MLS Game #26
Saturday, August 27, 2011, 7:30 p.m. CT
English TV: KSMO-TV
Spanish TV: Time Warner Cable Ch. 5
Spanish Radio: La Gran D 1340 AM
LIVESTRONG Sporting Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Weather: Sunny, 88 degrees
Attendance: 20,018
Video: Match Highlights
Score1 2 F
Sporting Kansas City (9-8-9, 36 pts) 1 1 2
FC Dallas (13-7-7, 46 pts) 0 3 3
Sporting Kansas City: Jimmy Nielsen; Chance Myers, Matt Besler, Julio Cesar, Seth Sinovic; Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi (Michael Harrington 89), Omar Bravo© (Aurelien Collin 71); C.J.Sapong, Teal Bunbury, Kei Kamara
Subs not used: Eric Kronberg, Davy Arnaud, Korede Aiyegbusi, Birahim Diop, Soony Saad
FC Dallas: Kevin Hartman; Jair Benitez (Ruben Luna 80), Jeremy Hall, Ugo Ihemelu, Andrew Jacobson; Brek Shea, Marvin Chavez (Bobby Warshaw 67), Bruno Guarda (Jackson Goncalves 61), Daniel Hernandez, RicardoVillar; Maicon Santos
Subs not used: Chris Seitz, Victor Ulloa, Jack Stewart, Andrew Wiedeman
Stats: KC DAL
Shots 16 18
Shots on Goal 6 4
Saves 1 4
Fouls 14 14
Offside 2 1
Corner Kicks 5 3
Misconduct Summary:
KC – Teal Bunbury (Caution; Reckless Foul) 16
KC – Chance Myers (Caution; Persistent Infringement) 36
DAL – Jair Benitez (Caution; Dissent) 36
DAL – Brek Shea (Caution; Reckless Tackle) 51
KC – Teal Bunbury (Caution; Reckless Foul) 76
KC – Teal Bunbury (Ejection; Second Caution) 76
DAL – Ugo Ihemelu (Caution; Reckless Foul) 81
DAL – Daniel Hernandez (Caution; Tactical Foul) 90
Scoring Summary:
KC – Kei Kamara 8 (unassisted) 22
KC – Omar Bravo 7 (Teal Bunbury 3) 68
DAL –Daniel Hernandez 2 (unassisted) 70
DAL – Maicon Santos 8 (Brek Shea 2) 89
DAL – Bobby Warshaw 1 (Brek Shea 3) 92+
Sporting Kansas City fell 3-2 to FC Dallas on Saturday in front of a record crowd at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Forwards Kei Kamara and Omar Bravo each scored to put the home side ahead 2-0, but FC Dallas struck three times in the game’s final 20 minutes for the dramatic comeback over Sporting Kansas City, who were reduced to 10 men in the 76th minute after Teal Bunbury received his second caution of the match.
A standing-room only crowd of 20,018 were in attendance on Saturday – surpassing the stadium opener as the largest crowd for an MLS match at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park during its inaugural season – as Sporting Kansas City remains in second place in the Eastern Conference with eight games to play in the 2011 MLS regular season.
Sporting Kansas City threatened early with Chance Myers firing a half-volley wide of the far post in the 7th minute and then Bunbury playing Bravo behind the FC Dallas defense only to see Ugo Ihemelu recover to disrupt the breakaway in the 20th minute.
Kamara opened the scoring two minutes later, poking the ball away from Ihemelu and racinginto the penalty area to fire a shot low and inside the far post. The Sierra Leone international, chosen for the Leone Stars’ African Cup of Nations qualifier on September 3rd against Egypt, leads all Sporting Kansas City players with eight goals on the season.
The Sporting Kansas City lead doubled in the 68th minute as Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler’s free kick skimmed off the head of FC Dallas defender Andrew Jacobson inside the penalty area and fell to Bunbury, unmarked inside the six-yard box. The second-year striker, selected to the U.S. Men’s National Team for their upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica and Belgium, played the ball across the goalmouth where Bravo finished the tap-in for his seventh goal of the season.
Two minutes later, FC Dallas responded to cut the visitors’ deficit in half on a driven free kick from Andrew Jacobson that worked its way through traffic in a crowded penalty area to beat Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen.
