Sporting KC Falls to Extra-Time Defeat in Open Cup Final
September 26, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City fell to a heartbreaking 3-1 defeat in extra time against hosts Los Angeles FC in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at BMO Stadium on Wednesday night. After going toe-to-toe with LAFC throughout regulation, Sporting faltered in extra time as LAFC claimed their first-ever U.S. Open Cup title.
Manager Peter Vermes stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation that has served the squad well over the second half of the 2024 campaign. Goalkeeper Tim Melia, playing in his third U.S. Open Cup Final (2015 & 2017), backstopped a defense featuring Khiry Shelton, Robert Castellanos, Robert Voloder and Logan Ndenbe.
Zorhan Bassong and Jake Davis patrolled midfield with captain Johnny Russell, Erik Thommy and Daniel Salloi - the club's all-time top scorer in the U.S. Open Cup and match-winner in the 2017 final - ahead of them. Designated Player Alan Pulido rounded out the lineup as the lone striker.
Both sides created several chances in an evenly-matched opening 45 minutes. Salloi was the first to threaten when he latched onto Russell's pin-point pass in the fifth minute but his effort was smuggled clear for a corner by a combination of Hugo Lloris and Eddie Segura.
Moments later, LAFC showed their teeth from a set piece as captain Aaron Long met Mateusz Bogusz's corner but his tame header was comfortably cleared off the line by Ndenbe. A frantic opening 10 minutes continued when Salloi fed Pulido into the box and the Mexican controlled the ball expertly before seeing his volley tipped over by Lloris.
In the 23rd minute, Russell cut in from the right wing and, with no LAFC players closing him down, the Scotsman let fly from 30 yards and forced a sprawling stop from Lloris who palmed the powerful drive over the bar. It was LAFC star man Denis Bouanga who threatened next, taking aim from 20 yards and testing Melia but the longtime Sporting stopper pushed the ball away for a corner.
Melia's best save of the half came in the 41st minute when Bouanga embarked on a trademark surge down the left wing before cutting the ball back to Olivier Giroud whose first-time effort was blocked by the outstretched foot of Melia at his near post, keeping the game scoreless at the interval.
LAFC found the breakthrough in the 53rd minute when Bogusz toed the line to remain onside before squaring the ball for Giroud to tap home the opener for the hosts.
Sporting responded in immediate fashion, finding the equalizing goal in the 60th minute through Thommy. After Pulido and Davis had hustled LAFC out of possession in their own half, Russell clipped a ball out to Salloi on the left wing who set up Thommy to strike first time into the top corner, leaving Lloris with no chance.
With the game finely poised heading into the closing stages, LAFC began to turn the screw as only a brilliant stop from Melia denied Bogusz on the doorstep in the 75th minute before Bouanga lashed an effort into the side-netting a minute later.
As the game entered second-half stoppage time, Sporting had an opportunity to snatch the title as Russell found himself with space in the box, cut to his right foot and sent a low shot toward the far post but Lloris got down quickly to smother.
LAFC took control of proceedings during a grueling extra-time period and retook the lead through substitute Omar Campos who received a pass from Cristian Olivera before driving toward goal and slotting into the bottom corner.
Former Sporting man Kei Kamara subbed into the match at the start of extra time and made his presence felt as he sealed LAFC's first-ever U.S. Open Cup title with a towering header in the 109th minute to make the final score 3-1 and condemned Sporting to their first-ever loss in a final under Peter Vermes.
Sporting KC returns to MLS action this weekend with a road match against rivals St. Louis at Citypark on Saturday night. Kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV as well as Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish) on the radio.
QUOTES
Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match...
I think we did a great job of getting back into the game. I actually thought we were in a good place. We were playing very well. I think on the goal, the second one, there's not a lot that I can say. I think the third one is completely different. We had a couple opportunities as well. I don't think the game was a 3-1 game. I think we were in it and I think for us to be able to go away from home and play the way we did, I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into the game. It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed tonight.
On LAFC's goals...
Even on the first goal, (Erik) Thommy receives the ball in the middle of the midfield. He receives the ball and he gets hit from behind. He respects the game and tries to stay on his feet, but he's off balance. Then he goes down. I think 100% the situation is a foul. He was consistent up until that point calling those situations. I don't think it was fatigue. I think the effort of the players was fantastic in the game. I also think when you play away from home in a situation like this where the other team plays at home, they should be in the front. We should be the underdog because they're playing at home. I think that we performed very, very well. I think there was just a few minutes that some things happened. The third goal, they scored it sure, but I don't think it was the third goal. It was the second which kind of changed the game completely at that point.
On LAFC's opening goal...
I am going to say it this way. I know it's offside. I know it's offside. But there's nothing I can do about it. I can say this as a coach at the club for 16 years now, we have suffered way too many of these types of situations. So I'm not going to focus on that. At this stage, you would think that those things would be dealt with in the appropriate manner. With VAR and everything else, you shouldn't miss that kind of stuff. You shouldn't. And we've suffered too much when it comes to that kind of thing. But I want to stay focused on the real part. I actually am very proud of our team. I really think the guys gave a great effort. I'm sad and disappointed for them because I think they deserved more in the game. It's like I said, even on that first goal, you could have easily forgot about the offside. You could have easily went just with the foul that took place and just stayed consistent with that.
