Sporting Kansas City rallies big, downs FC Dallas in extra time in U.S. Open Cup match

Sporting KC got it going in the second half and overcame a two-goal halftime deficit against FC Dallas on Tuesday in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match at Children’s Mercy Park.

Marinos Tzionis scored on a header in the 98th minute — the latest regulation goal in Sporting KC history — to tie the match at 2 and sent it to extra time.

In extra time, Khiry Shelton’s shot turned into an own-goal and he added a goal of his own to give Sporting KC a 4-2 victory. With the win, Sporting advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16.

Sporting had found itself buried quickly in the first half on Tuesday night. Goalkeeper John Pulskamp’s misplayed pass to Ben Sweat went straight to Dallas’ Franco Jara, who promptly punished the mistake. Dallas scored again in the 34th minute.

Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes called the first half his fault. Sporting made 11 changes to its starting lineup — literally every player from the lineup used against New York City FC last weekend.

On top of that, Sporting was trying out a new formation against Dallas.

“We weren’t prepared to play in the system that we put together,” Vermes said. “We just didn’t feel comfortable. So we made a change in that first half and went back to a 4-3-3.”

Switched back to its typical formation, Sporting started to find some comfort. Young academy player Jake Davis had started the match as the “six,” or defensive midfielder, but he traded places with Felipe Hernandez.

Hernandez helped Sporting KC retain some possession and even push for a goal before the end of the first half. The goals didn’t come — not in the first half, anyway — but the mood by halftime was positive. Sporting KC striker Khiry Shelton said he reminded his younger teammates that, “We can come back. We’ve done it so many times before.”

“We were just lifting one another,” Shelton said, “because we know what we can do when we click.”

And click Sporting did in the second half. One of the club’s newer players, Nikola Vujnovic, was the beneficiary of an FC Dallas mistake: A poorly played pass fell right at his feet, and he dispatched a successful strike into the top corner for his first goal with Kansas City.

Sporting pushed for the next 30 minutes but couldn’t quite finish until winger Daniel Salloi ran into space paired one-on-one with the Dallas goalkeeper. Defender Jose Antonio Martinez wiped him out and was shown a red card for the challenge, giving Sporting a free kick in a dangerous spot.

When Johnny Russell’s penalty shot was saved over the bar, it felt like a last chance had evaporated for Sporting. But Tzionis reacted first to the ensuing corner kick to level the match and send it to extra time.

As the teams headed into the break before the beginning of extra time, Shelton took a peek at the Dallas bench.

“Everyone’s heads (were) down,” Shelton said of the visiting side. “They were kind of exhausted, and we were like, ‘This is ours. This is for us right now, so let’s take it. They don’t want it like us.’”

And it was Shelton who came through in extra time, creating the own-goal and adding one of his own as Dallas finished the match a man down.

Sporting KC returns to league competition on Saturday with a road match against the Portland Timbers at 9 p.m. Central Time.

This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Sporting Kansas City rallies big, downs FC Dallas in extra time in U.S. Open Cup match."