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Sporting Kansas City falls in extra time to LAFC to lose US Open Cup

Sporting KC push the game to extra time against LAFC but fail to lift a trophy in a year to forget for all of Kansas City.

Published

3 weeks ago

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Credit: Thad Bell

Sporting Kansas City and LAFC met in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on a late Wednesday night in Los Angeles. The contrasting narratives for each team were stark. Sporting Kansas City, officially eliminated from playoff contention over the previous weekend by Minnesota United, has been floundering all season with an aging roster and a number of players out of contract at the end of the season. The Open Cup represented the last chance at glory for the season and for many of the players.

Standing in their way was the star-studded Los Angeles Football Club. Sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference, LAFC came in with a strong 9-2-4 record at home. LAFC entered the match as the favorite with their eyes on a trophy for a team that is seemingly snake-bitten in finals. After losing in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup final, the 2023 Campeones Cup final, the 2023 MLS Cup final, and the 2024 Leagues Cup final, the hosts were salivating over a favorable matchup with Peter Vermes’ club.

Peter Vermes opted for four changes to the starting lineup. Alan Pulido started at the 9, replacing William Agada. Johnny Russell replaced Stephen Afrifa on the right wing of the 4-2-3-1 with Daniel Salloi playing on the left. Erik Thommy started at the attacking midfield position with Jake Davis and Zoran Bassong working in a double pivot. Tim Leibold and Dany Rosero made way for Logan Ndenbe and Robert Castellanos, respectively. Robert Voloder and Khiry Shelton maintained their starting roles along the backline ahead of Tim Melia.

Steve Cherundolo’s side heavily rotated after a 3-1 loss to FC Dallas over the weekend. Superstar, Olivier Giroud, started at the top of the LAFC 3-4-3 formation flanked by 2023 Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga and Mateusz Gogusz.  Timothy Tillman and Lewis O’Brien operated in the two-man midfield with Ryan Hollingshead and Sergi Palencia playing as wingbacks. Aaron Long, Maxime Chanot, and Eddie Segura made up the three-man backline in front of Hugo Lloris.

As noted in the broadcast, oddsmakers gave LAFC 63.3% to win outright, 21.4% for extra time and only a 15.3% chance to Sporting KC to win in regular time.

FIRST HALF

The early moments of the match saw both teams pressing hard after losing the ball. LAFC sought an early chance down the left side when a ball was played in to the channel to Ryan Hollingshead. His foray into the box was quickly snuffed out by an eager Logan Ndenbe. Sporting Kansas City responded in the 5th minute with their own ball over the top to Daniel Salloi into the box. His attempt was blocked by Eddie Segura and went out for the first corner kick of the night. Erik Thommy stood over the ball, but his inswinger was headed clear by Lewis O’Brien.

LAFC responded minutes later with their own corner kick. Bogusz served an outswinger into the box that was a free header for the hosts. The ball was cleared off the line by Logan Ndenbe at the back post, though Melia seemed ready to pounce. A minute later, LAFC earned their second corner kick of the night. Sporting Kansas City had to work for it, but eventually cleared the danger.

In the 9th minute, Daniel Salloi played an inch perfect through ball to Alan Pulido splitting the LAFC defense. Pulido took the ball down and rocketed a shot on goal that required an acrobatic save from Hugo Lloris and led to Sporting KC’s second corner of the night. Johnny Russell fired the ball into the box, but it was easily caught by Lloris.

In the 14th minute, Jake Davis committed a foul in a dangerous area for LAFC. Bouanga stood over the ball and swung a ball in. Sporting’s clearance fell to Tillman who duffed his attempt at a volley. However, the ball was kept in by Aaron Long who pinged it back into the area to find another willing LAFC foot. The second attempt on goal was also flubbed and Sporting escaped danger. Moments later, the ball found Alan Pulido and Johnny Russell on the right side of the LAFC box. They attempted to combine and find a dangerous look but were ultimately unsuccessful.

