite being a man down as defender Matt Besler recorded the first goal of his career and striker Teal Bunbury marked his return with a well-taken strike for the game's final goal.

Fire midfielder Marco Pappa was at the center of Chicago's attack early in the first half, sending a shot narrowly wide of the far post in the 14th minute and forcing a save by Nielsen on a curling free kick seven minutes later.

The game then took a decisive turn in the 30th minute. Moments after Sporting Kansas City defender Chance Myers nearly got on the end of a free kick from forward Milos Stojcev for KC's first notable scoring threat, Chicago countered immediately on a long pass from Pappa and earned a penalty kick after Bravo was called for pushing Puerari as he sent his shot over the crossbar. Bravo, deemed to have denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity by referee Jasen Anno, was sent off for the challenge and Chaves converted the ensuing penalty kick for his second goal of the season.

Down a man, Sporting KC fell behind 2-0 in the 40th minute. Fire midfielder Michael Videira avoided a tackle in midfield and sent a well-weighted through ball for Puerari behind the KC defense. The Uruguayan bent his first-time shot around Nielsen for his first goal in MLS play.

The two-goal deficit sparked life into the Sporting Kansas City attack, which created a pair of chances in the first half's final minutes. Sporting KC captain Davy Arnaud delivered a free kick that forced a solid save from Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson after a defensive header nearly ended up in the net. Three minutes later, a cross from KC midfielder Stephane Auvray found Myers at the backpost but his sliding volley went high.

The second half started with a strong save by Nielsen on a shot taken by Chaves on the right side, but KC's insertion of striker Teal Bunbuy at the break brought immediate energy to the frontline, sans Bravo. In the 50th minute, Bunbury broke through the Fire defense but had his shot saved by Johnson.

On the second of two corner kicks in the aftermath of Bunbury's blast, Sporting Kansas City got on the scoreboard as Arnaud sent a dangerous cross into the penalty area that couldn't be collected by Johnson and fell to Besler for the first goal, and point, of his career in the 51st minute. Besler, a Notre Dame alum, was playing in front of several close friends who made the nearly 100-mile trip to Toyota Park from South Bend, Indiana.

Sporting Kansas City's momentum was short-lived as Chicago scored their third goal of the game on an individual effort from Pappa with just over 30 minutes to play. The Guatemalan midfielder dribbled his way into the top of the penalty area and slipped a shot inside the post for the swift response, which proved to be the eventual game-winner.

Unwavered, Sporting Kansas City cut into the Chicago lead in the 72nd minute as Bunbury intercepted a pass from Fire defender Gonzalo Segares and beared down on Johnson before burying hit shot on the breakaway. Bunbury, making his return from a dislocated elbow suffered in the pre-season, now has six MLS goals in his career.

Having scored twice despite playing down a man since the 30th minute, Sporting Kansas City couldn't find the equalizer in the final 20 minutes. Chicago continued to press forward with Pappa shooting high of the near post in the 75th minute and Nielsen making his best save of the match in the 81st minute to deny striker Orr Barouch on a breakaway.

Nielsen finished the match with four saves in the loss, moving into sixth place on Sporting Kansas City's all-time saves chart with 86. Arnaud also moved up the club's all-time charts on Saturday, tying Preki with 199 games started for Sporting Kansas City, fourth most in team history.

Sporting Kansas City will continue its 10-game road trip to start the 2011 season at 6 p.m. CT next Saturday in their first ever meeting against the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps at Empire Field. The match will be televised locally on KSMO-TV, beginning with a pre-game show at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Fast Facts:

* With the loss, Sporting Kansas City is 1-2-0 in 2011 and are tied for fifth position in the Eastern Conference along with Toronto FC and D.C. United.

* Sporting KC is now 10-21-8 all-time against Chicago Fire and 3-14-2 on the road in the series (2-5-1 at Toyota Park). Kansas City lost for the only the second time in the last eight meetings since the start of the 2008 season.

* Sporting KC defender Matt Besler scored the first goal of his career on Saturday in the 51st minute. In 41 previous MLS regular season matches, the Overland Park, Kansas native had only four shots on goal.

* Striker Teal Bunbury made his first appearance of 2011after suffering a dislocated elbow in pre-season, scoring in the 72nd minute for his sixth career MLS goal.

