Sporting KC outlasts FC Dallas for weather-delayed U.S. Open Cup win in extra time

Sporting Kansas City keeps on fighting in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

The home side outlasted both mother nature and FC Dallas on Wednesday night — into Thursday morning, actually — claiming a 2-1 extra-time victory in a tournament quarterfinal at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Dany Rosero’s 111th-minute header was the winner for Sporting KC. Second-half goals by Dallas’ Petar Musa and KC’s Willy Agada had sent the match to extra time.

The game was scoreless for the first 50 minutes, 10 seconds. That’s when, at exactly 9:20 p.m. Central, play was suspended due to severe weather. Rain fell for nearly an hour and lightning in the area pushed the restart time to 11:10 p.m.

Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes gave a simple message to his players before the restart of the match:

“Everything now is all about mentality. That’s all it is. It’s all about mentality,” Vermes told them.

“I have to applaud (the team),” Vermes continued. “We controlled that remaining 40 minutes ... other than the goal we gave up, we were all over them. And then I thought we were really smart in the overtime as well.”

Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell felt the team was helped by the long break.

“We sort of regrouped (and) changed a few things here and there, and I think you could see the way we came out after the delay,” Russell said. “We looked (like) a different team.”

Only the most hardy fans remained on hand when Agada finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the 77th minute.

Russell and Jake Davis engaged in a nice give-and-go that sprang Davis into the penalty area. Davis cut the ball back to the top of the six-yard box, where Agada awaited to blast it past Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes.

Russell made sure to thank the original 12,943 fans in attendance, especially those who stayed to the end.

“To each and every fan that turned up, that watched, and especially the guys that stayed, you have no idea how much we appreciate that,” Russell said. “We understand that it hasn’t been easy at times this year. But to stick by us like that, it means the world to us.”

But 10 minutes after Agada’s goal, FC Dallas equalized. Musa timed his run perfectly, staying onside and chipping a shot over Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia to level the score in the 87th minute.

Vermes was disappointed in Dany Rosero, who was supposed to be the one marking Musa: “I told Dany, ‘Thank God you scored, because you made (it) up.’”

The game went to extra time and was scoreless for another 20 minutes. In the 111th minute, Rosero fought through a defender to put a header on a corner kick from Russell.

The ball sailed into the back of the net to give Sporting KC the lead for good with 10 minutes to go.

“Personally and as a group, it was immense happiness,” Rosero said through a translator. “It was a win that we really needed.”

Melia — who made a crucial save on Dallas midfielder Sebastian Lletget from point-blank range in second-half extra time — said that the wave of emotions the team overcame was a sign of the strength.

“Guys are tired,” Melia said. “Everyone’s tired. It’s humid. You have that break. It kind of messes with you mentally. But that’s why I think we should be truly, truly proud of this performance.”

Sporting’s U.S. Open Cup run now continues into at least late August. Kansas City will play host to Indy Eleven of the USL Championship in the tourney semifinals on Aug. 27 or 28.

Sporting KC’s next Major League Soccer match, meanwhile, is set for Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Central in California against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published July 11, 2024 at 12:40 AM.