Benny Feilhaber’s two goals help lift Sporting KC over FC Dallas 3-1

The ball rested 20 yards from the goal, the placement for a Sporting Kansas City free kick, when Benny Feilhaber, Graham Zusi and Dom Dwyer simultaneously lined up behind it. It was a ploy to fool the FC Dallas defense, but everyone on the field — and perhaps even most of the 18,861 fans in attendance — knew the man set to take the shot, even if he had to beg for it.

And the result was nearly as predictable.

Feilhaber delivered a missile across the goal line — the first of his two goals that led Sporting KC to a 3-1 victory Friday against visiting FC Dallas at Sporting Park.

“I got my quota of one free-kick goal per year now,” Feilhaber joked.

Barely.

After mishitting his first free kick of the night, Feilhaber said he promised Zusi that if his next one also went awry, he would allow Zusi to take the third one. The second one indeed misfired, forcing him to beg Zusi to let him have one more chance in the 65th minute.

“I said, ‘Zus, I know what I told you, but please let me hit this one,’ ” Feilhaber said, reconstructing the exchange. “He kind of laughed at me, so I knew he was going to let me do it.”

His night was just getting started. Feilhaber also converted a penalty kick in the 76th minute, and Dwyer added the insurance goal in the 83rd to counter FC Dallas’ lone goal, helping Sporting KC to its ninth home win.

A much-needed one.

In the midst of a five-match winless streak, Sporting KC returned home Friday for the first time in a month, and it took the field with a starting goalkeeper who had one career MLS victory to his name.

It was more than a year ago that homegrown keeper Jon Kempin won for the first time as an MLS keeper, a victory he called the biggest one of his life. In terms of the impact for his club, win No. 2 may have been even bigger.

Sporting KC had not won since it stunned Vancouver with three goals in the final 14 minutes for a 4-3 comeback victory. That was 34 days ago.

“I think there’s always pressure this time of year, especially at home, to get points. (But) there definitely wasn’t panic,” Sporting KC captain Matt Besler said. “Pressure is different than panic. And we’ve been very composed all week long.”

A leaky defense highlighted the five-match winless streak, during which Sporting KC allowed 13 goals. That was after allowing just a shade more than one per game over the first 21 matches.

The defense was back in its old form Friday, with Sporting KC owning 63 percent of possession. Its only hiccup came in the 80th minute, when FC Dallas midfielder Victor Ulloa turned a two-goal cushion into a 2-1 edge. But Dwyer added his 10th MLS goal only three minutes later.

“I thought we were fantastic defensively. We hardly gave them a sniff,” said Zusi, who formulated a pair of point-blank chances that were denied by FC Dallas keeper Jesse Gonzalez early in the second half. “The reason we had so much energy going forward is because we were so aggressive defensively.”

Kempin made three saves in his second straight start while filling in for starter Tim Melia. After practicing during the week, Melia sat out with a hamstring strain. Coach Peter Vermes classified him as “day-to-day” after the match.

Kempin was tested only 62 seconds into the game, in the form of a near-sided from Michael Barrios.

“I was comfortable (Sunday) in Orlando, but I was definitely more comfortable tonight after getting that start,” Kempin said. “And the guys in front of me were great. They made it easy on me.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 8:12 PM with the headline "Benny Feilhaber’s two goals help lift Sporting KC over FC Dallas 3-1."