* Defender Scott Lorenz made his Sporting Kansas City and MLS debut on Saturday, starting at left back and playing 84 minutes.

* Defender Chance Myers and midfielder Stephane Auvray started their first matches of the 2011 season, as well.

* Sporting Kansas City was without striker Kei Kamara, the team's leading goal scorer in 2010, and central defender Shavar Thomas on Saturday due to commitments with their respective National Teams.

* Thomas captained Jamaica in a 2-0 loss to Venezeula on Friday, and will next face El Salvador on Sunday.

* Kamara was chosen to the Sierra Leone National Team for their African Cup of Nations qualifier at Niger on Sunday.

* Sporting Kansas City dressed only six players on the bench in Saturday's loss due to injuries. Five players were listed as out on Friday's injury report: Ryan Smith, Konrad Warzycha, Julio Cesar, Michael Harrington and Korede Aiyegbusi. Defender Luke Sassano was also not available.

* Goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen made four saves in the loss, breaking a tie with Garth Lagerway for sixth on the club's all-time saves chart with 86 career saves.

* More than 300 Sporting Kansas City supporters traveled to Chicago for the match on Saturday, taking advantage of Sporting Club's new membership program that provides free tickets for fans who travel to away matches.

* Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman announced on Friday that the team will donate $500 to LIVESTRONG for every goal scored against the Fire in 2011, beginning with Saturday's match. The two goals scored on Saturday start the donation at $1,000 with 32 games remaining on Chicago's schedule.

* KSMO-TV will air highlights and reaction from Saturday's match on the station's weekly 30-minute soccer show "Off the Pitch with Sporting Kansas City" on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. CT.

Quotes:

Sporting KC Head Coach Peter Vermes

On the team's battle back in the second half:

"I really felt that we could come back. It's not like one of those 'hey, let's make everyone feel good and see what we can do' talks. I really believed we could get back into this game. We had some chances that at the point where we were already down and I just felt we could. We got that goal early and we thought we were going to have some opportunities on set pieces. We thought we were going to score another one. It was the third goal that really put a dagger in us. I give the guys a lot of credit because they came back and got the next one. It was a tough day."

On Omar Bravo's red card:

"It's not a red card, it is not even a penalty. Omar goes in, and at the same time he's giving the guy a little shoulder and he kicks the ball out-of-bounds himself. The guy didn't even take a shot. The AR2 points to the corner [flag], not to a penalty. Okay, so the center referee always takes precedence over the other guys, but he has to be 100% sure. So not only does he turn it into a penalty, but a red card. Now you're already behind the eight ball, not once but twice. So it really changed the outcome of the game I think, that call in itself.

From there I just felt like everything was against us. From the beginning of the game, every call was going against us. It just hurts. If they are coming in and running through our guys, headers and all those other things, what tends to happen is we try to go up and play the same game. Now all of a sudden, everything is going against us. How do you stay with the consistency' Trying to figure out, 'are we playing this way, or playing that way'' They can play this way, but we have to play that way. It's hard for guys to change their mentality over the course of ninety minutes."

On the team not hanging their heads after the red card:

"The key was trying to make it to halftime and not give up anything else. I think once we came in, we made a little bit of a tweak to the team, but getting that first goal was key. Like I said, I think they had the right mentality and the right attitude, but it was a little too much to overcome."

Sporting KC Defender Matt Besler

On his goal:

"It was a set piece. We played it short, it went back to Davy [Arnaud], we recycled our runs and I knew the back post was probably going to be open. It's something we looked at earlier in the game. The ball just snuck through to me and I was there to poke it in."

On the team battling back after being down two goals:

"If you look at the way we battled back, it's a positive. It hurts to lose. That's never good. If you're going to try and take something out of the game, it's the way we battled back with ten men and made it a game."

On capitalizing on the momentum after his goal:

"The thing we talked about at halftime was just get one [goal], to get it to 2-1. The pressure would be on them and their end. The third goal hurt us because we had all the momentum and then we had to battle back again. Once we made it 3-2, it felt like we were close again. We had the momentum and we ran out of time and energy a little bit towards the end."

