Photo: Graham Green
Sporting KC comprehensively thumped FC Dallas in Kansas City on Friday night and ended the visitors’ chances of returning to the top of the league.
Sporting KC entered unbeaten in five games. Dallas had dropped five of their last six points. Was that a sign of the momentum shift to come after the visitors had made the better season start? Indeed it was.
The biggest absentee was Fabian Castillo from the Dallas forward line. Connor Hallisey made his first start of the season for the home side who were still without Dom Dwyer who hurt his neck in the warm up last week. His absence merely allowed a plethora of his colleague to register goals.
SKC took the lead in unusual style. A free kick was overhit but Kevin Ellis’ heroic acrobatics while in an aerial sitting position rescued it from beyond the far post. Only Krisztian Nemeth seemed to believe the play would be revived and headed the ball home unchallenged.
Sporting gained in confidence and passed the better of the two sides from then on.
Je-Vaughn Watson created FCD’s best chance of the game when he stormed down the right but just over hit the slide pass to Blas Perez. The Panamanian arrived too late to make contact.
However the tide was about to turn permanently against the Texans. Nemeth won a clever free kick from Zach Loyd on 32 which earned the Dallas defender a yellow card.
Graham Green
He received his second yellow card ten minutes later for holding Nemeth back by the leg in a less than dangerous area of the park.
Melia was SKC’s hero after diving down at Tesho Akindele’s feet when Ryan Hollingshead found him in 49 minutes. It proved key again as Nemeth turned Matt Hedges beautifully in the Dallas box and gave Benny Feilhaber a tap in six minutes into the second half.
Ellis’ head was instrumental in the third goal too, this time rising high to score himself from a right wing corner. Graham Zusi got in on the act for the 4th. Hallisey registered an assist on his MLS debut with a great back heel to supply. The statistics men will record four goals and four scorers with the last three goals coming in 13 minutes. Abdoul-Salaam nearly made it five but Kennedy was up to foiling him.
Hallisey was pulled of immediately after that fourth by a beaming coach Peter Vermes. Oscar Pareja shuffled his pack in vain but one point from the last nine has seen his side fall heavily from grace. With San Jose the next opponent, the middle of the pack surely beckons for them.
With Sounders up next, the home fans have their most exciting fixture of the season to look forward to – between the Western Conference’s and the nation’s hottest sides.
Sporting now lead the series with Dallas 21-20. The traditionally even series was anything but close tonight.
