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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Earns Dramatic 3-2 Win over Philadelphia

April 6, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Playing the team's 600th all-time regular season match, Sporting Kansas City came from behind for a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Sunday with two goals in second half stoppage time. Jalil Anibaba pulled the home side level in the 91st minute to set the stage for Krisztian Nemeth's game-winner - the club's 1000th goal in team history across all competitions - in the 94th minute.

As a result of Sporting Kansas City's two goals and four shots on goal in Sunday's victory, fans can take advantage of 50% off regular price online orders at Papa John's (promo code SPORTINGKC) and can also receive a free breakfast biscuit sandwich at area Jack in the Box locations with any purchase through Monday. In addition, fans can receive a free 48-ounce of Breyers ice cream at Kansas City area Price Chopper locations until Monday through the Sporting Club Uphoria mobile app.

The visiting Union took an early lead in the game's third minute from a corner kick swung in by Sebastien Le Toux. Anibaba nearly cleared the ball - last touched by Jacob Peterson under pressure from Andrew Wenger - off the goalline however assistant referee Adam Garner immediately signaled for the own goal to be awarded by referee Ismail Elfath.

Sporting Kansas City responded with a goal of their own off a corner kick in the 16th minute. Dom Dwyer headed home Benny Feilhaber's service at the back post for his first goal of the season after setting the team's single-season record with 22 goals in 2014.

His 25th career regular season goal - and third in his last four games against Philadelphia - came on a night in which 10,000 fans in the sold-out crowd received commemorative Dwyer posters courtesy of adidas.

The momentum from the equalizer was short lived as Philadelphia re-gained their advantage just over three minutes later. Le Toux's free kick from the right flank found Fernando Aristeguieta, who powered his header past the outstretched arms of Luis Marin from 10 yards out for his team-leading third goal of the year.

The two sides continued to exchanged chances in an entertaining back-and-forth affair nationally televised on FOX Sports 1. Dwyer's header from a Matt Besler throw-in forced a fingertip save by Rais Mbolhi in the 28th minute. On the opposite end, Luis Marin made a pair of saves on Wenger in the 37th and 63rd minutes.

With regulation nearing an end, the Chilean goalkeeper kept Sporting KC in contention with important saves in back-to-back minutes. He held a deflected attempt from Aristeguieta in the 87th minute and made his best save of the night a minute later to push Le Toux's effort onto the post in a one-on-one situation. The rebound fell to Michael Lahoud, whose first-time shot carried well over the bar with a vacated net in front of him.

Set pieces would once again prove pivotal as six minutes of second half stoppage time commenced with the scoreline still 2-1 in Philadelphia's favor. Aristeguieta cleared away Feilhaber's free kick from the left sideline but Roger Espinoza was first to the loose ball and lofted an entry pass back into the penalty area. Anibaba won the aerial and snapped his header downward inside the post for his fifth career MLS goal and first since October 2013.

The late-game heroics culminated in a milestone moment when Feilhaber's corner kick - flicked on by Besler - was pushed over the line by Nemeth. A second-half substitute, the Hungarian newcomer's first MLS goal goes into the record books as the team's historic 1000th goal across all competitions.

Sunday's match was Sporting Kansas City's first to feature two goals in second half stoppage time since 2007 and moves the team into a tie with Real Salt Lake for third place in the Western Conference. The two teams will meet at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Sporting Park in a rematch of MLS Cup 2013.

A limited number of tickets, including Standing Room Only tickets, are available online at Ticketmaster.com. The first 10,000 fans will receive Sporting KC spirit sleeves courtesy of UMB Bank.

FAST FACTS

Sporting Kansas City defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-2 on Sunday in the club's 600th regular season match all-time and 300th regular season home game.

The game-winner, scored by Krisztian Nemeth, was the 1000th goal in team history across all competitions.

With the comeback victory, Sporting KC moves into a tie for third in the Western Conference with eight points.

The Union opened the scoring in the third minute via a Sporting Kansas City own goal credited to Jacob Peterson.

The third-minute goal was the earliest conceded at Sporting Park during the MLS regular season. Prior to Sunday, the earliest goal conceded at Sporting Park was scored by Camelo Sanvezzo in the 15th minute of a 2-1 Sporting KC victory over Vancouver in June 2011.

