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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Suffers Road Defeat in Portland

May 15, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City suffered a 7-2 road loss at Portland Timbers FC on Saturday night at Providence Park with eight of the game's nine goals scored in a second half that saw both teams reduced to 10 players.

The Timbers opened the scoring 12 minutes into the match on a set piece delivered by Eryk Williamson and headed home by center back Bill Tuiloma at the top of the six-yard box.

Sporting Kansas City responded with the game's next four shots, the first of which came in the 16th minute as club captain Johnny Russell beat his defender on the endline and found Khiry Shelton for a first-time shot that was saved by Aljaz Ivacic.

Veteran midfielder Roger Espinoza would provide the next three attempts, smashing a shot from the edge of the penalty area just wide of the post in the 23rd minute on a pass cut back by Cam Duke before forcing a save from Ivacic three minutes later with a right-footed effort from distance.

Portland came close to doubling their lead on the cusp of halftime if not for a strong sliding save from Tim Melia in the 43rd minute to deny Nathan Fogaca. Nevertheless, the Timbers would explode for three goals in the first 11 minutes of the second half to open the floodgates.

Just 29 seconds after halftime, Sebastian Blanco buried a volley from close range on an assist from Cristhian Paredes. Less than six minutes later, Blanco would stretch the Portland lead to 3-0 on a counterattack as the 34-year-old Argentine playmaker cut inside and curled the eventual game-winning goal inside the far post.

The Timbers struck again in the 56th minute, this time with Blanco playing the part of provider, as Fogaca scored his first of two goals on the night in a memorable MLS debut.

Sporting pulled a goal back nearly immediately as just over a minute later Russell punched in a perfectly-placed cross from halftime substitute Felipe Hernandez for the 43rd regular season goal of his career, tying him for third on the club's all-time goal scoring chart.

Fogaca would bag his brace with his final touch of the night in the 69th minute as Blanco combined with Williamson on a give-and-go inside the penalty area before putting the ball on a platter for the 22-year-old Brazilian forward to tap into the net.

Despite the 5-1 scoreline, the second half continued to produce twists and turns as referee Victor Rivas sent off Timbers defender Josecarlos Van Rankin in the 74th minute and Sporting KC defender Robert Voloder in the 78th minute as both players received their second cautions of the match.

In between the ejections, Marinos Tzionis - the hero in Sporting's 4-2 comeback win over FC Dallas on Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup with a 98th minute equalizer - scored on a header for the second straight match as he re-directed Hernandez's free kick in the 75th minute for his first MLS goal.

Portland would put the exclamation point on the team's historic performance with two goals in the game's closing minutes as second-half substitutes Marvin Loria and Santiago Moreno added their names to the scoresheet with goals in the 88th and 92nd minutes, respectively.

By the time the dust settled, Saturday's match will go into the record books as the sixth highest scoring match in MLS regular season history with Portland's six second-half goals the most ever scored in the second half of an MLS regular season match and their seven total goals the second most ever scored by an MLS team in the regular season. The seven combined goals in the second half are also second most in MLS regular season history - trailing only the eight second half goals scored in Kansas City's 6-4 win over Columbus on May 2, 1996.

Sporting Kansas City will return home to host the Colorado Rapids at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets for the mid-week match are available online at SeatGeek.com, including the Coca-Cola Family and Friends Pack. The special offer features four South Stand tickets, four 20-ounce Coca-Cola products and four Domino's six-inch cheese or pepperoni pizzas for only $25 per ticket.

QUOTES Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

Thoughts on the match...

It was a good first half, other than the set piece. That was a bad mistake on our part - not the set piece itself, but the goal. Then just a horrible second half with the counterattack goals; very undisciplined for us to try to get back in the game after we started the second half and gave up a goal in the first 15 seconds or whatever it was. I don't know the exact time but it was short. From that point on, we're chasing the game and we were just undisciplined. We were getting countered because we were shoving way too many guys forward.

On what went wrong in the second half...

They got on the counter and we just weren't prepared. Giving up the goal at the start of the second half was terrible. That started the snowball. We were pushing to get a goal and we were pushing too many guys forward.

On pulling two goals back...

They really didn't mean that much. We were getting back into it a little bit. We were kind of there but we were pushing too many guys forward undisciplined.

On the quick turnaround to Wednesday's match...

You've got to put the game behind you and you've got to move on quickly.

Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell

On what went wrong in the second half...

We spoke at halftime that we had done some nice things in the first half and that the next goal was massively important. If we got it then we really felt we could have went on and won the game. Then we let them score in 45 seconds, something like that. Then it's just an absolute capitulation after that. To concede six goals in one half of a game is - I'm trying to choose my words carefully here -- it's not even embarrassing. It's so far beyond that. It's just a complete disgrace as a professional, individually and as a team. That second half is so unacceptable on so many levels. Generally, I don't even know what to say honestly. I've never been as embarrassed in my whole career. I've had some low times in my career but this is number one. Already this season hasn't been acceptable. Just pathetic really in the second half. Not good enough. Actually, I'm embarrassed to call ourselves professionals.

On his message to the team...

I said a few things after the game but obviously it's my job. I have to lead the team. I'm not above that. I've not been good enough. It's easy to lead when times are easy. Times are not easy right now and it's a challenge that I have to take. I generally don't know right now where to begin. Every single one of us inside should feel disgusted at that performance. If you don't, this isn't for you and you shouldn't be playing this game. We need to have a serious, serious look at ourselves and stop talking about the next one and the next one. All we've done is talk. We've not shown anything. We've shown snippets at times that we might turn a corner but that right there shows how far off it we actually are right now.

On how Portland was able to find success...

We were just so easy to beat. How many of their goals were one pass? Probably the majority of them were one pass through all of us and they're in on goal. Granted, there was a couple of nice finishes there. I'm not taking anything away from Portland. But after probably the second and the third, we just shrunk. We mentally broke; so fragile and it showed. You can't concede six goals in a half and not mentally break. It's not possible. And for me that's obviously one of the most disappointing things. Obviously the result, even thinking about the scoreline makes me feel sick to be honest. But that's probably the worst part. Mentally, it just looked like we gave up and that's just not acceptable in any level whatsoever.

Sporting Kansas City is owned by Sporting Club, an entity comprised of local business and community leaders including the Patterson Family, Cliff Illig, Pat Curran, Greg Maday, Robb Heineman and Patrick Mahomes. Sporting prides itself on a commitment and vision to provide high-performance experiences. Sporting Club purchased the team from the Hunt Sports Group in 2006, and under its direction has launched Swope Soccer Village, Children's Mercy Park, Compass Minerals Sporting Fields, Compass Minerals National Performance Center and Central Bank Sporting Complex while investing in the Sporting KC Academy and Sporting Kansas City II for developing local youth into homegrown talent. A charter member of Major League Soccer, Sporting are two-time MLS Cup champions (2000, 2013) and four-time winners of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017).

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