Sporting Kansas City suffered another setback in the 76th minute as Bunbury was sent off, allowing FC Dallas a man-advantage in their search for another result on the road just two days after securing a 1-0 win at Toronto FC in the CONCACAF Champions League.
The 2010 MLS Cup runners-up set the stage for the late dramatics with a goal from striker Maicon Santos in the 89th minute, heading home a cross from midfielder Brek Shea.
FC Dallas’ 21-year-old playmaker again provided the pivotal pass in the second minute of stoppage time as second-half substitute Bobby Warshaw recorded his first career MLS goal with a header at the backpost between two Sporting Kansas City players for the match-winner.
Sporting Kansas City nearly salvaged a draw in the final minute as Chance Myers delivered a free kick to Michael Harrington at the backpost but the defender couldn’t direct his header on target in the match’s dying moments.
FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman returned to face his former club after playing in KC for three seasons and made four saves in the victory, stopping C.J. Sapong’s acrobatic volley in the 21st minute and dodging a bullet when Bunbury’s shot from 35 yards out struck the corner of the goalpost in the 56th minute.
On the opposite end, Nielsen twice turned away dangerous scoring opportunities for FC Dallas in the first half, smothering a shot from Santos in the 25th minute and making a reflex save when Santos’ service was goal-bound after being blocked by Sporting KC midfielder Graham Zusi inside the penalty area.
Sporting Kansas City will continue their nine-game homestand on Monday, September 5th when they host the LA Galaxy at 5:00 p.m. CT at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets are available at TicketMaster.com or at the LIVESTRONG Sporting Park box offices.
FAST FACTS
• Sporting Kansas City is now 9-8-9 and remains in second place in the Eastern Conference.
• Sporting Kansas City is 6-2-4 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park since it’s opening on June 9th.
• Saturday’s attendance at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park was a standing-room only crowd of 20,018, the largest ever for an MLS match and second only to the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup doubleheader.
• With the loss, Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas are even at 19-19-8 all-time.
• Sporting Kansas City is 8-3-1 when scoring the first goal in 2011.
• Sporting Kansas City is 8-2-1 when leading at halftime in 2011.
• Kei Kamara’s goal in the 22nd minute was his eighth of the season, the second-highest single-season total in his MLS career and tied for eighth most in MLS this season.
• Kamara now has goals in three of his past four matches and five of his last seven.
• Kamara’s goal was the fifth straight Sporting Kansas City goal without an assist in MLS play.
• Omar Bravo scored in the 68th minute and now has seven goals in his inaugural MLS season. The Sporting KC Designated Player was named FutbolMLS.com Latino Player of the Week last week.
• Sporting Kansas City has not been shutout in 12 straight games dating back to a scoreless draw at the Philadelphia Union on June 22nd.
• Sporting Kansas City has lost only twice in their past 18 MLS matches.
• Teal Bunbury’s red card in the 76th minute was the first of his career and Sporting Kansas City’s eighth of the season, second-most in MLS behind the New England Revolution this season.
• Bunbury will join the United States Men’s National Team for upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica and Belgium. He will then likely serve his mandatory one-game suspension during Sporting Kansas City’s match against the Houston Dynamo on September 10th.
• Saturday’s match was Sporting Kansas City’s seventh in a nine-game homestand, which is tied for the longest in MLS history along with the Chicago Fire in 2006.
• Sporting Kansas City began the season with their first 10 MLS matches on the road, a new MLS record.
• Sporting Kansas City is 7-2-3 in matches that Seth Sinovic starts this season and 7-2-8 in matches Chance Myers has appeared in the starting lineup in 2011.
• Sporting Kansas City has scored first in every match in the month of August, a run of five straight matches.
• Sporting Kansas City striker C.J. Sapong played 90 minutes on Saturday and is the only Sporting Kansas City player to appear in all 26 MLS matches for the club this season.
• Sapong leads all MLS rookies in games played (26) and points (10) in 2011.
• FC Dallas striker Maicon Santos recorded nine shots on Saturday, tying the MLS season-high in 2011.
• Sporting Kansas City midfielder Davy Arnaud and defender Aurelien Collin each returned to the Sporting KC matchday lineup on Saturday after extended absences with injuries.