The teams traded possession over the next few minutes with few real dangerous chances before Johnny Russell decided to let a ball rip from deep in the 23rd minute. His ball was on frame and was parried over the bar by Lloris for another Sporting KC corner kick. LAFC cleared the ball from the box but was unable to take possession.  In the 31st minute, Denis Bouanga played in a gorgeous ball to Bogusz in the box. The Polish international took the ball down and tried to switch to his favored foot which gave just enough time for SKC to recover and defend the attempt. In ensuing corner led to another free header for LAFC but Tim Melia got down and made the save. Less than a minute later, another LAFC shot from distance required the Sporting KC keeper to get down and knock the ball out for a LAFC corner.

Erik Thommy earned a free kick in a very dangerous spot in the 36th minute after being hacked down by Maxime Chanot. Johnny Russell and Erik Thommy stood over the ball, but everyone knew the Scotsman would take the strike. His shot struck the wall and was recycled by Sporting before eventually being cleared by LAFC.

In the 41st minute, LAFC got the best look of the first half. Bouanga blazed down the left flank and into the box, beating Jake Davis and Khiry Shelton before finding the foot of Giroud. Giroud’s shot was hard and well placed, but Tim Melia was up to the challenge and saved the shot off the line.

The first yellow of the night was earned in the 43rd minute by Johnny Russell. He closed in late on Lewis O’Brien as the LAFC midfield attempted to advance the ball through the midfield. Russell looked to pull out of the challenge but still got enough to earn a trip into the book.

HALFTIME

The first half ended with no stoppage time and the teams level at 0-0. At the half, LAFC led in xG with 0.91 to 0.34. They led shots 8 to 6 and shots on goal 3 to 2. LAFC maintained a slight edge in possession with 51% to SKC’s 49% and outpassed the visitors 255-241. Sporting KC’s only statistical advantage at half was passing accuracy with 85% to LAFC’s 82% and fouls at 5 to 6. Sporting’s defense was largely stout but LAFC had a number of dangerous chances while the visitors were mostly toothless going forward.

SECOND HALF

The second half started quietly but an early cross from Bogusz forced Castellanos to play the ball out for a corner again. A recycled ball fell to LAFC for a shot from distance but Ndenbe cleared the ball out for a throw in. In the 53rd minute, Olivier Giroud opened the scoring. After Erik Thommy turned the ball over in the midfield, Mateusz Bogusz was found in the right channel. He played a beautiful low cross after Tim Melia rushed out to close the angle that found the Frenchman. Upon review, the goal looked like it may be offside, but VAR chose not to intervene, and Sporting found themselves down 1-0.

After scoring, Giroud then earned a yellow card for spiking Erik Thommy’s Achilles while fighting for a ball in the midfield. Zoran Bassong returned the favor in the 58th minute, stomping on the foot of Giroud and earning himself a yellow card.

LAFC was unable to do anything on the ensuing free kick and Sporting raced back down the pitch on the attack. Sporting lost the ball but re-pressed and eventually the ball fell to Johnny Russell in the midfield. He switched the ball to Daniel Salloi who cut it back for Erik Thommy. The midfield took it first touch and put it past Lloris to the near-post leveling the match at 1-1.

Eddie Segura was the second LAFC player to enter the book after taking down Erik Thommy in the midfield. The referee played advantage and allowed Sporting to continue their attack but returned to book the LAFC defender. Segura then went down for treatment and LAFC made the first substitution of the night. In the 66th minute, Omar Campos and U-22 player, Cristian Olivera, entered the match for Eddie Segura and Olivier Giroud.

Omar Campos was in the match for only five minutes before he went into the book for a reckless challenge on Johnny Russell. Sporting took the ensuing free kick from a dangerous spot with Russell firing an inswinger that was turned out by LAFC for a corner. The subsequent corner kick was collected by Lloris and LAFC escaped any danger.

As the match entered the final 15 minutes of regular time, Campos raced down the left side and played a screamer across the box. It fell to Bogusz who turned Robert Voloder and had an open look at goal. Bogusz’s shot was blocked by Tim Melia who made himself big and came up with another massive save on the night.

