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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Falls 2-1 in Season Finale

October 9, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (11-16-7, 40 points) saw their seven-match unbeaten run and three-game winning streak snapped in a 2-1 loss to FC Dallas (14-9-11, 53 points) on Sunday afternoon in an exciting 2022 season finale at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

Making the 341st regular season appearance of his storied career, Sporting defender Graham Zusi buried a 51st-minute equalizer after Dallas had taken a first-half lead through Sebastian Lletget, but the hosts clinched third place in the Western Conference and a home playoff game thanks to Paul Arriola's match-winner in the 65th minute. The result cemented a 12th-place finish in the West for Sporting, who were already assured of missing the MLS Cup Playoffs for just the second time in the last 12 years.

Boasting a 5-0-2 record since Aug. 21, Sporting fielded a formidable lineup that featured a single change from last weekend's 1-0 home win over Seattle Sounders FC as goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh-who ended the day with an impressive six saves-stepped between the posts for his second career MLS appearance.

McIntosh and Sporting thought they were breached in the seventh minute when Dallas cashed in on a fortuitous bounce of the ball. Arriola poked home from close range after fellow U.S. international Jesus Ferreira pinged a probing ball into the penalty area, but VAR intervened and referee Victor Rivas wiped away the goal for offside after taking a second look at the play.

The teams traded early chances on either side of Arriola's disallowed strike, with red-hot Sporting striker Willy Agada nodding marginally high off Ben Sweat's cross and Dallas winger Jader Obrian having a header comfortably saved by McIntosh. The playoff-bound hosts had a flurry of set piece opportunities in the first quarter-hour and McIntosh showcased his shot-stopping prowess with an acrobatic save to deny Jose Antonio Martinez at point-blank range following a free kick, though the Dallas center back was flagged offside and the goal would not have counted.

Midway through the first half, Sporting forward Daniel Salloi tried his luck with an audacious 25-yard belter that screamed narrowly wide of the target. Ten minutes later, Sporting's patient buildup in the attacking third culminated with Remi Walter smashing a 20-yard shot over the crossbar.

The visitors were victims of bad luck in the 33rd minute when Lletget's shot from just outside the penalty area took a wicked deflection into the back of the net past a helpless McIntosh, giving Dallas a 1-0 lead to protect. It marked only the third time in the last 10 MLS matches that Sporting has faced a deficit.

Four minutes after the restart, Espinoza tested Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes with a low, curling strike from the top of the box that the Dutch gloveman dove to cast aside. The promising look was a harbinger of things to come, however, as Sporting would restore parity shortly thereafter.

With 51 minutes on the clock, Paes leapt high to punch away Sweat's teasing delivery, but Erik Thommy was first to react inside the box by touching the ball invitingly to Zusi, who finished low across the keeper to make the score 1-1. Zusi now has 31 goals in his heralded regular season career, tying Benny Feilhaber and Mo Johnston for ninth on Sporting's all-time charts.

Buzzing with momentum, Sporting almost surged ahead a few minutes later. A well-orchestrated counterattack involving Agada and Salloi led to an open look from Thommy on the edge of the box, and the German midfielder forced Paes into another diving stop. The Dallas keeper was increasingly busy as Sporting continued to dictate terms, reacting quickly at the near post to get his mitts on Roger Espinoza's snap header from a pinpoint Thommy cross.

As the game began to open up in the midfield, Sporting paid for a costly giveaway by conceding their second goal in the 65th minute. Dallas midfielder Facundo Quignon pounced on a stray ball in his team's attacking half and spread the ball down the left channel to substitute Alan Velasco, whose low cross was slotted home on the doorstep by Arriola for his 10th goal of the season.

Sporting captain Johnny Russell went agonizingly close to leveling terms in the 73rd minute, cutting inside from the right wing and curling a brilliantly hit strike inches wide of the far left post. Not long later at the opposite end, McIntosh did well to spring low and save Ferreira's shot on the breakaway.

