MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Cruises to Historic 6-0 Win over Vancouver

Published on April 21, 2018 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Forward Johnny Russell scored a hat-trick and Sporting Kansas City tied its largest margin of victory in club history with a rampant 6-0 win over nine-man Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Friday night at Children's Mercy Park.

Jimmy Medranda, Cristian Lobato and Yohan Croizet also got in on the scoring act for a dominant Sporting KC side (5-1-2, 17 points) that went seven points clear atop the Western Conference and pushed its unbeaten streak to seven matches. The Whitecaps (3-4-1, 10 points), who suffered their heaviest loss all-time, conceded three times within the first half-hour before midfielders Yordy Reyna and Efrain Juarez received straight red cards for violent conduct during an altercation at the end of the first half.

Friday's historic performance saw Sporting KC rewrite the team record books, tying single-game highs in goals, shot attempts (34) and shots on target (14). Russell's hat-trick was the eighth in Kansas City regular season history - and just the second in 2010 - while captain Matt Besler moved into a first place all-time on the club's regular season charts in matches started (228) and minutes played (20,551).

The hosts began their scoring spree early, but not before Tim Melia made his lone save of the night in stunning fashion. Reyna raced onto an Anthony Blondell through ball and rounded the Sporting KC goalkeeper, but Melia recovered brilliantly to produce a diving stop and set the stage for the rout that would ensue.

Russell landed his first punch in the 10th minute, finishing off a flowing move that involved Graham Zusi and Roger Espinoza. Zusi spread the ball down the right channel to Espinoza, whose cutback pass found Russell on the right side of the box. The 28-year-old's superb first-time hit caromed off the far post and into the net, igniting celebrations among the 19,690 in attendance.

Six minutes later, Russell doubled the advantage with an aggressive run into the box from the left wing and a low finish that deflect through traffic and past busy Vancouver goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic. Espinoza recorded his fifth assist of the season on the play, tied for first in MLS and a new career-high for the Honduran with 26 matches still remaining in 2018.

Vancouver's final sniff of goal came in the 23rd minute when a venomous volley from Blondell skimmed narrowly wide of Melia's right-hand post. It was one-way traffic from that point forward, as Sporting KC took a commanding 3-0 lead on the half-hour mark.

Medranda was afforded space 30 yards from goal and unleashed a thunderous strike from the left channel that dipped and swerved before nestling high into the net. The jaw-dropping effort gave the Colombian his second goal of the campaign and the fifth of his MLS career, marking the first time since May 2015 that Sporting KC had bagged three goals in the first half of a league match.

The complexion of the game changed drastically five minutes before intermission when Vancouver captain Kendall Waston committed an aggressive foul on Espinoza. The play ignited a melee between the teams and prompted referee Kevin Stott to consult VAR Edvin Jurisevic. Upon reviewing the altercation, Stott issued red cards to Reyna and Juarez as the Whitecaps were reduced to nine players.

The floodgates opened early in the second half as Sporting KC cashed in on their numerical advantage. An incisive attack in the 48th minute led to Russell's third goal, as the Scot collected a clever through ball from Besler and calmly chipped Marinovic from close range. In doing so, Russell moved into a tie for the MLS lead with his fifth goal of 2018 while Besler notched his 16th career assist in his record-setting start.

Russell exited the match to a standing ovation in the 52nd minute, making way for the player who provided Sporting KC's fifth goal just moments later. Cristian Lobato had been on the field for just two minutes when he made a far-post run and chested home from point-blank range off a Croizet cross. The play gave Kansas City five goals in a regular season match for the first time since July 3, 2004, as Lobato opened his MLS scoring account.

Croizet turned from provider to scorer in the 77th minute as Manager Peter Vermes' men delivered their final blow of the night. The Frenchman dashed onto the end of Ilie's lovely ball over the top and poked low into the far left corner for his first goal in a Sporting KC uniform - a tally that tied Kansas City's all-time record for most goals in a competitive match.

With a resounding home victory under their belts, Sporting KC will hit the road next Saturday, April 28, for a cross-conference battle with the New England Revolution (3-2-1, 10 points) at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus and FOX Sports Midwest Plus.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On the team's management of the second half...

When you're playing against a group of guys that are just looking to defend their goal, it's not easy to break through. The good thing is that we got some good possession in the game and we found a couple more goals with aggressive movement. We finished out the game and that was what we needed to do.

On the play of Johnny Russell...

