Sporting Kansas City Falls 3-2 to FC Dallas in Front of Record Crowd at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
August 27, 2011 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Spokane Indians News Release
Sporting Kansas City fell 3-2 to FC Dallas on Saturday in front of a record crowd at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Forwards Kei Kamara and Omar Bravo each scored to put the home side ahead 2-0, but FC Dallas struck three times in the game's final 20 minutes for the dramatic comeback over Sporting Kansas City, who were reduced to 10 men in the 76th minute after Teal Bunbury received his second caution of the match.
A standing-room only crowd of 20,018 were in attendance on Saturday - surpassing the stadium opener as the largest crowd for an MLS match at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park during its inaugural season - as Sporting Kansas City remains in second place in the Eastern Conference with eight games to play in the 2011 MLS regular season.
Sporting Kansas City threatened early with Chance Myers firing a half-volley wide of the far post in the 7th minute and then Bunbury playing Bravo behind the FC Dallas defense only to see Ugo Ihemelu recover to disrupt the breakaway in the 20th minute.
Kamara opened the scoring two minutes later, poking the ball away from Ihemelu and racinginto the penalty area to fire a shot low and inside the far post. The Sierra Leone international, chosen for the Leone Stars' African Cup of Nations qualifier on September 3rd against Egypt, leads all Sporting Kansas City players with eight goals on the season.
The Sporting Kansas City lead doubled in the 68th minute as Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler's free kick skimmed off the head of FC Dallas defender Andrew Jacobson inside the penalty area and fell to Bunbury, unmarked inside the six-yard box. The second-year striker, selected to the U.S. Men's National Team for their upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica and Belgium, played the ball across the goalmouth where Bravo finished the tap-in for his seventh goal of the season.
Two minutes later, FC Dallas responded to cut the visitors' deficit in half on a driven free kick from Andrew Jacobson that worked its way through traffic in a crowded penalty area to beat Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen.
Sporting Kansas City suffered another setback in the 76th minute as Bunbury was sent off, allowing FC Dallas a man-advantage in their search for another result on the road just two days after securing a 1-0 win at Toronto FC in the CONCACAF Champions League.
The 2010 MLS Cup runners-up set the stage for the late dramatics with a goal from striker Maicon Santos in the 89th minute, heading home a cross from midfielder Brek Shea.
FC Dallas' 21-year-old playmaker again provided the pivotal pass in the second minute of stoppage time as second-half substitute Bobby Warshaw recorded his first career MLS goal with a header at the backpost between two Sporting Kansas City players for the match-winner.
Sporting Kansas City nearly salvaged a draw in the final minute as Chance Myers delivered a free kick to Michael Harrington at the backpost but the defender couldn't direct his header on target in the match's dying moments.
FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman returned to face his former club after playing in KC for three seasons and made four saves in the victory, stopping C.J. Sapong's acrobatic volley in the 21st minute and dodging a bullet when Bunbury's shot from 35 yards out struck the corner of the goalpost in the 56th minute.
On the opposite end, Nielsen twice turned away dangerous scoring opportunities for FC Dallas in the first half, smothering a shot from Santos in the 25th minute and making a reflex save when Santos' service was goal-bound after being blocked by Sporting KC midfielder Graham Zusi inside the penalty area.
Sporting Kansas City will continue their nine-game homestand on Monday, September 5th when they host the LA Galaxy at 5:00 p.m. CT at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets are available at TicketMaster.com or at the LIVESTRONG Sporting Park box offices.
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