Sporting Kansas City (0-2-2, 2 pts.) suffered a 2-1 defeat on the road to FC Dallas (2-1-1, 7 pts.) at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night. Daniel Salloi scored Sporting KC’s first goal of the 2023 season to give the visitors the lead, but Dallas rebounded in the second half to take all three points with goals from Alan Velasco and Jesus Ferreira.
Manager Peter Vermes was forced into one change from last weekend’s 0-0 draw with the LA Galaxy at Children’s Mercy Park, with Ben Sweat coming in at left back to replace Tim Leibold who missed out with a hamstring injury.
Sporting KC began the match on the front foot and had the first shot of the contest in the fifth minute when the team’s high press allowed Roger Espinoza to win the ball high up the field but his right-footed shot whistled wide of the post.
Sporting found the breakthrough in the 11thminute as Salloi found the team’s first goal of the 2023 campaign. After Erik Thommy had been dispossessed on the edge of the area, Salloi latched onto the loose ball and fired home an effort that took a slight deflection and flew beyond Maarten Paes into the back of the Dallas net, making the score 1-0.
The two teams traded blows over the next quarter hour, with Ben Sweat sliding in to deny Ferreira a tap-in while Willy Agada saw an effort from all of 50 yards almost catch Paes out in the Dallas goal. In the 27th minute, Dallas left back Marco Farfan lashed a half-volley over the bar when well placed inside the area.
Dallas star man Ferreira almost pulled his side level in the 31st minute but his shot from 12 yards was deflected inches wide by the boot of Robert Voloder. Agada almost latched onto a delectable through ball from Thommy in the 39th minute but Paes beat him to the ball by a split second on the edge of the area, resulting in a big collision.
Agada was proving to be a constant nuisance to the Dallas backline and he threatened again in first-half stoppage time, firing over from a tight angle after being found by a perfect ball from Espinoza.
Dallas were the first to create danger in the second half as Paul Arriola’s effort from distance was deflected narrowly wide by Remi Walter.
Dallas found the equalizer in the 55thminute, as Velasco exchanged passes with Sebastian Lletget and curled a brilliant effort into the top corner. The goal was Velasco’s second of the year and snapped Sporting’s 318-minute shutout streak – the second longest in MLS this year.
Sporting earned a penalty in the 61st minute when Agada got in behind the Dallas backline and was tripped up by goalkeeper Paes. Agada stepped up and saw his effort saved by Paes down low to his left, but the Dallas gloveman had stepped off his line and Sporting was afforded a re-take. This time Thommy stepped up and his effort was also denied by Paes during a remarkable sequence.
Dallas took the lead in the 84th minute through Ferreira who saw his initial effort saved by Pulskamp but he fired home the rebound to give the hosts a late lead.
In the 88th minute, Sporting were initially awarded another penalty after substitute Felipe Hernandez was upended by Paes, but after consulting with the VAR, referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere overturned the decision as Hernandez was in an offside position when the ball reached him, despite deflecting into his path off a Dallas defender.
Sporting threw numbers forward for the remainder of the match and had a number of set pieces in dangerous areas but ultimately weren’t able to find an equalizing goal as Dallas claimed all three points with the 2-1 scoreline.
Sporting returns home next weekend to take on perennial Western Conference contender Seattle Sounders FC at Children’s Mercy Park. Kickoff is set for 7:39 p.m. CT with tickets available via SeatGeek.com .
