Sporting KC suffers 2-1 road defeat in LA
Sporting Kansas City already knows the elation of stealing a win late in stoppage time.
On Saturday it learned what it feels like to lose a match in such dramatic fashion.
Sporting KC was seconds away from leaving its match against the LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center with a hard-fought draw.
Instead it was the Galaxy who came away with a 2-1 victory after Omar Gonzalez scored on a corner kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
“It’s not good. You work too hard and put too much time in to lose that way,” Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said.
The loss snapped Sporting KC’s four-match unbeaten streak, and the team fell to 2-2-3. The Galaxy (3-2-2) jumped up to second place in the Western Conference and extended its 26-match unbeaten streak across all competitions at the StubHub Center.
Sporting KC was under pressure in the final 20 minutes of the match, and held strong until Gonzalez, who came on in the 78th minute, scored the game-winner.
“I think overall we played well. We gave up way too many free kicks in the second half in that end,” Vermes said. “Somewhere it’s going to be a mistake and that’s what it ends up being.”
Midfielder Graham Zusi returned to the starting lineup for the first time since injuring a hamstring in a match against NYCFC in March. He played all but the final two minutes of stoppage time.
“He was fine. He was great. He was Zeus,” Vermes said. “We need him on the field and he gives us a lot of different things.”
The Galaxy broke onto the scoreboard first, just eight minutes into the match. Stefan Ishizaki fired a shot from the right side that Sporting KC goalkeeper Luis Marin deflected away. The rebound, however, went into the path of uncovered Galaxy midfielder Baggio Husidic, who calmly slotted the ball in to the open net.
Sporting KC equalized in the 21st minute, with a long-awaited goal from the run of play. Dom Dwyer found Benny Feilhaber inside the 18-yard box. Feilhaber laid off the ball for Kristzian Nemeth, who deftly chipped the ball over a prone goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Marin saved the result in the 78th minute, robbing Bradford Jamieson at the doorstep to temporarily preserve the draw.
This story was originally published April 18, 2015 at 11:53 PM with the headline "Sporting KC suffers 2-1 road defeat in LA."