On LAFC...
They're an explosive team. They can be very dangerous at times. I say again, I think for as busy as they were, it wasn't as if there was a lot of big opportunities against us. I just don't think there were. I think our guys performed very well over the course of the game. You're going to expect that there's going to be chances on both sides. I think Thommy finishes his chance extremely well. It's just a great answer to when they scored. Even on the second goal, we came right down and we had a chance. Thommy cuts inside and plays it over to Willy (Agada). Willy could have easily played it to Johnny (Russell) and Johnny's one on one with the keeper. We had good responses in the game but at the end, we felt short.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Erik Thommy
On his goal...
I think it was a quick answer, a quick equalizer. Like Peter said, I think we made not a bad game. We made a good game, especially the first 90 minutes. We tried to use our chances up front. It's tough to find the right words because I think everyone worked really hard. We deserved it I think as much as LAFC, but at the end it's maybe the advantage that you play at home. I don't know, maybe it's the fans. Congrats to them. It's really sad for us.
On LAFC's first goal...
Like Peter said, I think it's a foul because I had the ball, he grabbed me. If it's offside at the end, I mean, in Europe I think we draw a line and here in the states, we don't. So we should think about it for the future, because these are big games for us. I think details count in soccer and if you're 1-0 down, you come back with an equalizer really quick. That's a lot of credit for us. That shows our mentality. It's all about the team. It's not about me. And like I said, at the end, it's a result. It's 3-1 for LAFC. It's sad. That's how it is.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
Thoughts on the match...
I don't know if I've processed all of it yet if I'm being honest. I thought our effort throughout the entire game was incredible. We were fighting. There were, at times, when we felt maybe a little bit overpowered but guys were doing everything they could to keep the score where it was. But ultimately we fell short.
On the team's response to going down a goal...
An immediate response. You can't ask for anything better. It's unfortunate because all of the things you needed to win a final were there. We just kind of got overpowered at the end.
On LAFC's first goal...
The first goal was weird. (Olivier) Giroud was all the way in front of me. You can kind of see the guy kind of get behind the line who I thought was offside. I haven't gone back to look at it. It was just kind of a broken play where I step and he's in the middle. It was kind of a play where dominoes started to fall and they all kind of fell at the same time. It's unfortunate timing but to have an immediate response like we did with a quality goal from Thommy was everything you could ask for in a final.
On the result...
They deserved to win. They scored three goals. You can't take anything away from that. They generated chances to win the game and they're a quality team. They won the game.
On the team's mood...
It's quiet. Everyone is just processing, including myself. You're always (thinking), what can I do better as an individual? What can we do better as a group? To say the least, I think we really should be happy with the effort that we put into the game. We didn't win. We fell short. It's a final. You always want to win but you also want to take the silver lining from the game a little bit.
2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup | Final
BMO Stadium | Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 22,214
Weather: 66 degrees and clear
Download: Full match highlights
Download: Peter Vermes & Erik Thommy post-match
Score 1 2 ET1 ET2 F
Sporting Kansas City 0 1 0 0 1
Los Angeles FC 0 1 1 1 3
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Khiry Shelton, Robert Castellanos, Robert Voloder, Logan Ndenbe (Tim Leibold 82'); Zorhan Bassong (Memo Rodriguez 106', Jake Davis (Remi Walter 106'), Johnny Russell (C), Erik Thommy (Stephen Afrifa 112'), Daniel Salloi (William Agada 82'); Alan Pulido
Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Dany Rosero
Los Angeles FC: Hugo Lloris; Sergi Palencia, Eddie Segura (Omar Campos 67'), Maxime Chanot, Aaron Long (C) (Ilie Sanchez 87'), Ryan Hollingshead; Lewis O'Brien (Kei Kamara 91'), Timothy Tillman (Marlon 112'); Mateusz Bogusz, Olivier Giroud (Cristian Olivera 67'), Denis Bouanga
Subs Not Used: Thomas Hasal, David Martinez
Scoring Summary:
LAFC - Olivier Giroud 1 (Mateusz Bogusz 1, Sergi Palencia 1) 53'
SKC - Erik Thommy 1 (Daniel Salloi 1, Johnny Russell 3) 60'
LAFC - Omar Campos 1 (Cristian Olivera 1) 102'
LAFC - Kei Kamara 2 (Denis Bouanga 3, Ryan Hollingshead 1) 109'
Misconduct Summary:
SKC - Johnny Russell (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 43'
LAFC - Olivier Giroud (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 56'
SKC - Zorhan Bassong (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 58'
LAFC - Eddie Segura (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 64'
LAFC - Omar Campos (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 72'
LAFC - Ryan Hollingshead (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 92'
SKC - Memo Rodriguez (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 119'
Stat SKC LAFC
Shots 14 18
Shots on Goal 5 8
Saves 5 4
Fouls 15 20
Offsides 1 3
Corner Kicks 6 10
Referee: Armando Villarreal
Assistant Referee: Justin Howard
Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Greyson
Fourth Official: Victor Rivas
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
AVAR: Michael Kampmeinert
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