Prior to the guys getting sent off, it was 3-0 at that point. I thought that we were very good. I think that he was very aggressive in his movements going forward. He's starting to like this place and that's a good thing. He's getting his rhythm so it's good. He was excellent tonight. But I have to say the team was very good and really locked in from the start of the game.

On extending the team's lead atop the West...

Obviously, these are a big three points. This is our eighth game. We knew that they were right close to us. We wanted to spread it out a little bit. Getting these points at home were really important.

Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler

Thoughts on the team's performance...

It was good. The first three goals, before they had two guys sent off, set the tone for the rest of the game. I thought we came out the right way. We were aggressive. We were getting numbers into the box. If we're being honest, the last 30 minutes was a bit of a formality there. Thanks to everybody for sticking around. At the end of the day, we scored six goals here at home and we kept a shutout. We got three points. All in all, it's a great day. Now we move onto the next one.

On the team's home field advantage...

It's huge. We talk about getting three points every time that we play in front of these incredible fans and tonight was no different. We wanted to make sure we took care of business. We go on the road next week to New England. All in all, I think it was a great night for everybody.

On if he could have imagined becoming the team's all-time minutes played leader...

Absolutely not. I was just trying to make the team and trying to get by every single day. The most important thing is that the team wins. It's a bit of a weird statistic in my mind because it means I'm getting old. It's something I've never thought about. I just step on the field and try to help the team win. I would say that record is the byproduct of a lot of other people - not me. I've been on a lot of great teams. I've played with some great teammates, playing in front of amazing fans. And we have an unbelievable ownership group, too. I feel like I'm a byproduct of all those things.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza

Thoughts on the performance...

It was great. Right off the bat, we took it to them. We scored right away. When we found opportunities, we finished them.

On the 6-0 margin of victory...

We tried to keep the ball. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. With Vancouver only having eight field players, we knew they were going to put them all on top of the 18 and it was going to be difficult to score. But we were able to find spaces.

On the home support...

Thank you to the fans for showing up every gameday and supporting us. We were very happy that they were able to make it tonight. Keep supporting us!

On Johnny Russell's hat trick...

I just give the ball to Johnny and he can go score. He's the one that gives me the most assists. He's been great for us and I hope he keeps going with his streak.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson

Thoughts on the match...

This was a very hard game. It's fine moments in games. We started off very well, fairly even in the first 15 minutes. Then we concede and then we're 3-0 down in 40 minutes. An incident then changes the game. We lose emotional control. We have two players sent off and then they score three goals in the second half. Not good enough. Not acceptable. Embarrassing. I let the players know. But we've got to brush ourselves down quickly because we've got a game on Friday.

On his message to the team...

You've got to stick together in times like this. It's easy when you're doing well. I certainly think that everything went against us today, from the early miss to some of the refereeing decisions. But we didn't help ourselves. We lose two men in an incident which they started. We've got to be better than that. In the second half, we talked about trying to stay in the game and then catch them on the counter. We set up that way by playing a 4-3-1 with our nine men we had. Within two minutes, we're lazy with our decision making and our detail and we're 5-0 down before you know it. Then it becomes a game of will, mind and concentration. The guys who were on the field at the end worked as hard as they could.

On the lessons learned...

No excuses. I don't make excuses at any stage or any time. I put 11 players on the field today that could win the game. I think they showed in the first 15 minutes that they were more than capable of doing it. Fine lines. The game is about fine lines. We didn't get our details right in either box. You can blame deflections and things like that but I think it's lazy defending. And we didn't keep 11 men on the field. We have to do that or the same thing is going to happen again.

On the traveling support...

The guys that were here were brilliant. We know that. They always follow us. We do appreciate them coming. The guys will be ready next week. You want a response from players. We're in front of our fans next week. After a disappointing result last week and a really bad result today - embarrassing really - we have to get back to work.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic

Thoughts on the game...

Like a lot of games we've played so far, we actually started off well. We had a prime opportunity in the first five minutes. Through a bit of, I guess in some cases, lackluster defending from the team as a whole, we conceded three soft goals.

On moving forward...

It's difficult to move forward after that. You've got 25 professionals in the room that have been in situations like this before. It's our job to bounce back, especially coming home, after three preventable defeats.

On the traveling support...

I can only tell the fans that when we're at home now on Friday that they should expect to see a huge turnaround from every player that plays on that field. They deserve more than that.

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 21, 2018


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