Dom Dwyer opened the scoring for Sporting Kansas City. The goal was Dwyer's first of the 2015 season.

Benny Feilhaber earned the assist on Dwyer's goal, his third of the year. Feilhaber also earned an assist on Nemeth's game-winning goal. His four assists is most in the League.

The Union regained the lead in the 19th minute of the match. Fernando Aristeguieta scored off a set piece taken by Sebastian Le Toux.

Two of Philadelphia's five goals in 2015 were scored via own goals. The other three have all been scored by Aristeguieta.

Jalil Anibaba equalized in the 91st minute. The goal was Anibaba's first goal since joining Sporting Kansas City and first in MLS play since October 2013.

Roger Espinoza had the assist, his first of 2015 and 12th all-time during the regular season.

Nemeth's game-winner came in the 94th minute. The goal was Nemeth's first of the year.

The last time Sporting KC scored two goals in stoppage time was September 15, 2007 in a 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Philadelphia Union made two substitutions on Sunday. C.J. Sapong entered the match for Eric Ayuk Mbu. The match was Sapong's first time back at Sporting Park since being traded to the Union in the offseason.

The second substitution for Philadelphia was Raymond Lee coming on for Fabinho. The appearance was Lee's MLS debut. The rookie is a product of the Sporting Kansas City academy.

Sporting KC snapped a three-game home winless streak against Philadelphia dating back to 2013.

Philadelphia's passing accuracy of 52.8% on Sunday was the second lowest in an MLS game since 2010.

Sporting KC is 5-4-4 against Philadelphia all-time.

Sporting KC made three changes to the starting lineup from their last match. Marcel de Jong replaced Seth Sinovic, Roger Espinoza entered for Paulo Nagamura and Jacob Peterson started for the injured Graham Zusi.

Matt Besler led all players with 86 passes (70 successful) on Sunday, boasting a passing accuracy of 81.4%.

Feilhaber led all players with 10 recoveries on Sunday.

Servando Carrasco and Philadelphia's Steven Vitoria led all players in interceptions (6).

Ike Opara had five interceptions on Sunday and leads MLS with 30 in 2015.

Philadelphia snapped Sporting KC's shutout streak (200 minutes) in the 3rd minute of Sunday's match.

With three goals against on Sunday, Philadelphia has conceded the most goals in MLS (9) this season.

With the win, Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes moved into a tie for 12th place all-time with 78 MLS regular season wins.

Philadelphia was without Zach Pfeffer and Fred as they both served suspensions for red cards received last month.

Sporting Park welcomed 19,545 fans to Sunday's match, the stadium's 56th consecutive MLS sellout.

Fans can receive a free 48-ounce tub of Breyers ice cream at Kansas City area Price Chopper locations through Monday, April 6 through the Sporting Club Uphoria app.

To commemorate their 600th match, Sporting KC distributed Dom Dwyer posters to the first 10,000 fans at Sporting Park courtesy of match sponsor adidas. Three hundred of the posters were autographed by Dwyer.

Additionally, 300 tickets to the FC Kansas City home opener on April 12 at Sporting Park were attached to roster cards and randomly distributed at the gates.

The Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses were in attendance at Sunday's match on the Sprint Plaza.

Sporting KC collected new and gently used soccer equipment on Sunday as part of the Recycle Your Game initiative. Collection bins were stationed at the gates and each donor received a coupon for 10% off their Sporting Style purchase.

Sporting KC is back in League action next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT when they host Real Salt Lake in a rematch of MLS Cup 2013.

QUOTES

Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes

Overall thoughts on the match...

We made a mistake on the two set piece goals. The good thing with the guys is we got ourselves back in the game. At halftime I said, "I think if we get one, we will get two." I think there should have been more than six minutes of injury time. There was no doubt in my mind that those guys were milking everything they could all the way to the end. At the end, I believe that we deserved the three points in this game. The goal that Dom scored, I have no idea how you can take that goal back and it changes the game. I love the perseverance and determination of the team. I think you could sense it in the stadium that we were going to come back and that is a great thing. It (gives) great confidence to our team. They should know that they have the ability to do what they did. At this stadium, I think anything is possible. We have won championships here, and late comebacks like what we had here was a special moment.

On Sporting KC coming back late...

