MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC and Houston Draw 3-3

Published on September 9, 2016 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo played to a thrilling 3-3 draw on Friday night in the 100th MLS regular season match at Children's Mercy Park.

Jacob Peterson's early strike and Roger Espinoza's wonder goal gave Sporting Kansas City a first-half cushion, but the Dynamo hit back on either side of halftime through Mauro Manotas and Alex to level proceedings. Dom Dwyer restored the hosts' lead in the 81st minute before Raul Rodriguez provided a last-gasp equalizer in the 94th minute to split the points

The draw keeps Sporting Kansas City (11-12-6, 39 points) seven points clear in the Western Conference playoff race, four points ahead of the Portland Timbers and seven ahead of the San Jose Earthquakes. Houston (5-11-11, 26 points) extended its regular season unbeaten run at Children's Mercy Park to six matches but remains rooted to the bottom of the table. PAPA JOHN'S: The day after Sporting KC scores two or more goals, use promo code SPORTINGKC at 34550a0e34528f662ab0bd725 papajohns.com to get 50% off each regular menu price pizza in an order placed at participating Kansas City area locations.

Sporting Kansas City entered Friday night with a six-game home winning streak, one shy of tying a club record, and appeared well on their way to equaling that mark with a rampant start. Dwyer was the first to test Houston goalkeeper Joe Willis, who sprung left to punch the Englishman's 20-yard belter wide of the post.

Peterson landed the first punch in the 14th minute, becoming the first Kansas City player to score in four straight regular season home games since Scott Sealy in 2006. Saad Abdul-Salaam's low cross from the right flank was hammered goalward by Peterson, requiring Willis to make a reflex save. The Dynamo keeper then thwarted Dwyer's rebound effort from point blank range, but Peterson made no mistake on the third attempt by rifling into the roof of the net for his career-high fifth MLS goal of the campaign.

Vermes' men kept their foot on the pedal and almost had a second goal in the 17th minute when Benny Feilhaber's free kick deflected through Houston's four-man wall and skipped inches clear of Willis' righthand post.

The second goal would come in spectacular fashion courtesy of Espinoza. With Sporting KC applying pressure in the attacking third, the Honduran international intercepted an outlet pass from Collen Warner and sent a 25-yard laser into the top left corner. The jaw-dropping goal was Espinoza's first of the season and his fourth in Sporting KC colors.

Houston responded positively and cut into the deficit on the half-hour mark. Boniek Garcia found a pocket of space in the right channel and slid a through ball into the box for Manotas, who tucked low into the far corner for his first MLS goal and his third of the season against Sporting KC, having scored twice in Houston's 3-1 U.S. Open Cup win on June 29.

A heart-stopping second half unfolded before an 85th straight sellout crowd at Children's Mercy Park with both sides looking dangerous. The visitors would tie the match in the 59th minute when Sporting Kansas City failed to clear a ball swung into the penalty box, allowing Alex to prod low past goalkeeper Alec Kann.

The Dynamo nearly surged ahead just after the hour mark when Kann saved a drive from Alex and Ricardo Clark flicked a rebound attempt wide of the frame. Less than a minute later, Manotas narrowly missed out on his brace after placing a shot just beyond left post.

After surviving the series of scares, Sporting Kansas City found a second wind of its own. Willis did well to deny Dwyer on two occasions, blocking a venomous strike off Brad Davis' cross in the 66th minute and making a one-on-one save following Connor Hallisey's splendid through ball into space.

Dwyer's resilience was rewarded in the 81st minute when he bagged his team-leading 13th goal of the year. Espinoza's shot off a Benny Feilhaber corner kick was blocked in a crowded goalmouth, but Dwyer was well positioned to smash home and send Children's Mercy Park into rapturous celebration. Feilhaber was credited with his team-leading eighth assist while Espinoza set a new MLS career-high with his fifth helper of 2016.

The tense affair would deliver one final sting in the tale, even after Abdul-Salaam cleared Will Bruin's effort off the goal line in the 87th minute. Houston was awarded a free kick in the final minute of second-half stoppage time, and Garcia took full advantage. The veteran midfielder whipped his set piece into the penalty area where Rodriguez rose to glance a header off the woodwork and into the net, stunning more than 19,000 fans in attendance. Sporting Kansas City had conceded its latest goal of the season and fallen seconds short of an historic seventh straight home victory.

Sporting Kansas City faces a quick turnaround with Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC slated for 7 p.m. CT at Children's Mercy Park. Vermes' men must emerge with a victory to salvage any hopes of finishing atop Group C, as Vancouver (2-0-0, 6 points) currently has a five-point cushion on both Sporting Kansas City (0-1-1, 1 point) and Central FC (0-1-1, 1 point) with two group stage games remaining. Tickets for the all-important clash are available at fe884f9aaacc54b348185117d Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL.

QUOTES

Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes

Thoughts on the match... "Outside of the goals, they didn't have many chances. I haven't seen all the goals. I can tell you on the first one, we didn't rotate to the left which is a simple, simple action in the game. We didn't rotate left and Boniek [Garcia] was wide open. He gets the ball and slips it through. It's too easy of a play. The second goal, again, I think we were snoozing. On the third, our poor opportunity in tonight's game was we didn't manage the game well enough. We had the game. We were leading three times."

On if one action cost the team on the three goals... "I don't think you look at goals that way. We owned the game tonight. We led he game three times. We gave up three goals which we never should have. In those three actions, we were very poor. In the last one, it was terrible management in the game. We have no one to blame but ourselves."

