Sporting Kansas City hosted the Houston Dynamo in a quarterfinal US Open Cup match Tuesday night. These teams are bitter rivals and it was expected to be a high scoring game like their last meeting in MLS regular season play. On that night in Texas, the game ended 4-4 with both sides having 4 shots on target. Tuesday, in a game that started sloppy, Sporting KC overtook Houston to win 3-1.
Sporting may have dominated possession for the duration of the match, but the Dynamo used their strength and physicality to break up plays and put pressure on SKC’s backline. There were several instances in the first half where Houston could have gone up a goal due to that style of play. They earned four corner kicks by the 15th minute and had sent one very dangerous cross over only a few yards from goal.
Even with Benny Feilhaber in his deeper playmaking role in the midfield, Sporting were only able to get one shot on target the first half. That shot was easily picked up Houston keeper Joe Willis, who wasn’t afraid to come off his line and grab the ball in traffic.
in the 30th minute, Houston’s Luis Garrido knocked Feilhaber down and went directly into a studs up challenge on Sporting rookie Amadou Dia. To mirror the earlier New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union Open Cup match, Garrido was shown a straight red and the away team continue a man down.
Despite the man advantage, the second half started similar to the first for Sporting. They dominated possession, but Houston’s physicality proved tough. Feilhaber, and the rest of his side, was visibly frustrated with this tactic and accidentally stepped in front of a ball meant for Krisztian Nemeth inside the box, who was squared for a shot.
The frustration was mounting on both sides of the rivalry, resulting in tension and mistakes on both sides. Sporting manager Peter Vermes made the first change of the night to try to reinvigorate his team. Jacob “The Answer” Peterson came on for Connor Hallisey in the 54th minute. Peterson’s presence immediately slowed Sporting’s play down and the side showed more control over their possession.
Just as Sporting started to show this control, Matt Besler sent a pass back that was intended for goalkeeper Tim Melia, but was off target and rolled past the end line. The resulting corner kick, taken by Brad Davis, opened the scoring and put Houston on the board with a finish from Will Bruin, his 50th career goal.
Barely a minute later, Chance Myers was taken down in the box and Sporting was awarded a penalty. Dom Dwyer, to epitomize Sporting’s play up to that point, took a sloppy and readable kick that was easily saved by Willis.
In the 60th minute, Erick “Cubo” Torres made his debut for the Dynamo, but his only impact was committing a foul on Myers in stoppage time.
A foul on Dwyer in the 66th minute led to Davis and Roger Espinoza getting into a heated argument that delayed play for two minutes. In the end, both players were shown yellow cards, and Sporting’s mentality shifted.
SKC’s pace picked up. Everyone woke up and began to make use of all the possession they had. Shots were on target, passes weren’t being picked off, and Sporting was a team trying to win. Feilhaber scored the equalizer with his rarely used left foot not five minutes after the argument.
Sporting KC continued to look dangerous, but again the idea of symmetry with the early game crept up and speculation of extra time and penalties went around. That speculation was tossed out when Dwyer redeemed himself for missing the PK by finishing a gorgeous one touch flicked pass from Nemeth at awkward angle. Two minutes later, Dwyer sent the ball to Nemeth, who’s shot took a lucky deflection off A.J. Cochran and into the back of the net.
Whatever was said between Davis and Espinoza changed the game for Sporting and they advance to the semi finals of the Open Cup for the first time since 2012, when they were champions. They face another rival, Real Salt Lake, on August 11th or 12th.
