Kansas City, KS (June 14, 2017) – Sporting KC handled business in their Fourth Round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Match after a pretty disappointing draw on the weekend. The 4-0 scoreline is as dominant as it reads. Dom Dwyer and Gerso Fernandes were on the scoresheet, as well as Daniel Salloi, who recorded his first goal for Sporting.
Sporting KC Take Care of Business in US Open Cup Fourth Round
As the lineups were announced, Minnesota’s 5-3-2 formation made it seem like Minnesota was just going to bunker in and counter, Montreal’s recipe for success last weekend. That was not the case though.
“It was good that they came out and pressed us high, it was very good that we had to deal with that. They did a good job at that as they pinned us back a couple times,” said Manager Peter Vermes. “We kept having to try and find solutions, which was great for us.”
While it started slow, Sporting KC was still pretty dominant. They broke the damn in the final couple minutes of the first half. The First goal came from a corner kick. Patrick McLain made a really good stop on a blast from Jimmy Medranda. On the ensuing corner kick, Ike Opara’s flick header at the near post made it 1-0 in the 43rd minute.
Gerso Fernandes added on to the Sporting KC lead in first half stoppage time. Daniel Salloi blasted a shot off the post and Fernandes gathered the rebound and put it into the empty net, and putting Sporting KC into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.
Sporting came out on the front foot, and a little more direct for the second half. But right in the 54th minute, a collision between Roger Espinoza and Joseph Greenspan ended up injuring Greenspan pretty bad. Greenspan was treated for a neck injury and the delay to put him in the correct restraints was around 11 or 12 minutes.
With the momentum being in Sporting’s hands before the delay, it could’ve been a great opportunity for Minnesota to regroup and grab a goal on the restart. But credit to Sporting, and manager Peter Vermes for giving them the same message as the one at half-time. “We were breaking the lines, we just needed to run into the defense a little bit more, (be) a bit more direct, which I thought would put them under pressure quite a bit. And I think that really put them in a position where they had to be more conservative.”
The message worked, and six minutes on from the restart, Dom Dwyer received a perfect ball through the backline from Gerso. It was an easy finish for Dwyer and the result was pretty much out of the question at that point.
For good measure, Sporting were looking for a fourth, and they got that in the 83rd minute from Home-Grown player, Daniel Salloi. Roger Espinoza found the youngster and Salloi did really well to turn and slot home for his first goal with the senior team.
“I was really excited when I saw yesterday when I was gonna be in the starting lineup. I was trying to touch the ball and create some chances,” said Salloi. “The goal eventually came, it was a great ball by Roger. I’m very happy, and hopefully more will come.”
He could have had two, and while he was happy he got one, as every stiker should be, he was a little annoyed he didn’t get the chance in the first half that rang off the post.
“I’m glad we scored off it, but you know, I’m a forward. I’m mad when I hit the post or something like that. But right now I feel good because I scored my goal.”
