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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC and Seattle Scrap to 2-2 Draw

April 15, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (4-1-2, 14 points) went four points clear at the top of the Western Conference following a 2-2 draw with Seattle Sounders FC (0-3-1, 1 point) on Sunday afternoon at frigid Children's Mercy Park.

Ilie's 34th-minute penalty kick gave Sporting KC the lead before Will Bruin bagged Seattle's first goal of the season on the stroke of halftime to level proceedings. The Sounders surged ahead on Cristian Roldan's strike in the 73rd minute, but Graham Zusi restored parity five minutes later as Sporting KC extended its unbeaten run to six matches and kept Seattle winless in 2018.

Sunday's affair was the coldest regular season home game in Kansas City history, with temperatures at 32 degrees when the clubs kicked off before a nationally televised audience on ESPN. The 2-2 stalemate marked just the second time in 17 regular-season meetings that Sporting KC and Seattle combined to score more than three goals.

The hosts, one week removed from a 2-0 road win over the LA Galaxy, fielded an unchanged lineup as Sporting KC's top goal scorer Felipe Gutierrez missed his second straight match with a hip ailment. His absence did little to prevent a strong start from Manager Peter Vermes' men on Sunday, as Johnny Russell was first to threaten with a clever touch past a defender before volleying high in the 14th minute.

Seven different players have scored a goal for Sporting KC this season, and Khiry Shelton nearly became the eighth with 23 minutes on the clock. The forward collected a cutback pass from Daniel Salloi only to see his close-range effort repelled by Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Shortly thereafter, Russell attacked a looping cross from Yohan Croizet and sent a powerful header marginally wide of Frei's right-hand post.

Referee Drew Fischer awarded Sporting KC a penalty kick near the half-hour mark when Russell accelerated into the box from the right wing and was chopped to the turf by Nouhou Tolo. Ilie stepped to the spot to bury the ensuing penalty high into the roof of the net, recording his second goal of the campaign.

Seattle manufactured an important equalizer on the final play of the half, but not before Bruin's header off a Nicolas Lodeiro free kick rattled the crossbar and was subsequently cleared by Ike Opara in second-half stoppage time. On the play that followed, Sounders defender Chad Marshall flicked Lodeiro's long throw-in goalward where Bruin was lurking to slot home from point-blank range. The strike broke Seattle's 315-minute scoreless drought to start the 2018 campaign and ended Sporting KC's shutout streak at 306 minutes dating back to March 24.

A tense second half produced its first flashpoint moment on 51 minutes when defender Jimmy Medranda cut the ball onto his weaker right foot and forced Frei into a diving stop at the near post. Seven minutes later, the Sounders thought they had won a penalty kick when Jordan McCrary's low cross from the right wing ricocheted off Medranda's leg and struck his elbow. Upon further review prompted by Video Assistant Referee Geoff Gamble, Fischer overturned the call and Seattle was denied its penalty kick opportunity.

Both teams survived close scares with 20 minutes remaining. Opara latched onto a Zusi set piece and snapped a header straight at Frei before Alex Roldan - the younger brother of Cristian and making his first career MLS start - unleashed a long-range blast that skimmed inches wide of the woodwork.

The visitors went in front on 73 minutes with a fluid attack downfield following a Sporting KC giveaway. Bruin raced onto Alex Roldan's long ball and picked out Cristian Roldan at the top of the box, allowing the U.S. international to rifle home from 18 yards and temporarily silence the Children's Mercy Park faithful.

Seattle's 2-1 lead lasted just five minutes, as Sporting KC's outside backs combined for an impressive equalizer in the 78th minute. Zusi settled Medranda's high-arching diagonal pass on the right channel, burst into the box and chipped Frei from four yards out to tally his second goal of year and his 31st for the club in all competitions.

Vermes' side went agonizingly close to securing all three points in the 83rd minute, but Ilie's header off Zusi's lovely set piece delivery lacked the direction to beat Frei.

Sporting KC will put their six-match unbeaten streak on the line Friday when third-place Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3-3-1, 10 points) visits Children's Mercy Park for an 8 p.m. CT kickoff on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus and FOX Sports Midwest Plus. Tickets for the game are available via SeatGeek.com and the first 10,000 fans through the stadium gates will receive a Tim Melia bobblehead courtesy of match sponsor Mark One Electric.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

Thoughts on the match...

Well, I thought we gave up a silly goal to end the half. And then we had a broken play where we give up our second goal. They were two opportunistic goals on their part. Credit to them and shame on us. I think that we gave up two very soft goals tonight. One was a lack of concentration. The other one was poor decisions all the way around. It's good we fought back but I would also say that we weren't at our best tonight, for whatever reason I don't know. We'll have to evaluate that. All in all, to get a point was good to get out of this game that way.

On coming from behind to secure a point...

There's no doubt the group has an attitude of being able to come back from being down. They don't get upset with being down and give up. They're good in that regard and we've got to keep going. But we should have been better throughout the game not to be in that position.

On the team's next match against Vancouver...

For us, it's just another three points out in front of us. We've got to try and do our best to try and get three. It's not going to be an easy match. They're a very good team, extremely athletic and we're going to have to be prepared.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza

Thoughts on the match...

I think we can do better. At least we fought back in a very difficult game against a very difficult team; a team that's trying to find its way so they're fighting for points right now. They made it difficult for us. It was difficult for us trying to find the pace.