Sporting KC Captain and Midfielder Davy Arnaud

On the team's outlook going into the second half:

"Obviously we were in a tough spot going into the second half. I was surprised by the way the Fire played in the second half. They were up a man, and up two goals at home and we went out and won the second half. We scored two goals and gave up one, but with the way that we played and being down a man, we showed some character. It was surprising with the way there were trying to slow the game down, you'd think it would be the opposite being up a man. I thought we pushed the game fairly well being one less."

On what they team talked about at halftime:

"We just said, be organized and we knew were going to get some chances and we had to take advantage of those chances. When the first goal came, we said they might get a little nervous, which happened. I thought even being down a man we had the better play in the second half."

On taking pride coming back after being down two goals:

"Absolutely. We didn't get our heads down and we didn't want to feel sorry for ourselves. The game wasn't over. We still had an opportunity. I thought it was a big effort from everybody in the second half and I think in the end, they were hanging on a little bit. I think they were ready for the final whistle."

Chicago Fire head Coach Carlos de los Cobos

On the Fire's match against Sporting KC

"It was a difficult match. We had a big start to the game. In the second half we had some problems but the most important thing was the attitude of the players. I am very satisfied with the effort of the players. We played a very strong team; even playing a man down they created some problems for us. I told the players before the match we need to create a strong image for the Fire here at home. Last year we lost a lot of points and games. This year it is different. Most of all, it is the players. I am very satisfied with them and they communicate. We have a different team for this season."

On Chaves and Puerari as a duo and the team's outlook on the season

"They have a good connection to each other. It is good for the team and for them. They score because they are confident and the team believes in them. It is very important that the players put in one hundred percent on the field. We want to have a connection with our fans. Last season we didn't give our fans anything. This season we want to change that and this is a start. It is not easy to win at home. But in this moment I am happy for the players, for the club and for the fans because we are having a good start to the season. I'm sure today's result has given us confidence in ourselves and our future."

On the performance of the Fire's defense

"I think that generally the team played well on defense. We had some specific mistakes and gave up the two goals. Bunbury created problems because he is a very good player. We also had trouble on the left side. On the angle of the game, it is most important that we won. The team deserved to win. We created opportunities so we could score. I remember last season, some matches we played well but others not as well. I need to take care of these situations. I need to manage the game to achieve a winning result because it is the most important thing."

Chicago Fire midfielder, Marco Pappa

On the result:

"I think as a whole we did a good job. Everyone was focused during the game and we earned three points at home. We feel very good after the game with this result."

On his goal in the 59th minute:

"It was a lucky goal because the ball bounced off my foot about seven times. When I saw the ball in front of me, I took the shot and I was happy it went in."

Chicago Fire midfielder, Patric Nyarko

On the result:

"We came out and wanted to set a tone for the rest of the year here in our first home game. We want to get as many points as we can early and at home because it will go a long way to help us down the road in our playoff push.

Last year we were very tentative to open the season, we played well, but weren't getting results, so this year the emphasis is on results - we're going to do whatever it takes. Even though we won we're still not comfortable with the way we gave up those two goals. We're going to go back to the drawing board and work on it - we can't give any team, any chances - especially at home. We need to make this place a fortress against teams that come and play here, and we need to earn as many points as possible at home."

On creating more offensive opportunities:

"The field definitely looks more open. The plan is for players to move into open spaces, you know someone is going to be there in the open space to take the passes because we are using the whole field. We are more confident with each other now, we've spent the past month learning each other's movements so it makes it a lot easier to play together when you're comfortable with each other. "

Chicago Fire midfielder, Logan Pause

On the team's defensive play:

"We need to learn from our mistakes and move on. I think on their first goal we were a little bit careless, even before the two corner kicks, we let the concentration slip just a little bit. The second goal we obviously we had an unfortunate bounce and a little lack of concentration. We took our foot off the pedal a little bit and those are things, at this point in the year we're going wipe our brow because we got away with one. We'll take the three points because it's crucial, especially at home."

On starting the season with a victory at home:

"It was absolutely important to get the win at home. Winning here is one of the things we are focused on changing. We got the best fan base in the league and we need to do our part in and be responsible for our actions on the field. We hope to create an environment and mentality that refuse to lose."

Check out the Sporting Kansas City Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from March 26, 2011


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.

OurSports Central