• Arnaud missed 11 matches while recovering from sports hernia surgery, while Collin entered in the 71st minute after missing five matches upon suffering two fractures in his lower back.
• Manager Peter Vermes used the same starting line-up on Saturday as he selected in the team’s 1-0 win over D.C. United last Sunday. It marks the first time Sporting Kansas City has fielded the same starting XI in back-to-back matches at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park this season.
• Sporting Kansas City assistant coach John Pascarella served the final game of his three-match suspension on Saturday.
• The first 10,000 fans in attendance on Saturday received a complimentary 2011 Sporting Kansas City team poster, courtesy of Sprint.
• Sporting Kansas City held an autograph session following the match on the Sprint Plaza.
• Sporting Kansas City held a Sporting Club Network Chalk Talk before and after Saturday’s match with members of both teams’ technical staffs and local soccer coaches.
• LIVESTRONG Sporting Park hosted the championship match of the 2011 Mayor’s Night Kicks tournament following Sporting Kansas City’s match on Saturday night.
• Highlights from Saturday’s match will air on this week’s episode of “Off the Pitch” at 9:30 p.m. CT on KSMO-TV.
QUOTES
Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes…
General thoughts on the match…
Look, we did more than enough being up two goals at home to secure the win. It’s not even closing down the game. At the end we weren’t competing enough. They got two balls in from the outside, which we should be close enough to even block them. Then we let two guys get in on the back door not necessarily unmarked but not challenged like they should be and they scored two goals which is a credit to them.
On the performance of FC Dallas…
They played well. The whole game through they tried to just grind it out because obviously they are just coming backfrom their road trip in Toronto and I give them all the credit in the world for coming back. Great goals they scored.
On the red card…
The three red cards in the last five games at home doesn’t help. We could talk all day about that stuff but we’ve been down that road so many times. It’s old for me there is nothing to talk about on that side. It is what it is. We have to be able to play in those situations and we have to be able to compete and we didn’t do it and that is something that we will be dealing with this week.
On dealing with crosses and set pieces coming into the area…
It’s not that everybody stopped competing. When there’s balls on the outside getting played in. First off the cross can be denied and then also you can still get on your men. The guy doesn’t always have to hit a good cross. Sometimes he over hits it or its to short and we’re not close to men. I have to see it again, but on the set piece goal they score after we were up 2-0 I think we only had one person in the wall. And that is lack of organization so these are some things I’ll have to review.
On the first half performance…
I think the first half for a while there we were very good, we were on them. They took it over a little bit. Not took it over but had a little too much of the run of play in between our two lines. I thought we definitely sorted that out in the second half. But you can talk about that all day.
On missing the chance to move closer tothe top of the Eastern Conference…
The fact of the matter is we had a chance with all the other results that were out there and the way we played today we could have easily put ourselves in a very good position here being one point behind Columbus. We didn’t take advantage of it. Teams that want to have success, you have towin these types of games and we didn’t do that today so we have some work to do for sure. We have some real work to do. There is no doubt that I know that it stings in all the guys right now but winning is everything and giving upgoals at the end like that is something that you have to compete for and wedidn’t do that.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza
General thoughts on the match…
I thought we did really well, I mean even though they scored one goal we weredoing pretty well with 10 men on the field. Our mental breakdown was in the80th minute when they scored their second goal and at that point I said ‘OK, I’ll take the point”.
On losing the lead…
I don’t know what happened from there, we lost concentration. It’s frustrating this is about the fourth time this has happened this season, we either have to settle for a point, or we lose. This is the second time at home.
On positives to take away from the match…
First half was really tough for us. I thought the game was kind of crazy, everybody was flying into 50/50 balls, but I thought in the second half we were able to play a little bit and I thought we were able to keep the ball. When we wereable to keep the ball we already thought we had won it.
Thoughts on the atmosphere tonight at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park…
It’s great for us we need to win games if we want fans to keep coming. If we are losing, people aren’t going to want to come. So hopefully next game against the LA Galaxy we’ll be able to show them a good game and win the game.
Sporting Kansas City defender Michael Harrington
General thoughts on the performance…
Obviously just disappointed. Another 2-0 lead and we’re thinking we have the game pretty much won and we fell apart. Obviously the red card didn’t help us it put us down a man, with a lot of pressure at the end they were able to find the goal. Disappointed we thought we had the game there. We thought we had it won there.