On falling behind after taking the lead...

When we went up 1-0, we had a chance to lock it down at the end of the first half. Them tying it up at the end of the first half gave them a little hope and gave them a little revival I would say. And they came back in the second half with a lot more spirit.

On coming back in the second half...

I'm not happy with the way we played but some games are going to go like that and we have to grind it out and find a way to get points. At least we were able to tie it but we need to do better at the end of the day.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Ilie

Thoughts on the match...

I think that we were better, we played better, but at the end we get just one point so now we move forward and start thinking about Friday.

On relinquishing the lead...

Every time that we don't get three points at home is disappointing for us. We have to get better and play how we normally do. I think that with this way we can get three points next time.

On Jimmy Medranda's game-tying assist...

I think that Jimmy understood perfectly what we had to do the whole game by moving the ball side-to-side. He just did it with one excellent pass and (Graham) Zusi made a great touch and scored. We have to learn from these movements and move forward and see if the next game we can get the three points.

On the team's comeback...

It's too much effort for us when we come back so we should try to be the first to score and then keep the advantage to get the result. It's a good comeback but we should be the ones who are in front for the result every time.

Seattle Sounders FC head coach Brian Schmetzer

Thoughts on the match...

I'm not happy. We should have won the game. But that's how MLS is. You've got to credit (Graham) Zusi for making a play at the end there. I thought that we put enough into the game that we could have come out with the full three points. We out-dueled them, which was good. They out-possessed us, obviously. Peter (Vermes) has them playing at a high level. Still, I think we left something out there. Even so, for the guys that put in all of that effort and all of that work - it stings a little bit. But it gives them some good incentive for the next game.

On Will Bruin's goal giving the team a lift at halftime...

It was okay. It was good. We were still stinging a little bit from giving the first goal away. I thought we were disciplined defensively. They had the one chance earlier where they probably should have scored. That was their only real chance of the game so I thought we were okay there and then we give up the penalty and that kind of stung a little bit. Will (Bruin's) response, and it was actually a good play by Nico (Lodeiro) to take the quick throw-in and Chad (Marshall) to stay up there - those things happen.

On Cristian Roldan's second-half goal...

The build-up was good. His brother got one of the assists. That was good. That's a good storyline. They went out there and played pretty well. Cristian had a good strike. Tim Melia is a very good goalkeeper and to get one past him, that's saying something.

On the return of Osvaldo Alonso...

It's helpful. He's just a steadying influence. He's got a little bite there in the middle of the park so that's a positive.

On the play of Alex Roldan and Handwalla Bwana...

The young kids did exactly what we asked them to do which was to bring some energy into the game and to bring some of their soccer to the game. It's not just when you talk about young players that all they do is run around and are good athletes. Those two players actually have some soccer in them. Handwalla technically is very clean. Alex is another good player. I hate to compare him to his brother. I want to avoid that. He's a good player in his own right.

On securing the road result...

This is a very tough place to play so coming out of here with a point is a point well taken. We'll be in some ways happy with it but that sting, that hunger, that desire has to stay until Minnesota.

Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Osvaldo Alonso

On his return from injury...

I'm very happy to play football again and I'm very happy to be on the pitch.

On his time away from the field...

It was tough when you're sitting there watching the team for so long but like I said, happy to be here and happy to play.

On his return to being 100%...

I'm getting there. I played 25 minutes today and feel pretty good. Little by little I'm going to get my fitness.

On the road result...

It's a good point but we had the result in hand and let it go. We have to forget about it and focus on the next game against Minnesota. We have to learn from our mistake.

On his next step in earning more minutes...

I'm here to do everything I have to for the team and I'm prepared to play as much as the coach asks of me.

On the team's first point of the season...

Especially here in Kansas City, it's tough to play. We let the three points go but one point is good. We have to focus now on Minnesota and be happy with the point.

Seattle Sounders FC rookie Alex Roldan

On his first MLS start...

We started off a little slow and gave the PK away. This is a tough place to play so you can't come out of the bat like that. I thought our resolve was well. We came out and answered just before the half to get one back. I think that really gave us the motivation going into the second half.

On Will Bruin's goal on the cusp of halftime...

It gave us energy. We knew that we could compete with this team and that it wasn't going to be easy but we still could compete. We knew we could come out with a lot of energy and hopefully get another one back.

On starting alongside his brother...

It was a great feeling to be on the same pitch as my brother but that being said, once the game starts, my head's in the game and I'm concentrated to hopefully get three points out of it.

On his coach's message to him before the game...

Play with confidence. Not many players get this opportunity at this age so I'm grateful for that. The message was to take advantage of the opportunity and hopefully get some points.

On settling for a single point...

It's going to sting for a bit just because we were able to go up 2-1 on them late in the game and then gave one up. That being said, it is a tough place to play so we're happy with going home with a point. Hopefully this will be something that will get us going.

On his rookie season...

It's been a process. It's definitely a transition going from the college game to the pros. So far I think I've been doing well. I'm learning from these veteran players that we have around us. Hopefully, I'm able to pick up a few things from them so I can improve my game.

On battling with Graham Zusi...

He's a good, veteran player. He has a ton of U.S. caps. It was both a pleasure playing against him and also tough because he's such a good competitor, as we saw with what he did to us at the end.

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