LAFC earned another corner kick in the 78th minute when a Ryan Hollingshead shot took a nasty deflection and went out. Sporting cleared the ball and Jake Davis took off on a break but was knocked over with a shoulder-to-shoulder tackle that earned a throw in for the hosts.

LAFC earned yet another corner kick in the 81st minute when Robert Castellanos turned away another low cross. Bouanga took the corner which found Bogusz unmarked. The Polish forward’s attempt on goal went well wide of the target and went out for a Sporting KC goal kick.

In the 79th minute, Peter Vermes made his first change of the match with Tim Leibold and William Agada coming on for Logan Ndenbe and Daniel Salloi. Erik Thommy rotated to the left wing and Alan Pulido dropped back into the midfield, allowing Agada to play up top. In the 84th minute, Bogusz was again found running in behind the backline. His low cross was smothered by Tim Melia. Aaron Long went down with an injury and in the 87th, former Sporting Kansas City midfielder, current LAFC legend, and all-around nice guy, Ilie Sanchez entered the match with an eye on breaking the heart of this writer.

In the following moments, Erik Thommy made a beautiful move, escaping Ryan Hollingshead and driving a low cross into the box. It was turned away across the end line and out for a corner kick. The corner was met by Hugo Lloris who punched it strongly to clear the danger. As the clock ticked down on regular time, Jake Davis saved the match for Sporting KC after Bogusz found Bouanga streaking into the box with a through ball. Davis slid in and knocked the ball away allowing Sporting KC to clear.

LA then cried for a penalty when Bouanga and Agada came together in the box, but it was a clear shoulder to shoulder tackle with nothing to it. In the 2nd minute of the 6 minutes of stoppage time, Johnny Russell found an inch of space and took a shot on goal that was easily saved by Hugo Lloris. LAFC raced down the pitch and Bouanga returned the favor with a shot on goal that Melia snatched. The teams exchanged possession in the midfield over the next four minutes before the referee blew the whistle. Extra time was upon us.

EXTRA TIME pt. 1

As the first 15-minute period of extra time began, Kei Kamara entered the match. The man with the second most goals in MLS history added to the already lethal LAFC attack as he took O’Brien’s spot on the pitch. Ryan Hollingshead went into the book in the 92nd minute after taking out Erik Thommy from behind.

The two teams traded possession with each team working to clog things up and force meaningless rotations. In the 100th minute, Campos tried to find the head of Kamara in the box, but it was cleared away momentarily by Sporting KC. Omar Campos gave LAFC the lead in the 102nd minute. Campos entered the box and found space when Bassong was slow to step up to him. He fired a ball far post that skipped past Tim Melia and gave the home team a 2-1 lead near the end of the first half of extra time.

LAFC hoped to find the dagger as the first half of extra time came to a close. With a ball over the top, LA found themselves 2 v. 1 but some stout defense by Sporting forced Bogusz wide and his cross fell harmlessly to a recovered defense. LAFC sought another advantage as extra time came to a close with a 3 v. 2 but Jake Davis made a huge tackle on Kei Kamara to win the ball back for Sporting KC and keep it a 1 goal game with the final 15 minutes to go.

EXTRA TIME pt. 2

As the second half of extra time began, Peter Vermes went to his bench bringing in Memo Rodriguez and Remi Walter for Zoran Bassong and Jake Davis. In the 107th minute, Erik Thommy cleverly earned a corner kick for Sporting. Rodriguez whipped in an inswinger but Lloris rose to meet it and clear the danger. Kei Kamara put the nail in the coffin for Sporting’s cup dreams in the 109th minute when he rose for a header in the box and slotted one past Tim Melia. Kamara found Khiry Shelton sleeping and slipped in across his face and powerfully knocked the ball home. 3-1 LAFC.

Sporting KC made their final substitution in the 112th minute, with Erik Thommy limping off the field to be replaced by Stephen Afrifa.

LAFC saw out the match without any additional fireworks. They are your new 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champions. This win broke their streak of losing finals and was the first loss in a final for Peter Vermes. The match ended with LAFC leading on shots, shots on goal, passes, and xG.

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