MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Roars Back to Win Open Cup Thriller

Published on May 11, 2022 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City staged an epic fightback on Tuesday night in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32, scoring four unanswered goals-including a last-gasp equalizer in regulation time-to secure an unforgettable 4-2 victory over FC Dallas at Children's Mercy Park.

Trailing 2-0 at intermission on Dallas goals from Franco Jara and Eddie Munjoma, Sporting grabbed a goal back through Nikola Vujnovic and sent the instant classic into extra time when Marinos Tzionis planted an inch-perfect header into the back of the net just seconds after Dallas defender Jose Antonio Martinez was sent off for a red card offense.

In the ascendancy during the 30-minute overtime session, Sporting turned their deficit upside down by vaulting ahead on a 94th-minute own goal and sealing the sensational triumph with a tenacious 113th-minute tally from impactful substitute Khiry Shelton.

With a thrilling win in the books, Sporting has improved to a perfect 5-0-0 against FC Dallas in the Open Cup and snapped the Texas club's six-match unbeaten run at Children's Mercy Park dating back to 2018. Sporting's run in the historic competition will now continue on either May 24 or 25, with the Round of 16 draw taking place this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT on Futbol Americas, streaming live on ESPN Plus.

Manager Peter Vermes' men have prevailed in 10 consecutive Open Cup home matches at Children's Park dating back to 2015 and secured their first victory since March 5, ending a six-game winless drought ahead of Saturday's MLS regular season visit to the Portland Timbers. The Western Conference clash will kick off at 9 p.m. CT with live coverage on 38 The Spot, the Sporting KC app and SportingKC.com.

Wholesale changes and a retooled 3-5-2 formation highlighted the Sporting Kansas City lineup in the club's first U.S. Open Cup fixture since June 2019. Goalkeeper Jon Pulskamp-a 21-year-old who signed a long-term contract with Sporting last week-was protected by a back three of Kaveh Rad, Ben Sweat and deputizing captain Andreu Fontas. Homegrown midfielders Ozzie Cisneros, Jake Davis and Felipe Hernandez were flanked by a pair of wingbacks in fellow Academy product Kayden Pierre as well as debutant Spencer Glass, who had joined the first team earlier this week on short-term loan from Sporting KC II. European newcomers Vujnovic and Tzionis partnered in attack, accounting for two of the nine Sporting players-all the starters but Fontas and Sweat-logging their maiden Open Cup appearances.

Dallas took only seven minutes to land the first punch, surging ahead on a goal from Jara. The 33-year-old Argentine intercepted a pass inside the penalty area and made Sporting pay for the costly giveaway, finishing inside the near post at a tight angle for his second goal of the 2022 Open Cup campaign.

Sporting's slow start was further compounded in the 18th minute when Cisneros was forced to exit with a hamstring problem, summoning the versatile Cam Duke as his replacement. A moment later, Dallas nearly doubled their advantage as Jader Obrian raced down the right flank and whipped in a teasing cross that Rad poked behind for a corner kick. The ensuing set piece delivery resulted in havoc inside the box, but Sporting managed to clear upfield after the ball pinged around the area.

The hosts survived another major scare at the half-hour mark. Hungarian international winger Szabolcs Schon galloped forward and beat his marker along the endline before cutting a pass back across the face of the six-yard area, but a lurking Obrian was unable to apply the finishing touch under duress from a slew of Sporting defenders.

Munjoma lifted Dallas into a 2-0 lead after 34 minutes, curling home an impressive strike from outside the box following a quickfire attack involving Obrian, Jara and Nanu.

Faced with an uphill climb, Sporting began the second half with increased verve. A wave of low crosses from Vermes' men put Dallas on the backfoot and a chance eventually fell to Davis at the top of the box, but his left-footed belter lifted high and wide of the target in the 48th minute. Not long later, Sweat curled in a delightful service that a leaping Vujnovic nodded over the crossbar.

Sporting continued to push the envelope in search of a lifeline and Tzionis forced Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer to make his first save in the 58th minute, pulling the trigger from long range. Seconds later, Sweat clipped a cross from the left edge of the box to Sweat, who went agonizingly close to planting his header into the corner for a dream debut goal.

Vujnovic grabbed a deserved goal back for Sporting in the 60th minute with a heady finish near the penalty spot. His team did well to create a turnover in Dallas' own penalty area and Vujnovic, a 25-year-old Montenegrin international, did the rest by thrashing a sliding shot high into the roof of the net for his first tally in Sporting blue.