On what can be improved upon moving forward…
We need to continue to take advantage of our chances and continue to put pressure on teams right away. Just playing as a team, just have to find a way to close it out.
FC Dallas Manager Schellas Hyndman
On his team’s attitude…
I said to our players what is it about you? You never give up when things are going against you. We were playing against a very good team at home. We have had a very difficult couple of weeks or I should say a couple months. A sellout atmosphere, a tremendous atmosphere, what is it about you guys? It really comes down to leadership and character. I don’t think anybody should ever expect FC Dallas to give up. I think tonight was an example of great leadership and character.
On the performance of Brek Shea…
I think at the end Brek sent some quality balls in. I think the field itself wasn’t really quality enough for either team, but I think what it does is really help theattacking team. Brek got free a couple of times there at the end, served some great balls and obviously being down a man it was really difficult for Sporting Kansas City to get players to attack and defend.
On the dynamics of a 2-0 match…
When you’re up two goals it’s a dangerous time in a game. A lot of people don’t realize when you’re up two goals its not a great time in a game. You have to kill the game and if you give a team a chance to get one then they have the confidence to get more.
On the timing of the first goal for FC Dallas…
It is always about timing isn’t it? While they are still celebrating on their second goal we get a free kick and I think it was probably Brek that got fouled and Hernandez hits it into the box trying getsomebody to get a head on it and it just gets through everyone. Unassisted goal but it was huge timing.
On Sporting Kansas City and LIVESTRONG Sporting Park…
I think Sporting Kansas City had such a difficult start being on the road as much as they were. Coach Vermes did a fantastic job keeping the guys confident to keep them within striking distance once they got the stadium built.
The atmosphere is fantastic. You guys should all be very proud of your team. Your front office, what a great job they’ve done getting people here in the stands and very passionate people. When we talk about passionate soccer and Kansas City, I mean, it’s fantastic.
FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman
General thoughts on the match…
I’m just really excited about the guys really hanging in there. We made a mistake on the first goal, their guy came through and we couldn’t really do much about it, and the second goal is us needing to work on our marking on free kicks. There are things we can improve on certainly, but I think the most important thing is that we were a group that stayed level-headed and continued to compete and have opportunities. To walk out of KC with the three points is crucial for us. Tonight was really a good step for us.
On returning to Kansas City and playing at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park…
I saw Cliff [Illig] before the game and I congratulated him. It’s something they should be proud of. The field obviously needs to continue to come along, but it’s kind of new growth, it doesn’t have deep roots yet. The field will come along and will get to a point where they’ll be able to play the kind of soccer that they really want and play more possession and get results they’re looking for, they’ve certainly done really well so far.
FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea
General thoughts on the match…
First off, great stadium, great crowd, I really enjoyed the environment. I think it was back and forth pretty much all game. They went ahead in the first half, and could’ve been up 2-0, I thought maybe we could have got a goal as well. The second half they got up 2-0, but this team showed what we’re all about and we didn’t give up, we kept fighting.
On playing their second match this year against Sporting Kansas City…
I think Kansas City after that 4-1 win in Dallas, they were on a roll and were playing really well. I think we really wanted to come in here and get a win. On a personal level, they came into our house and beat us, we wanted to come in and do the same thing. We pulled it out.
On 3.5 games in a week…
I love playing games, but I don’t know if my body agrees with me right now. But we’re trying to do everything we can to get ready for it. I think we’re excited, it’s the semifinals [of the Lamara Hunt US Open Cup]. Hopefully we get a win there then win the final.
FC Dallas forward Maicon Santos
General thoughts on the match…
We knew this was going to be a tough game for us. To come back in a game like that, is very difficult. We kept pressing and pressing and got our first goal and then we kept it going and got three goals.
We’ve been fatigued with travel, but as a team, we should not give up. We play well, and want to keep up and score goals.
FC Dallas defender Bobby Warshaw
On his goal…
That’s why Brek [Shea]’s the man. He can win you a game, save you a game any moment. That’s why he’s Break Shea right now. When Brek gets the ball, you know he’s going to do special things, you work hard, get in the box and hopefully a good thing happens.