I was never looking at a 2-1 loss. I was always looking at a 3-2 win. I don´t think about that while the game is going on. I really felt that we would get at least a goal at some point. I felt that we should have had more than six minutes of injury time. At the end we went out 3-2. It is a good game for us in a lot of respects. The biggest thing for me is the fact that guys believed in each other and did a lot of things, and at the end of the game you sort of have to "add lib," and we were pretty smart. I thought we were very smart in the second half.

On Dom Dwyer's disallowed goal in the second half...

The thing that I was concerned about during the game was that we had the goal against Dallas where not one guy but five guys were offside. And Zusi in New York was onside; he wasn't offside. Now we are sitting here in this game in which Dom scores that goal which, again, changes the game. I´m thinking to myself: three situations in five games. I´m a very happy guy. I´m still not happy about that situation, but I´m very happy that our guys did not spend their time thinking about that. What they did was they were concentrated on getting us back in the game. They had the determination to win, which was huge.

If Dom´s goal, that he scores which gets taken back, we´re in a much different situation if we are talking that about that now. I will be talking about that come tomorrow morning with the league because I just don´t understand it. There are things like that. It is the game. One of the hardest things to do in this game is to score goals. To not see those situations when a guy does an incredible thing like that and to think that every one of our guys that runs into our box is getting held in some way. It says in the rulebook that if you hold somebody it is a foul. To think that now him getting called for an offensive foul just blows me away.

On Jalil Anibaba providing a set piece threat...

He should have had [a goal] here at home against Portland. He had a great one that sort of went by the back post. I think we are a very dangerous team on set pieces. I think tonight we were a little susceptible on the defensive side. That is something we will clean up very quickly, but in regards to the offensive side we are money and we have to continue using that going forward.

On conceding two goals from set pieces...

That is something we will deal with at training. I´m not so worried about that. I think it is something that we have been pretty darn good in the last five or six years in that area.

On Sporting KC's improvement over the last few weeks...

I think we are finding ourselves in a lot of different pieces of our game. I still think we have a long way to go. A lot of the new guys have acclimated very quickly and I think that their contribution in our model of play has been very good thus far. Every game I think we keep creeping closer toward who we can be. That is a good thing. It is all positive. There is always a thing here and there that you need to keep working on. Like I said earlier, the two set pieces are something we are usually very good at. Credit to them, they did a pretty good job as well. We are moving in the right direction for sure.

On the team's outlook going forward...

I think we are really dangerous team. I think we create a lot of stuff going forward. Obviously, we are really dangerous on set pieces. We are on the cusp of being that much more dangerous in through the run of play with the chances that we are creating in and around the other team's box. The other thing is, if you look at the game in its entirety, other than the fact that we were pushing a lot forward and they countered a few times had a few situations, like the one they hit the post on, that is not the norm. When I look at that, I look at it as us trying to get back into the game.

On Krisztian Nemeth returning to the squad and scoring the game-winner...

He had already been out two weeks and he wasn´t 90 minutes fit. So we weren't going to run a risk in that situation. He was good for us. I have always said he is a special player and I think he is going to add a lot to us, especially as he gets more used to not only our team but the way the league is.

Sporting KC forward Krisztian Nemeth

On Sporting KC's 3-2 comeback victory...

I was very disappointed about my injury, but we did a great job with the staff [to get healthy]. I have to say thank you to them. It was a crazy game and it turned out well in the end. This shows how the team is strong. I think this is good for the future of the team.

On his game-winning goal in the 94th minute...

I tried to get to the ball before the defender. I got a touch on it and it was good enough for us.

On the new players continuing to integrate into the team...

I think we still need time to play how we are [fully capable]. But this is still the beginning of the season and we have won tonight. I think the new guys will continue to do better. You can see [progress].

Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer

On scoring his first goal of the season...

I obviously want to score goals to help the team get points, so I'm very happy tonight. We got the result and I'm very happy for the guys. It was very hard-fought and we kept going right until the end. We came up big at the end, which was awesome.

On first-year players Jalil Anibaba and Krisztian Nemeth scoring in stoppage time...

It was great to see that. I'm very happy for both of them to get their first goals for the club. Both of those guys have been working hard to get themselves into the team. To see them playing very well is a positive for us. It was a fantastic team performance and we got the job done.

