Sporting KC Sporting KC blows another playoff game

Hammock Parties · 11-29-2018, 11:56 PM

They fit in well in Kansas City.

Covered five of these playoff losses in five years. Undeniable that the disappointment in that locker room was more evident tonight than years past. #SportingKC
— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) November 30, 2018

Hammock Parties · 11-29-2018, 11:58 PM

Knocked out: Portland eliminates Sporting KC from MLS playoffs in conference finals

Quote:

The keepsakes from Sporting KC’s most treasured accomplishments were long tucked away in an office inside Children’s Mercy Park, a collection of trophies typically just sitting on the floor. Recently, Peter Vermes insisted on a permanent home, and so the club constructed a trophy case inside its new training facility. As an employee was installing the cubbyholes, one per trophy, Vermes interrupted.

“And what if we get another one?” Vermes asked.

The final leg of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday afforded Sporting KC an unwanted element to solve that dilemma.

Time.

Portland ended Sporting Kansas City’s best playoff run in five seasons, marching out of Children’s Mercy Park with a 3-2 victory Thursday in the Western Conference Finals.

The fifth-seeded Timbers advanced to the MLS Cup — Dec. 8 in Atlanta — on aggregate scoring after the two teams played to a scoreless draw in the opening leg Sunday in Portland.

A Sporting KC club that spent the majority of the 2018 season jockeying for its spot atop the Western Conference put itself on just as comfortable footing Thursday. In total control, actually.

And then? Gone.

Portland pounced three times after halftime — its only three shots on goal in the game — to erase the opener from Daniel Salloi and provide enough cushion to survive the answer from Gerso Fernandes. Diego Valeri scored his second goal of the night in the final minute to secure the spot in MLS Cup, but it wasn’t needed, with Portland holding the away goal tiebreaker just the same.

In a span of nine minutes on Thursday, Sporting KC migrated from one half shy of booking a charter flight to Atlanta to scheduling its locker cleanouts.

Fernandes supplied the moment of hope, pulling the score even in the 81st minute. That gave Sporting KC more than a quarter-hour for the winner. An offense that broke a franchise record for goals could not produce the one it needed most.

Thus, this is how it ends for Sporting KC. On its home field. Needing only a victory to advance to its first MLS Cup since it lifted the trophy in 2013.

It all looked so promising early. Salloi broke through 20 minutes into the first half, providing Sporting KC a 1-0 lead inside a venue it dropped just two games during the regular season. Portland did not even record a shot on goal in the opening half.

It made all three of its tallies in the second half count. Sebastian Blanco scorched an utterly word-class strike into the back of the net, and Valeri timed a run perfectly to add another the 61st minute, forcing Sporting KC to chase two goals because of the away goal tiebreaker. Valeri was onside, though it didn’t prevent a handful of fans from littering the field. After the referee removed the players from the pitch to avoid the garbage, Vermes circled the field, pleading with fans to stop.

Sporting KC jumped after the break, eventually leading to Fernandes’ goal. Another would not come.

Before the match, Sporting KC used former players to bring out all of its championship trophies. Former goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen carried the 2013 MLS Cup. That hardware was won on a frigid afternoon that once stood as the coldest game in league history. For four seasons, it doubled as the franchise’s latest playoff victory. The knockout rounds were the undoing. There were self-inflicted mistakes. There were obvious refereeing errors. And ultimately, in 2017, there was a simple lack of offensive options.

The offseason was defined by change, by a search for remedies within the attack. A striker was placed atop the offseason wish list, the most obvious solution to a goal-scoring dilemma.

The striker never came.

The offense did.

Sporting KC broke a franchise record with 65 goals, an achievement reached by committee rather than dependability on one player. Salloi led with 11; Johnny Russell had 10; Diego Rubio added eight more, four of them in a substitute role. The reinforcements of the bench, Rubio often included, provided Vermes with options at his disposal late in matches that he had not enjoyed previously in his tenure.

Sporting KC moved throughout the Western Conference table during the season before settling into the No. 1 spot for the postseason. Portland was seeded fifth.

The initial leg Sunday at Portland’s raucous Providence Park was mostly survival for the visitors. Sporting KC didn’t have any clearly-defined scoring opportunities and played the majority of the opening half on its collective heels.

Not so Thursday.

The second leg played more true to form, with Sporting, the league’s second-best possession team in the regular season, holding 62 percent of the ball before its opening goal Thursday and 59 percent in the initial half. It left Portland initially simply playing for the counter, a mode in which it has often proved comfortable throughout the season. It was once again Thursday.

Demonpenz · 11-30-2018, 12:54 AM

Sporting Bills Braves

Why Not? · 11-30-2018, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

Sporting Bills Braves Blues

FYP

MMXcalibur · 11-30-2018, 01:55 AM

Personally, I'm stoked to get knocked out by Indianapolis again in the Divisional Round this season.

CoMoChief · 11-30-2018, 02:08 AM