Sporting Kansas City’s season ended Thursday night with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Seattle Sounders FC in the Western Conference Knockout Round at rainy CenturyLink Field.
Second-half substitute Nelson Valdez nodded home the decisive goal amidst controversy in the 88th minute, propelling Seattle to the conference semifinals and eliminating Sporting Kansas City from the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Despite totaling seven shots on target to Seattle’s one, Sporting Kansas City suffered an agonizing road defeat in the single-elimination knockout round for the third straight year.
Coming off consecutive shutouts to end the regular season, Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes fielded the same lineup for a third straight game. Tim Melia started between the posts, while center backs Matt Besler and Kevin Ellis were flanked by Seth Sinovic and Saad Abdul-Salaam, respectively. Benny Feilhaber, Soni Mustivar and Paulo Nagamura manned the midfield behind the attacking triumvirate of Graham Zusi, Roger Espinoza and Dom Dwyer.
A riveting atmosphere at CenturyLink Field set the stage for an entertaining first half in which Sporting Kansas City started brightly. The visitors nearly landed the first punch in the eighth minute when Feilhaber intercepted a pass, drove toward goal and teed up Nagamura at the top of the box. Nagamura’s ninth year in the MLS Cup Playoffs almost delivered a maiden postseason goal, but goalkeeper Stefan Frei smothered the strike at full stretch.
Sporting Kansas City went awfully close again just two minutes later. Feilhaber was given space 25 yards from goal and slipped a ball through to Nagamura, but his initial shot was blocked by Frei. Nagamura collected the rebound on the slick turf and played backwards to Zusi, whose low drive through traffic pinged off the outside of the far left post.
Seattle weathered an early storm and settled into the contest midway through the first period. The hosts threatened in the 26th minute when Nicolas Lodeiro’s tantalizing free kick found the head of center back Chad Marshall, but the leaping Dwyer did enough to deflect the ball behind goal for a corner kick.
Feilhaber continued to pull strings in the center of the park and created another opportunity in the 33rd minute. His free kick from a central position was glanced on by Nagamura and flicked goalward by Ellis’ outstretched boot, but Frei dove left to palm the 15-yard effort wide of frame.
Controversy crept into the match eight minutes after the restart when Besler — arguably even with the Seattle backline — headed a Feilhaber free kick into the back of the net, prompting celebrations from the visitors. However, the offside flag was up and the goal was disallowed.
Lodeiro remained dangerous, delivering a delightful cross to Roman Torres who volleyed over the woodwork from the edge of the six-yard box.
The final half-hour would unfold frantically and physically as both sides traded full-fledged challenges across the pitch. Sinovic, a scorer of two playoff goals throughout his career, tested Frei with a wonderfully struck volley off Zusi’s corner in the 62nd minute, but the Seattle goalkeeper got a glove to it. Sinovic turned provider in the 76th minute, cutting the ball back across the turf for Zusi, but his shot sailed high from the edge of the penalty area.
A jaw-dropping run through the Seattle defense nearly saw Feilhaber open the scoring on 79 minutes, but the final shot lacked the pace and precision to beat Frei. Four minutes later, Torres missed from point blank range after latching onto Lodeiro’s free kick at the far post.
Two minutes from full time, another contentious twist in the tale proved fatal for Sporting Kansas City. Joevin Jones crossed from the left wing and Valdez, seemingly in an offside position, snapped a header just inside the near post to give Seattle the victory.
Sporting Kansas City now enters the offseason and will begin preparations for the 2017 MLS campaign in late January when the team departs for preseason in Tucson, Arizona. Vermes’ men will look to extend their club record with a seventh straight appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs while also competing for the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs
Western Conference Knockout Round
CenturyLink Field | Seattle, Washington
Attendance: 36,151
Weather: 54 degrees and rainy
<strong>Score</strong> |
<strong>1</strong> |
<strong>2</strong> |
<strong>F</strong> |
Sporting Kansas City (0-1-0) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Seattle Sounders FC (1-0-0) |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Saad Abdul-Salaam, Kevin Ellis, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic (Jimmy Medranda 90); Benny Feilhaber, Soni Mustivar, Paulo Nagamura (Jacob Peterson 92+; Graham Zusi, Dom Dwyer, Roger Espinoza (C)
Subs Not Used: Alec Kann, Ike Opara, Nuno Coelho, Lawrence Olum, Connor Hallisey, Jacob Peterson
Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Roman Torres, Chad Marshall (C), Joevin Jones; Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg (Nelson Valdez 79), Cristian Roldan, Nicolas Lodeiro, Alvaro Fernandez (Brad Evans 86); Jordan Morris
Subs Not Used: Tyler Miller, Zach Scott, Oniel Fisher, Aaron Kovar, Herculez Gomez
<strong>Stats</strong> |
<strong>SKC</strong> |
<strong>SEA</strong> |
Shots |
12 |
10 |
Shots on Goal |
7 |
1 |
Saves |
0 |
7 |
Fouls |
18 |
12 |
Offside |
2 |
2 |
Corner Kicks |
5 |
4 |
Misconduct Summary:
SEA -- Osvaldo Alonso (caution; unsporting behavior) 32
SKC -- Seth Sinovic (caution; unsporting behavior) 63
SKC -- Benny Feilhaber (caution; dissent) 71
SKC -- Roger Espinoza (caution; unsporting behavior) 93+
Scoring Summary:
SEA -- Nelson Valdez 1 (Joevin Jones 1) 88
