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SKC draw with NYCFC at home, Salloi plays hero with birthday equalizer

Come from behind again in second half

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4 months ago

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Credit: Thad Bell

After a disappointing home loss last week against Seattle, Sporting KC hosted New York City FC and fought to a deserved 1-1 draw.

Zavagnin made three changes to the starting lineup that took on the Sounders. Against NYCFC, Andrew Brody started in place of Khiry Shelton, Nemanja Radoja was in midfield for Memo Rodriguez, and Jacob Bartlett returned to the starting lineup in place of Zorhan Bassong.

 

The first 45 between SKC and NYCFC was a battle of the goalkeepers. Both Matt Freese (NYCFC) and John Pulskamp (SKC), had highlight reel caliber saves as each team looked to get on the board early.

When SKC managed to get on the ball, Joveljic struggled to find the space necessary to pose a threat.

Despite that, SKC managed to get a shot on goal courtesy of Ndenbe who rifles a left footed strike, forcing a save from Freese and earning a corner. Moments later, a deflected cross from Shapi found Jansen Miller who is denied by Freese for another corner. Sporting looking aggressive as the minutes pass.

At this point NYCFC began lightning quick counter attacks that caused issues for the SKC defense. In two minutes, NYCFC had two counter attacks that, if not for defensive plays from Salloi and Miller, would have ended in goals. One minute later, however, the goal came.

Andres Perea was on the receiving end of defense-splitting pass from Maxi Morales and rolls in a cross-body shot from outside the 18. THe speed at which NYC was attacking was causing fits for the SKC when they looked to press high.

SKC began to press more and more, but NYCFC slowed down the pace of the game and controlled possession.

Despite the struggles, Sporting didn’t back down and continued to play aggressive and press high. In an attempt to break down the New York defense, Salloi, Joveljic and Ndenbe began rotating their runs as the Belgian was constantly finding himself in the attacking third. But the final touch and pass continued to lack for the home side and clear chances were not being created.

Salloi had perhaps the best opportunity to score for SKC in the dying embers of the first half. Joaquin Fernandez played a long ball over the top that found the Hungarian 1-on-1 with Freese who was off his line. Salloi opted to shoot far post instead of the near post which was open, however, it did end a corner.

Zavagnin began the second half by subbing out Nemanja Radoja and Andrew Brody for Zorhan Bassong and Khiry Shelton, respectively.

Within the first 1.5 minutes of the second half, Shelton mistimed a clearance creating a counter attacking chance for NYCFC and Bassong earns a yellow card stopping the attack.

Sporting failed to looked dangerous to start the second half, meanwhile, it looked like a second for New York was eminent.

The only offense for SKC continued to come at the feet of Ndenbe, however his crosses never found a teammate.

Everything changed when Santi Muñoz and Jake Davis subbed in. Manu Garcia and Jacob Bartlett were taken off and the offense began to see semblances of positive movement. Zavagnin had previously talked about playing with both Joveljic and Muñoz, and tonight was an example of why it works.

The offense began to open up and Ndenbe, once again, had one of the clearest chances of the match in the 71st minute, being on the receiving end of a Davis cross, but he skies it. SKC continued to pressure though, and shortly after, Joveljic finally found space and rifled a curler that was deflected for a corner.

Two minutes after in the 74th minute, Muñoz somehow finds space surrounded by defenders and his shot is stopped, but the birthday boy Daniel Salloi rifles the rebound past Freese.

Salloi’s goal seemed to wake the visitors who immediately gained control of possession and began looking for, and finding, space between the midfield and defense.

Ndenbe continued to make his case for player of the game with a risky defensive play when second-half sub Sebastiano Musu broke through the defense and was 1-on-1 with Pulskamp. NYCFC wanted a penalty, but no dice.

With Muñoz and Joveljic up top, Salloi and Davis acted as free moving parts behind the two forwards. At times, it looked liked SKC was playing with 3 defenders and two wingbacks, an adjustment Zavagnin had made in the past.

That is, until Mason Toye subbed on for Shapi in the 88th minute. Zavagnin was looking for a winner, but having so many forwards on the field at the same time jeopardizes any midfield presence for the home side.

As stoppage time approached, SKC were looking for a game winner and NYCFC started looking to hold on to the point, opting to play over the top balls with varying levels of success, keeping SKC as far away from the attacking third as possible.

With the point and results from other matches around MLS, Sporting actually drop one spot in the table to 13th and are leap frogged by FC Dallas.

Next, Sporting head north of the border to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps who are battling for the top spot in the conference.

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KCOutsider

What did you all think of Ndembe’s non-penalty? I was pretty surprised it wasn’t called or even reviewed. Felt like the kind of play we’d be up in arms about if it went the other way. But maybe I missed something that can be explained?

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Thad Bell

I do think it could have been called, probably should have been.

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Chad Smith

I thought it was a penalty. He got away with one.

That was a game, with NYCFC on short rest and poor road form, that Kansas City should have won IMO. But they were that close to losing it in the end.

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