Vermes sensed his side had regained momentum and subbed in three regular starters past the hour mark: midfielder Remi Walter and forwards Shelton and Daniel Salloi. The visitors were next to threaten, however, and Sporting would breathe a huge sigh of relief in the 70th minute when Obrian secured a loose ball and fired wide with an open net at his mercy.

Captain Johnny Russell entered the action with a quarter-hour remaining and Sporting remained on the hunt, stitching a series of passes together before Hernandez hammered a shot narrowly over the bar. Shortly thereafter, Russell steamrolled down the left side and sent a diagonal ball to Cam Duke, whose low delivery nearly found an outstretched Shelton at the far post.

Duke was once again the provider in the 86th minute, lofting a ball from the right wing to the far post for Russell, but the Scottish winger's contested header was secured by Maurer. Another 25-yard Hernandez firecracker then fizzed inches wide of Maurer's left post, taking the slightest of deflections on its blistering flight.

A fervent Children's Mercy Park crowd brimmed with energy as referee Malik Badawi added seven minutes of stoppage time, setting the stage for a wild conclusion to regulation.

The game's complexion changed dramatically in the seventh minute of added time when Dallas defender Martinez received his marching orders for chopping Salloi to the turf and denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Maurer palmed Russell's ensuing free kick over the bar but could do nothing about the goal that restored parity.

With Badawi on the cusp of blowing his whistle to end the game, Walter curled in a free kick that Tzionis glanced just inside the far right post for his first goal with Sporting and the all-important leveler that sent the contest into two 15-minute periods of extra time. The 98th-minute tally was the latest regulation goal in Sporting's 27-year club history, delivering a gut punch to a downtrodden Dallas outfit.

Buzzing with belief, Sporting took their first lead of the night four minutes into overtime. Tzionis was isolated on the right channel and cut centrally before playing a no-look through ball to the on-running Shelton. His initial shot was blocked by Maurer, but the rebound caromed back off Dallas midfielder Edwin Cerrillo and looped into the net to send Children's Mercy Park into delirium.

Shelton delivered the game-clinching dagger with 113 minutes on the clock. Weary along the backline, Dallas was caught lazy in possession by the predatory Shelton who won the ball with an aggressive press and slotted low into the back of the net for his first career Open Cup goal as a member of Sporting.

QUOTES Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

Thoughts on the match...

The first half was my fault, because I think that we weren't prepared to play in the system that we put together. We just didn't feel comfortable. But we made a change in that first half and went back to a 4-3-3. The guys started to get a little more comfortable. We finished off the half in a good way. We started to look more like our identity. We started the second half and it was on. I thought the guys took to it really well, created a ton of chances. The bottom line is what I've been saying and that is there have been moments during the season where we have lacked concentration and we've given up some soft goals. But the one thing that is there with these guys is the fight, the effort, the intestinal fortitude. It's there. And anybody who can't see that doesn't understand sports, doesn't understand a team that actually is committed. That's a really big thing. And the other thing, too, is you have got to take into consideration the weather has been terrible here. It's been cold. It's been rainy. It's been overcast and all those other things. Now all of a sudden today you have the temperatures that you have. Usually what happens is you have a slow build or something like that. All of sudden that gets thrown on the game night against a team that that's what they play in every day and they train in. We're not accumulated to that at all yet. So the fact that we were able to withstand the amount of time that we played in the game is a credit to those guys because that's not just being Sporting Fit, that's also being mentally fit. The guys were strong tonight. That was good.

On the contributions from Nikola Vujnovic and Marinos Tzionis...

I think the goals were good. There was some good play in there. Again, we have got to keep getting better, but it was good. It was good. For Marinos to be able to go as long as he did, with not having played full 90 minutes on a regular basis for us, it was good. I know he was struggling. He seems to like to run with the ball when he has the ball, but if he doesn't have the ball, there's not much running going on and that has to change.

On the offense finding its confidence...

I think we've been building confidence on everything. I really do. I think that second half we came out flying right from the get go. We were in it. You could tell the guys were moving the ball. They were making good runs off the ball. Everything was penetration in the box, so it was good.

On taking momentum from this win...

I guess it remains to be seen. But like I said, I believe that we've been building towards this for a while. I think we've had really good performances. I thought our performance this past weekend in New York was very good. We probably, no doubt, we deserved the point, but we were really close to getting three. So, we've been building towards this and it has a lot to do with the fight of the guys and some guys getting back into form and some other guys still trying to get acclimated to who we are. They're still not there yet, but we have got to keep working towards that. The good thing is in one way, this game was on Tuesday and we have a couple of days to try to get ready for a tough opponent in Portland.

