Russell’s early wakeup call helps propel Sporting KC on to MLS is Back knockout rounds

Clocking in at 8:09 a.m. Central Time, the earliest goal in Sporting Kansas City history was enough for KC to book its ticket into the MLS is Back Tournament’s Round of 16 Wednesday.

Johnny Russell volleyed home a bouncing ball just 51 seconds into the penultimate game of the tourney’s group stage as Sporting KC defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0 at the ESPN World Wide of Sports in Orlando.

Gerso Fernandes sealed the result with an 86th-minute curler into the top-left corner.

The win guarantees Kansas City at the very least a top-two spot in Group D and puts the team in first place for the time being. Minnesota United would need to defeat the Colorado Rapids Wednesday night to leapfrog KC into first place in the group.

“We did what we had to to get through,” Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia said. “Obviously, I was the one who started the error (in SKC’s tourney-opening 2-1 loss to Minnesota). The boys came up big in the second game (against Colorado) and I thought we had a pretty complete performance today.”

Entering Wednesday morning’s game needing at least a tie to advance, Sporting relieved some pressure within the first minute.

Earning an early corner, teenager Gianluca Busio whipped a dangerous ball into the middle of the box. Defender Graham Smith ripped a shot at goal but could only cannon the ball off teammate Alan Pulido. The resulting block fell right into the path of Russell, who volleyed it into the bottom corner of the net.

Not only was the goal the earliest in Sporting KC’s history in terms of local time, it was also the fourth-earliest goal KC has scored in a game and earliest since Chance Myers scored within 40 seconds in 2013.

“We’d worked on a short corner in practice and that didn’t come off, but it came into the box and it came off a few bodies, a bit of a ricochet around, and then it just dropped to me nicely and I caught it well on the right foot,” Russell said.

“Doesn’t happen too often,” the left-footed winger joked. “So it was a nice one to take and nice to get the early goal, as well. It settles you down and you’ve got that goal behind you.”

With Salt Lake having already booked a spot in the Round of 16 and only playing to keep Sporting down in the standings, the game quickly devolved into the sort of typically heated match often seen between the two clubs.

A total of seven yellow cards were issued: three for KC and four for Salt Lake.

“Difficult game — it always is against them,” Russell said. “Difficult conditions, but we knew what we had to do to get the points and go through in this tournament. That was the only aim coming into the game.

Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes could be heard laying into the fourth official during the first-half water break, citing “seven yellow-card offenses and only one given.”

ESPN, which aired the match live from Florida, eventually muffled the entire conversation.

But Vermes was justified in his complaints — not just regarding yellow cards, but in the handling of the game as a whole. Referee Fotis Bazakos fostered a loose relationship with his whistle throughout the game, allowing multiple situations to escalate to cards.

Sporting KC left-back Luis Martins became a beneficiary of Bazakos’ officiating late in the first half. The Spaniard made thigh-to-thigh contact inside the box with Salt Lake’s Justin Meram in the 44th minute, sending Meram tumbling to the ground.

Play resumed and goalkeeper Tim Melia took the resulting goal kick quickly before the video-assistant referee could get involved.

The favor was returned in the 69th minute when Sporting KC winger Khiry Shelton was brought down in the same spot. Shelton took the ball past Salt Lake goalkeeper Zac MacMath before the keeper’s hands clipped Shelton’s feet.

Again, no whistle and no penalty assessed.

Aside from the yellow cards, the game progressed without much drama for Sporting.

Real Salt Lake’s most dangerous period came from the 20th-minute mark up through halftime as they pushed for an equalizer. But Kansas City weathered the storm, dropping deeper into its own half and limiting the space for Salt Lake to play into.

The solid defensive performance continued through the second half, with Real Salt Lake only managing five shots all game, with only one of those being on target.

“We didn’t over-commit to open up other situations in behind us and I learned a lot, and that is when the guys kind of sat back in that last 25 minutes in the first half,” Vermes said. “What they exhibited was they moved well from side to side. They had a good compact group, but they really didn’t give crazy chances away.”

Vermes also had high praise for right back Graham Zusi, who turned in a full 90-minute shift, with 77 coming up against Real Salt Lake’s Corey Baird. Zusi clamped down the 24-year-old, Baird who burst onto the scene in 2019 with five goals and five assists in 25 starts.

“I thought Zusi did a really good job all game long,” Vermes said, “because the player that he played against, I think, is very good, has a lot of energy, likes to go at people. And Zeus was really patient. His delaying, his one-v-one defending, was top-notch.”

Fernandes entered the game in the 86th minute and scored within two minutes to seal the victory for KC. Receiving the ball from Pulido, who notched two assists Wednesday morning, Gerso cut inside from the left before curling the ball effortlessly into the top-left corner.

With group-stage games counting toward the MLS regular-season standings, Sporting KC moved to 4-1-0. Sporting’s victory also knocked Colorado out of the tournament.

Now Sporting can focus squarely on advancing through the elimination phase of the tournament without worrying about the regular-season standings. The group-stage matches are the only ones in the MLS is Back tourney that count as league games.

If Minnesota fails to defeat Colorado Wednesday night, Sporting will top Group D and face the third-place team from Group B, E or F. If Minnesota wins, KC will slot in at No. 2 from Group D and face the Columbus Crew in the Round of 16.

Knockout-round schedule

Round of 16: Four straight days of doubleheader matches (Saturday-Tuesday)

Quarterfinals: Doubleheaders on July 30 and Aug. 1

Semifinals: Aug. 5-6

Final: Aug. 11 (7 p.m. Central Time)

This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 10:36 AM with the headline "Russell’s early wakeup call helps propel Sporting KC on to MLS is Back knockout rounds."