Sporting Kansas City bounced by Philadelphia Union at MLS is Back tourney in Florida

After the loss came the blame game.

Sporting Kansas City put in a meager performance, one in which the team trailed 3-0 after 40 minutes, and ultimately lost 3-1 to the Philadelphia Union in the MLS is Back Tournament quarterfinals at Orlando.

Coach Peter Vermes, whose team now confronts an uncertain MLS schedule ahead because of the ongoing pandemic, shouldered the responsibility for the listless loss.

“I only have one thing when that happens. It’s my fault,” Vermes said. “I can easily take blame. If the team’s not ready, it’s my fault. So the team wasn’t ready, and it is my fault.”

Not so fast. Veteran midfielder Roger Espinoza pulled blame back onto himself and his fellow Sporting KC players.

“Sure, the coach says that he’s going to blame himself,” Espinoza said. “But I think as players, we’ve been here for a long time at this club and we know what the expectations are. The expectation doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly or if it’s a league game or is a competition or a tournament.

“Our job is to get out there and play as hard as we can, because those are the expectations that Kansas City has set over the years. We did not do that today.”

Really, there was enough blame to go around after this one.

Much focus was placed on Sporting’s back line heading into the first quarterfinal matchup of the tournament at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Florida. Having recorded back-to-back clean sheets since Graham Smith’s insertion on the back line in place of veteran defender Matt Besler, expectations were high against the pressing Union.

Those expectations were not met. The Union sliced, diced and carved their way through the KC defense en route to a dominating victory.

Philadelphia took a 3-0 lead within the first 40 minutes, notching a quick double within just three minutes. Alan Pulido gave Kansas City hope on the stroke of halftime with a back-post header, but that’s all the scoring Sporting could muster.

KC looked the more dangerous team in the second half, but a lack of clear-cut chances resulted in zero goals.

“We didn’t play to win the game, we didn’t deserve it, and I think we lacked ambition to go start the game in the right way,” said defensive midfielder Ilie Sanchez, who was pulled in the 64th minute.

After a quiet opening 20 minutes that had fans ready for a slow game in the aftermath of KC’s action-packed Round of 16 fixture, Philadelphia put that notion to bed in the 24th minute.

On what looked like a standard defensive transition for KC, the Union sliced through Kansas City’s defensive line the moment Roberto Puncec took a step forward toward the ball. As soon as Puncec stepped up, Philadelphia’s Alejandro Bedoya slipped behind the KC back line.

With every Sporting player on the back foot, Bedoya had the time and space to play a square ball across the box for Jamiro Monteiro to tap into an open net.

The goal was the first that Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia had conceded in the tournament.

KC shot itself in the foot to give the Union a 2-0 lead just three minutes later. With KC pushing for a quick equalizer on a free kick in Philly’s half, Kansas City left the back door open. The ensuing clearance from Philly was then poked back into KC’s half by right-back Luis Martins — where there was nothing but white Philadelphia shirts.

The pass from Martins, acting as a perfect through-ball, allowed Sergio Santos to run through unchallenged. And if that wasn’t bad enough, another defensive error allowed the Union to effectively ice it in the 40th minute.

Nineteen-year-old Brenden Aaronson spun Sporting’s Graham Zusi on the right side of the box. Zusi was out of position, allowing Aaronson to play a slick ball to the back post for Santos to put home his second of the game.

Pulido pulled back Sporting’s only goal in first-half stoppage time, latching onto a deep Johnny Russell cross to the back post.

“We were not in the game,” Vermes said. “It took three goals to wake us up and that’s the simple thoughts on the game.”

As Sporting KC returns home, it can take solace in the fact the loss does not affect the regular-season standings. Sporting KC (4-1-0) currently sits atop of the Western Conference with 13 points and has the second-most goals in the league behind LAFC.

It’s unknown, though, when Sporting KC’s next match will be.

This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Sporting Kansas City bounced by Philadelphia Union at MLS is Back tourney in Florida."