Thommy was next to be denied a glorious goal in the 76th minute, performing multiple shot fakes at the top of the box before unleashing a curler that was bound for the right corner, only for Paes to produce an outstanding stop. The hosts would then create danger of their own, with Velasco's bending effort smacking off the woodwork.

The final moments of the contest delivered breathless end-to-end action, offering players plenty of space to exploit in the center of the park, and McIntosh bagged another great save on the cusp of second-half stoppage time to thwart Ferreira.

Sporting will now enter an important offseason ahead of a banner 2023 campaign, which will begin the final weekend of February with the commencement of Major League Soccer's 28th season and feature the newly expanded Leagues Cup, a one-of-a-kind tournament involving all clubs from MLS and Mexico's Liga MX that will unfold next summer from July 21 to Aug. 19. Manager Peter Vermes' men will also compete in the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and set their sights on a return to the MLS Cup Playoffs.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On the team's mentality...

The guys have had a really good attitude, honestly, all throughout the season. They really have. There's a difference between having a bad attitude and losing your confidence. Unfortunately. there was a period where we lost our confidence. We've had a lot of guys off the field for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes it's the way it gets you. It is what it is. But I will say the attitude and the mentality of the guys has been great. They've given a tremendous effort and for that I'm incredibly thankful. It shows that we have a very strong belief in our core values and our culture. The guys did a great job demonstrating that all the way to the end of the season. We're obviously very disappointed with not being in the playoffs. It's not a normal thing for us as an organization, but sometimes you suffer because maybe some good things are ahead. I believe that we have got a good group. I believe that they have proven to themselves that they can play because I think for a while they thought they couldn't anymore. And I think the other part of it is that they regained their confidence. With some guys coming back next year and some time off and everything else, I believe that we will be in a different place a year from now. But we have got a lot of work to do between now and then.

On how his team played against FC Dallas...

I think we're a great team with the ball. I think we played very well. I think teams have a hard time when we are in possession. Our guys are very disciplined on the field. I also think that we do a tremendous job of sometimes being able to change up our game. At halftime, we talked to the guys that it would be very difficult to score goal off a cross in the air because their two central defenders did a very good job of basically just planting themselves basically at each of the posts. Anything that came in the box, they just tried to get their head to it and it was going to be hard to beat them that way. We talked about at halftime that we're going to have to get the ball on the floor and we're going to have to do it through some kind of combination inside the box. That's how we scored our goal. I thought that we could have been a little more patient in the second half and circulated the ball around in and around their box in the final third. We just could have been a little bit more patient at times. They're obviously in the playoffs for a reason and they've been consistent on both sides of the ball this year.

On the competitiveness of this game compared to the season finale at Dallas in 2019...

I think we've been in a lot of games, especially in the second half of the season. I mean in games from a perspective that we could have gotten more out of games and points. I think today is another game like that. I think back then, we never recovered in that year whereas in this year we recovered a long time ago. Really, it was just about getting some players and also getting some guys that we have, getting them fit again. We just never recovered in that year.

On giving the start to Kendall McIntosh in goal...

John (Pulskamp) has done very well. Kendall got his first start at our home game. It was the first time he's ever played an MLS game. I thought it would be good for him to get a game away from home and see how he responds and reacts to that situation as well. I thought he played very well tonight. He couldn't have done anything on both goals. He made some very good saves and was very in tune to the game. His distribution was very good. He's definitely represented himself extremely well.

Sporting Kansas City defender Graham Zusi

On carrying the team's run of form at the end of this year into next season...

I think we can take a lot of positives from the last couple months of the season. One, the results. That speaks for itself. I think the dedication and the willingness to really play the way that we want and like. When we're doing that together and on the same page, then good things can happen. So I think that's something we certainly need to take into next year and start the year with. It's kind of a strange feeling to finish the season the way we did and still be on the outside looking in, but that's kind of what we dug ourselves into in the first bit of the season. We'll have to make sure that doesn't happen next year.