On Felipe Hernandez playing as a holding midfielder...

This was his best game since he's come back this year. In all games, this was his best game for sure.

On the impact of the substitutes...

When you bring Daniel Salloi, Remi Walter and Khiry Shelton and then you bring on Johnny (Russell) thereafter, those are guys that obviously have different qualities and so they changed the game for sure. They brought a different presence into the game and you could tell. They then threw one of their guys on in the back that is a starter so then it was also a chess match at that point. It was good to be able to have (Robert) Voloder late in that overtime. That was really important because I knew something was going to happen. I just didn't know what position. It actually worked out that it was a central defender.

Sporting KC forward Nikola Vujnovic

On scoring his first goal for Sporting KC...

It feels amazing. There is no greater thing for a striker than to score goals. But it was a huge effort from the team to come back from 2-0. It's not easy against any team. We showed character and scored four goals after that. I'm really happy for the team and for myself.

On the team's comeback mentality...

When we came to the halftime locker room, we looked ourselves in the face, and we talked to each other about how this is not good enough. We have to come out and compete, give everything that we have, the goals will come and we'll eventually come back and win the game.

On what he has to do to score more goals...

Just keep believing in the things that I'm doing. The first one is the hardest one I think. And now it will be easier from here.

On the crowd's energy tonight...

I felt the crowd, especially when I scored. I was so happy for myself and for them and for a second, I thought I would score another one but then I got subbed out. I felt the energy from the crowd after, but it is what it is.

Sporting KC forward Khiry Shelton

On the goals he was involved in...

Sometimes you need some luck, and that's what happened on the first goal. The second goal, I've been consistently working hard trying to press defenders and I was able to pick this one off and just put it away.

On what this win means to the team...

We've been working hard. We've changed formations, we attack training every day, and give 100% effort. We needed this. We needed to be lifted a little bit because we didn't have the start we wanted the season. The effort has been there, we've just been unlucky here and there. The mistakes we've made have been our fault. It's not like a team has actually beat us. It's been our own mistakes. We needed this tonight and we're happy with the result.

On his mindset while on the bench...

We just played a game against New York City FC, so my legs are a bit heavy. A lot of guys that started were just as heavy. Preparation is the same. Just stay in the game while you're on the bench and almost pretend as if you're out there. That's how I approach it every time I come off the bench.

On the offense starting to click...

If you look at previous years, it just hasn't clicked yet for us this year. Once it does, you can see what happens. This is just a small example of what can happen when we do click. We're going to head into training this week and continue to attack and continue to put the effort in because that's what needs to happen for us to get that little bit of luck. That little edge that we need to win games. It's there though. It just hasn't come together yet.

On the mindset in the locker room before the comeback...

A lot of young guys are out there. It's their first time. Their nerves are there. That's understandable. I've been there before, too. Once we switched the formation back to our original formation, you can see things start clicking at the end of the first half. When we were in the locker room, we were lifting the guys saying, we can come back. We've done it so many times before for the players that have been here. That was it. Just lifting one another because we know what we can do when we do click. It's just that little piece of lifting one another.

On Marinos Tzionis' performance...

He's amazing on the ball, very creative. Likes to take people one on one and it just opened up. I held my run a little bit and he slips the ball through on the first goal. It was pretty funny. It's a bit of luck. I hit it, I try to pick out the back corner, hits off the keepers, foot off the defender's head and into the goal. I'll take it. I needed that personally, but he's an amazing player and very creative.

On the team's mindset going forward...

It was well done. It's easy to bash on players when things are down and not going the right way, but nobody has done that here. We continue to push each other week in and week out knowing that something's going to come from it. There's no negative energy here. Like I said before, we know when we click it's game over for most teams, we just haven't had it yet. Tonight, there was little spurts of it. I wouldn't say the whole game was like that, but you see spurts of it. And as long as we're able to showcase that, then we can move forward.

On the energy on the field after Sporting scored the first goal...

You look over sometimes, you feel the energy. I'm big on energy and kind of took a peek over to their bench and everyone's heads down, and they're kind of exhausted and we're like, come on, this is ours. This is for us right now. So let's take it. They don't want it like us. We worked way harder than they did. Our trainings are crazy hard so it's like let's get going. So that was it. A little bit of list of energy and that's what we did.

On the energy Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the rest of Children's Mercy Park brought...

It definitely helps that they were there. A lot of people don't really know that they come to our games. The crowd started going crazy and then we're on the field chatting to one another like let's go, let's go. It's for us. This game is for us.

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Major League Soccer Stories from May 11, 2022


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