Daniel Salloi strengthens MVP case in Sporting KC’s 3-1 victory over FC Dallas

Major League Soccer MVP candidate Daniel Salloi endured a quiet 90 minutes in Sporting Kansas City’s weekend loss to the Seattle Sounders.

So it stood to reason that he’d want to bounce back quickly in Kansas City’s road game against FC Dallas on Wednesday night.

The Hungarian winger didn’t just simply bounce back, though. He hit an absolute barn-burner to open the scoring in Kansas City’s 3-1 win at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

It’s the first time since 2003 that Dallas has lost to the same opponent twice at home in a season. Sporting KC (14-6-7) also won at Dallas on Aug. 14, 2-0.

“It was an all-around good game for us, I’m proud of the guys,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said.

Salloi scored his second of the game in the 61st minute, just six minutes after Johnny Russell doubled Sporting KC’s lead from the penalty spot.

The foul that led to Russell’s converted penalty saw Dallas’ Bryan Acosta earn a straight red card and should have signaled smooth sailing for Sporting KC. But a 68th-minute goal from Ricardo Pepi drew a goal back for Dallas.

Even before Acosta’s dismissal, Sporting seemed to have the game in hand after Salloi’s opener.

When conceding first this season, Dallas hasn’t managed a single win, home or away. Kansas City also limited the hosts to just one shot on target in the first half, so when the visitors took the 2-0 lead from Russell’s spot-kick, the game appeared in the bag.

But back to Salloi’s goals.

Earlier Wednesday, mlssoccer.com released its latest MLS MVP Power Rankings. Salloi didn’t even rank in the top five, with the rankings citing that Salloi had only scored once in four games since the MLS All-Star break.

He blew those rankings out of the water in the 13th minute Wednesday.

Receiving a pass on his natural left side of the field, a beautiful touch took Salloi past Dallas’ Nkosi Tafari. Another quick touch inside gave Salloi the time and space to fire a scorcher from more than 25 yards out past Dallas keeper Jimmy Maurer and into the roof of the net.

Salloi earned the opportunity after both he and Russell exploited Dallas’ back five in the first half that saw their wing-backs push higher up the field. As the wing-backs pushed up, Russell and Salloi exploited the space they left behind.

“Me and Daniel got a lot of space,” Russell said. “Midfielders were able to pick up those little holes behind their midfield and in front of their defense, as well, and there were pockets of space everywhere. We get the goal from doing that.”

The opening goal came because of Kansas City’s east-to-west type of play. A similar opportunity opened up for Salloi in the game against Seattle on the weekend that he tried to bend but it went far too wide.

This time though, a lot of power and a little bit of movement on the ball did the trick.

Memories of that rocket perhaps lingered in Maurer’s mind in the second half, because indecision on his part allowed Salloi to score his second goal of the game just after the hour mark.

Once again controlling the ball down the left, this time Salloi went one-on-one with Dallas center back Bressan.

Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes has said recently that his winger is relentless in running at defenders this season, and Salloi showed that again when a smart stepover sent Bressan the wrong way and gave Salloi space in the box.

Before Maurer knew it, Salloi had fired a shot into the roof of Dallas’ net. Maurer stood flat-footed with a helpless right hand in the air where Salloi’s shot had just whizzed past.

The most surprising facet of the goal was the fact it came via Salloi’s left foot. He’s only ever scored two goals at the senior level with his left foot and both came in 2018.

The 25-year-old winger has been working with assistant coach Zoran Savic to create more chances on his left foot this season. Their work finally paid dividends.

“This one felt good — I hit that one nice,” Salloi said. “It’s just something that you have to switch it up, because you can get predictable if you don’t. So taking the defender down the line is another thing that I have to do more and more, so I always keep them guessing.”

The goals were Salloi’s 14th and 15th of the season. Russell’s goal was his eighth, and fifth in six games.

With Dallas down to 10 men following Acosta’s red card, all Sporting had to do was see out the game. The only blip came in the 68th minute when Pepi broke through to fire past goalkeeper Tim Melia.

This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Daniel Salloi strengthens MVP case in Sporting KC’s 3-1 victory over FC Dallas."