On his mindset heading into the offseason...

I kind of think back to 2019, the last time we missed the playoffs. I think everyone went into the offseason with a pretty massive chip on their shoulder. I know for a fact that each and every guy went out and really put the work in during that time off just to make sure that the feeling we had at the end of the season wouldn't happen again the next year. So immediately, that's where my mind goes to. There's no doubt in my mind that my offseason is going to be extremely intense to put myself in the best position to help the team. As an old guy in the team and a vet, it's part of my job to make sure that everyone else is doing the same.

Sporting Kansas City defender Ben Sweat

On how the team finished the season in the past two months...

I'm super proud of the group. We could have rolled over and died after losing that semifinal in Sacramento, but we didn't. We're probably the best team, if not one of the best teams in the league over the past two and a half months. We've been scoring a crap ton of goals, defending really well. Everything switched on. We went out there with nothing to lose every game and we were rewarded for it. We pushed. Tonight, guys were tired at the end of the season and the game kind of got spread out a little bit. We played really well tonight, especially the first half We had our chances and it's something we can really carry into the offseason and be ready for 2023.

On his return from a torn ACL last year...

Coming off an ACL is never easy. The plan was to build me up through preseason and build me up through the first few weeks of the season. I got a few games here, a few games there. To really push myself and get as many games as I have in the past few months is tremendous. I feel super, super grateful. My knee feels awesome. I can truly push that injury and everything behind me. I can really start to focus on and worry about 2023 and be here for this club and this organization and keep giving it my all.

2022 MLS Regular Season | Match 34

Toyota Stadium | Frisco, Texas

Attendance: 19,096

Weather: 80 degrees and mostly sunny

Post-Match Links:

Download: Full match highlights

Download: Manager Peter Vermes postgame

Download: Defender Graham Zusi postgame

Download: Defender Ben Sweat postgame

Score 1 2 F

Sporting Kansas City (11-16-7, 40 points) 0 1 1

FC Dallas (14-9-11, 53 points) 1 1 2

Sporting Kansas City: Kendall McIntosh; Graham Zusi (Kayden Pierre 81'), Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Andreu Fontas, Ben Sweat; Remi Walter, Roger Espinoza (Felipe Hernandez 69'), Erik Thommy; Johnny Russell (C), Willy Agada, Daniel Salloi

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Kortne Ford, Logan Ndenbe, Robert Voloder, Uri Rosell, Khiry Shelton, Marinos Tzionis

FC Dallas: Maarten Paes; Ema Twumasi, Matt Hedges (C) (Nkosi Tafari 61'), Jose Antonio Martinez, Marco Farfan (Nanu 46'); Sebastian Lletget, Edwin Cerrillo (Facundo Quignon 60'), Paxton Pomykal; Jader Obrian (Alan Velasco 61'), Jesus Ferreira, Paul Arriola (Franco Jara 89')

Subs Not Used: Jimmy Maurer, Katlego Ntsabeleng, Brandon Servania, Kalil Elmedkhar

Scoring Summary:

DAL -- Sebastian Lletget 3 (Jesus Ferreira 6, Paul Arriola 7) 41'

SKC -- Graham Zusi 2 (Erik Thommy 2) 51'

DAL -- Paul Arriola 10 (Alan Velasco 7, Facundo Quignon 1) 65'

Misconduct Summary:

DAL -- Edwin Cerrillo (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 46'

SKC -- Felipe Hernandez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 76'

SKC -- Nicolas Isimat-Mirin (yellow card; delaying a restart) 79'

DAL -- Ema Twumasi (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 80'

Stat SKC DAL

Shots 19 16

Shots on Goal 7 8

Saves 6 5

Fouls 8 11

Offsides 1 2

Corner Kicks 8 7

Referee: Victor Rivas

Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Greeson

Assistant Referee: Jose Da Silva

Fourth Official: Nima Saghafi

VAR: Kevin Stott

AVAR: Diego Blas

Check out the Sporting Kansas City Statistics

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