On the final goal... "We fouled a guy with his back to the field. For what? What was he going to do? We give up a set piece late in the game for no reason. It wasn't like they were going on a counter attack and we needed to make a foul because we needed to make a tactical foul. There was nothing to do. We gave up a silly foul and then we didn't do our job in defending the play. You have to be able to do that. Like I said, there is no one to blame except ourselves."

Sporting KC Midfielder Roger Espinoza

Thoughts on the match... "It's very frustrating. I feel like it was my fault because it was pretty much the last play of the game. I don't think I ever should have fouled Boniek Garcia there. We know how good they are on set pieces."

On if the late foul was balanced by his goal and an assist... "There's no such thing as balance. It doesn't make it right. Just because I scored and had an assist, I can then make a foul and tie the game. We didn't have a very good second half, but we had the lead with a minute left. The foul there should never have been a foul - I should never have committed the foul. The ball landed right on the guys head, he hit it well and it was tough for Alec [Kann] to save."

On the club's struggles against teams from the bottom of the table... "I feel like teams at the bottom of the table know who they are coming to play against, so they always tend to play their best games against us. Especially Houston, with the rivalry between the two teams. They always play really well against us and tonight was one of those nights."

Sporting KC Midfielder Benny Feilhaber

On if the tie is magnified at this point in the season... "Yeah, it's very frustrating. Every point matters that much more. We know where we stand in the table. We have to win our home games and we had, I don't know how many opportunities to win this game. We are up 2-0 and 3-2 with ten seconds left in the game. It's not a good one to let slip away."

On when the game changed in Houston's favor... "Well the 2-1 goal was obviously big. I think we played like crap from the 2-1 goal all the way to the 2-2 goal and then we woke up a little bit. The 2-1 goal was one of the easiest goals I have ever seen a team winning 2-0 give up. It was way too easy and after that we followed that with 30 minutes of really bad soccer. We deserved to get the 2-2 at that point. Then we woke up and barely had enough time to get to 3-2. Then we weren't able to hold on with five minutes to go."

On what he expected from the team coming out of a two week break... "What we saw in the first 15 minutes, a 2-0 start against the last place team in our conference where three points is vital at home."

Houston Dynamo Head Coach Wade Barrett

Thoughts on the match... "I was really disappointed with our first half. I thought we looked disorganized. One thing we talked about in the first half was that I never wanted us to look confused and I thought we were just off in the first half. It could be down to multiple reasons, I would have to watch the game again. But I thought we were off in many different ways in the first half and you can't do that against a team like this, especially in their home where they are very good. They put good pressure and play with a lot of energy. You can't come out and look like we did in the first half and expect to come out with anything. I thought it was a fair result at halftime. Obviously, we had a lot to say at the half and I was really pleased with the players. These kinds of games can go two ways. The guys fought back. I thought the response in the second half, the fight and the character that we showed in the beginning of the second half, I was really impressed with. The one thing I still think we are missing and it has happened in many games is that killer instinct. You guys saw the game, too. We had some very good chances at 2-2 and when you get your foot on somebody's throat, when you get on top of a team, you have to get an end result. We got the two goals, but we should have had more. They are a good team. They are still going to have a chance or two at the end. I'm disappointed they got the third goal, but still pleased with the fight the guys showed. It's happened to us a couple times this year. I know it doesn't feel good to have that goal go in right at the end like that, but for us, we haven't had it go in that way for us so it felt good to get that last goal."

On the success Mauro Manotas has against Sporting KC "Honestly, Mauro [Manotas] has had chances against every team he's played against. One of Kansas City's biggest strengths is the pressure they put on, and I tell you what, when they get it right it's really difficult to beat. We talked about the opportunity to get behind. That's the one thing, you want to try to use their strength and turn it into a weakness so we wanted to try to get Mauro in behind their defense and we got him in a couple times. He's had those chances against a couple teams, but for whatever reason they have gone in against Kansas city. I won't ask too many questions about it. I'm just glad it happened."

Houston Dynamo Goalkeeper Joe Willis

On getting the late tying goal... "It was nice to see the fight at the end. To see the character that we have, but still the fact that we're celebrating a tie is a little bittersweet, I guess. We wanted three points. I think it could have gone either way. We're a little disappointed, but we're happy with the character that we showed."

On his performance... "It was alright. We always knew that they were going to be an attacking team, so I came into it knowing that I was going to have to make some saves probably. That's what I'm back there to do, it's my job so anything I can do to contribute to the team is what I'm going to do."

On the character his team showed at the end... "I think a lot of times earlier in the season when a situation like that happens where we give up that third goal, there's times that we'll just quit, where you can see in guys faces, guys just kind of give up. And that wasn't the case tonight. I don't think there was one guy on this team who thought we were losing. Whether it be a tie or a win, there wasn't a single guy here who thought we were losing."

Houston Dynamo Forward Mauro Manotas

On your first goal in MLS... "I'm very very happy for the good performance by the entire team and with my first goal. Now we must just keep working to repeat it."

On the game-tying goal... "It was a very fast play when Boniek was fouled. I am not sure who headed the ball. It was a beautiful goal luckily for us."

Houston Dynamo Midfielder Boniek Garcia

On Manotas' goal... "We'd been having a lot of movement out of the back and Mauro was able to lose his mark and scored a good first goal and there will be plenty more goals to come for him."

On the equalizer... "In the second half, we completed more plays towards goal. Good counters from Chaco [Cristian Maidana], Mauro [Manotas] and myself that brought on the goal. And god willing, we were able to tie the game."

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Major League Soccer Stories from September 9, 2016


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