Sporting KC blows 1-0 lead, loses starting keeper, loses game on 2 late Minnesota goals

Minnesota United shocked Sporting Kansas City Sunday night, scoring two stoppage-time goals to steal a 2-1 victory.

Returning to play for the first time since March at the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando, Sporting KC initially looked like it hadn’t missed a beat since the league’s season came to a screeching halt four months ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the last 25 minutes of the game offered little more than frustrating viewing for Kansas City fans: Minnesota had a goal disallowed, Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia was sent off and Minnesota scored twice in extra time.

“We felt like we were in control for the most part but we weren’t able to put the game away and we left the door open for something like that to happen,” Sporting KC captain Matt Besler said. “We weren’t able to put the game away and get better from it.”

Winger Khiry Shelton scored Sporting KC’s first post-quarantine goal on the brink of halftime. And KC continued to dominate throughout the second half before being forced to hunker down for the final 15 minutes after being depleted to 10 men.

Minnesota goals in the 92nd and 97th minutes sunk Sporting following Melia’s red card in the 74th minute.

The result, which counts toward both the MLS regular-season and Group D tournament standings, dropped Sporting KC’s 2020 record to 2-1-0. It was Sporting KC’s first game back since a 4-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on March 7 at Children’s Mercy Park.

And loss or no, the game represented the first live-game appearance for a KC pro team in months.

Coach Peter Vermes’ men finished with a dominant 62% possession and outshot the Loons 13 to 9. But a lack of clinical finishing early in the game and Melia’s sendoff were too much to overcome.

Sporting KC’s best two chances in the opening minutes came through Gadi Kinda, but their latest midfield addition missed two golden opportunities — the first on a clear breakaway in which he hit a poor shot from 40 yards out in the eighth minute and a close-range, first-time shot over the crossbar 10 minutes later.

The Israeli midfielder offered a constant danger running through the midfield into good areas but lacked the killer touch that helped him score two goals before the extended coronavirus-induced break.

After a one-sided half that saw Sporting outshoot Minnesota 9-1, Shelton finally opened the scoring in the 43rd minute. A savvy turn from false nine Alan Pulido gave Shelton a clear run through at goal, where he wrong-footed Minnesotakeeper Tyler Miller to slot it home at the near post.

Sporting KC continued to control the pace of the match into the second half, with Minnesota’s players sitting back so far back that at times it looked like they were playing a man down.

Despite the early misses, Kansas City still could’ve put the game to bed as early as the 49th minute when Shelton slotted a through ball to Gerso Fernandes on the right wing. But after Shelton made an open run to the back post for an easy square ball, Gerso instead tried a lazy first-time pass that bobbled into Miller’s hands.

“I just was a little bit disappointed in the fact that we couldn’t finish off a second goal,” Vermes said. “We had chances; we just didn’t take them well enough and obviously it came back to haunt us at the end of the game.”

Loons midfielder Ethan Finley poked in a second-half opportunity from close range off a corner, but the goal was taken back after a video review. Fellow midfielder Kevin Molino was deemed offside in the buildup of the play, blocking Sporting KC’s Melia from retrieving the ball,

Melia drew his straight red card for taking down Minnesota’s Aaron Schoenfeld just outside the box in the 74th minute. The red card was just the second of his career.

That forced backup goalkeeper Richard Sanchez, selected by Sporting KC in the 2019 MLS Re-Entry Draft, to make an unexpected debut.

With 10 men behind the ball and occasional holdup play from KC’s front men, Shelton had the undesired honor of scoring for both teams. In the 92nd minute, he flicked a Minnesota free kick that found its way through Sanchez’s legs for the tying goal.

Sanchez was caught in no-mans land, half-committing to the cross but not calling for the ball, causing Besler to head it onto Shelton’s chest and ultimately into the back of the net.

Molino scored the winner for Minnesota in the 96th minute.

“Obviously it’s different,” Besler said of losing Melia. “There’s a different person in goal. But we have the utmost confidence in Richard.

“He’s shown a really high ability to play. He had a great preseason for us and got a lot of minutes, so we have confidence in him and he’s going to have to play next game. We have to move on and get points out of our next game.”

Sporting KC must wait until Friday for a chance to redeem itself. The club plays Real Salt Lake at 7 Central Time that evening in Orlando.

This story was originally published July 12, 2020 at 9:12 PM with the headline "Sporting KC blows 1-0 lead, loses starting keeper, loses game on 2 late Minnesota goals."