On the spirit Sporting KC showed to come back and win...

It's massive. The guys are going to stick [together] and battle. It came down to the end and we never gave up. Luis [Marin] made two massive saves and then we came down on the other end and scored two goals.

On playing against former teammate C.J. Sapong...

It was awesome to see him. He was obviously a close friend of mine, and I haven't seen him since he left. It was a special experience playing against one of my really good friends. He's someone I look up to as a player and a person. He was a fantastic member of the club, and you could tell that today with the fans-everyone still loves him.

Sporting KC defender Jalil Anibaba

On scoring the game-tying goal in the 91st minute...

It is just about doing anything and everything I can to help the team get three points.

Obviously my emotions got the best of me there. I kind of lost sight of the fact that we were still tied 2-2. The guys pulled me out of the corner and we got refocused and luckily we got the third.

On what sparked the late comeback...

I think it is the fans that give us the lift. Playing in the atmosphere and playing behind these fans anything is possible. I think we showed that tonight for sure.

Sporting KC defender Matt Besler

On Sporting KC's 3-2 comeback victory...

I don't know what this win says about the quality of the team, but it says a lot about the heart. I can't say enough about the way we didn't give up. It was one of the most exciting games I've been a part of in a long time.

On Sporting KC's level of play throughout the match...

It was a night where we weren't our best in certain parts of the game, but we managed a way to win the game. And that's all that matters.

On Sporting KC's current form...

I think there are a lot of positive signs. In the last three matches, we've gotten seven points. And we've done it in different ways. We've got clean sheets in two out of three, we've gone on the road and won with a set piece, and then we were able to come back and win. So I think that's very positive moving forward. We just got to keep getting better at this stage in the season.

On beating a Philadelphia team that is last place in the Eastern Conference...

There are no teams that you're supposed to beat in this league. It's all even. On any given night, anybody can beat anybody.

Philadelphia Union Manager Jim Curtin

Overall thoughts on the match...

We talked a lot about restarts being a big part of this game. I thought we did well on them, defending, but we weren't good enough closing out the game. The guys are disappointed, I thought they played a great effort but again it comes up short and we leave here with nothing.

On limiting Sporting KC's chances until stoppage time...

In the run of play, I don't think they created much, I don't think they had many shots on goal and the actual run of play everything was throw-ins and free kicks.

On Philadelphia's performance...

I thought we were organized but it came up very short. On the competing side on the 1-v-1 battles in the box, there was a lot of grabbing a hold of the guys. We gave up three goals on resets and I'm not happy on that.

Philadelphia Union midfielder Brian Carroll

On the final minutes of the game...

It was just a scramble. We were trying to keep it out of the box and try to keep them from set pieces. That is what they are good at and that is what they were able to achieve. We just weren't able to keep them out of the net on set pieces. It's a big part of the game.

On second half adjustments...

We wanted to try and do the same thing. Obviously, they are going to push a little more and create a few more advantages, whether wide or on set pieces. We just weren't able to get the third goal and put them away.

On Philadelphia's mindset heading into next week...

We are frustrated that we haven't won yet because a lot of us feel like we should have been able to get one. The fact is we haven't won yet. There is still a good belief and backing among everyone in the group that we will push forward and get this first win and move on from there.

On new players in the lineup today...

It's the next man up mentality. You have to step up and do the role. [Erik] Ayuk played a big part in tonight's match. When called up, everyone did their role. We just didn't have enough all the way through stoppage time.

Philadelphia Union midfielder Sebastien Le Toux

Thoughts on the match...

It's just set pieces. We are too weak to win our battles. They wanted it more than us and they scored. It's the same story in the last few games. We can't keep a result when we are up. It's just the same story for us.

On second half adjustments...

I think we played the same half as the first half. Of course the second half we dropped a bit more because they were putting more into the box and playing a lot of long balls. Bu I thought we didn't pretty well with them during the game. It's just the last ten minutes of the game on the set pieces. We were not ready for it and they wanted to win the game more than us. If we don't want it as much as them, then we can't expect to win the game.

Looking ahead to the next match...

I think if we are better on set pieces, we can maybe win a game. But as of now, every time a team gets a set piece against us, we are too weak. We have to fit that, work on it and get better.

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