Sporting Kansas City defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-0 on Saturday to claim its first victory of the 2017 preseason, presented by Children’s Mercy.
Dom Dwyer opened the scoring with a first-half penalty kick before Cameron Porter and Daniel Salloi added late goals to round out the Desert Diamond Cup victory at Kino Sports Complex in rainy Tucson.
Manager Peter Vermes deployed an unchanged starting lineup from Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids, while New York fielded a reserve-heavy side four days prior to facing Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Wet and windy conditions did little to prevent Sporting KC from creating a flurry of chances in the first half. Diminutive winger Latif Blessing and veteran Graham Zusi threatened with half-volleys within the first quarter-hour, then Dwyer’s low drive on the breakaway was kick-saved by goalkeeper Rafael Diaz in the 26th minute.
Dwyer wouldn’t be denied a second time, dispatching a penalty in the 31st minute after racing onto a Matt Besler long ball and clattering into Diaz, who had rushed off his line in attempt to extinguish the danger. The striker sent his near-perfect spot kick off the right post and into the back of the net for his first goal of the preseason.
Zusi and Gerso Fernandes combined intricately down the right side seven minutes later, but Zusi’s left-footed effort was blocked by Ethan Kutler in a crowded penalty area. Just before halftime, Roger Espinoza powered into the box and dragged a shot across Diaz and narrowly wide of the far right post.
Blessing kept New York on its heels five minutes into the second half, sizing up his defender and squaring centrally to Dwyer, whose 15-yard snapshot was saved by Evan Louro.
Vermes made wholesale changes on the hour mark as 11 new faces entered the fray. Sporting KC’s dominance became more pronounced and nearly resulted in a second goal on 79 minutes when Salloi ran onto the ball following an aggressive run from Soony Saad and smacked a left-footed strike off the crossbar.
The lead doubled in the 82nd minute on a wonderfully worked team goal. Medranda sprung Salloi down the left wing and allowed the return pass to run between his legs and across the face of goal. Porter was promptly rewarded for his back-post run, hammering into the roof of the net from a tight angle on the right side of the box.
Salloi tallied Sporting KC’s third five minutes later, nodding home at the doorstep after Jimmy Medranda’s deflected corner kick was punched up in the air by Louro. Saad was agonizingly close to finding the back of the net in the 90th minute, but his brilliantly struck, curling free kick rattled the post.
Sporting KC will conclude Desert Diamond Cup pool play on Wednesday at noon CT, facing the New England Revolution for the second time this preseason. New England won the first battle by a 2-1 scoreline on Feb. 7 at Kino Sports Complex. The match will be streamed live on SportingKC.com and FOX Sports GO.
2017 Desert Diamond Cup
Kino Sports Complex | Tucson, Arizona
<strong>Score</strong> |
<strong>1</strong> |
<strong>2</strong> |
<strong>F</strong> |
<p>Sporting Kansas City (1-0-1)</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>2</p> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>New York Red Bulls (1-1-0)</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>0</p> |
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia (Adrian Zendejas 61); Graham Zusi (Saad Abdul-Salaam 61), Ike Opara (Kevin Ellis 61), Matt Besler (Amer Didic 61), Seth Sinovic (Tyler Pasher 61); Benny Feilhaber (Benji Joya 61), Ilie Sanchez (Soni Mustivar 61), Roger Espinoza (Jimmy Medranda 61); Gerso Fernandes (Cameron Porter 61), Dom Dwyer (Soony Saad 61) Latif Blessing (Daniel Salloi 61)
Scoring Summary:
SKC – Dom Dwyer 1 (penalty kick) 31
SKC – Cameron Porter 1 (Daniel Salloi 1) 82
SKC – Daniel Salloi 1 (unassisted) 87
