Photo by Nick Tre.Smith/SKC/AZO
The American flag at the northeast corner of Sporting Park was lifeless and limp as the National Anthem filled the stadium. On the pitch the temperature was over 100 degrees.
Halfway through the tune, several of the customary pre-game fireworks appeared to malfunction, redirecting into the east stands and the Cauldron. I don’t believe anyone was hurt, but everything seemed out of sorts in the packed house. One guy posted a picture showing a burn mark on his shirt.
Yes, Saturday was a weirdly dramatic night in the battle for first place with Sporting Kansas City facing off against DC United, the next best team in the Eastern Conference.
Photo by Nick Tre.Smith/SKC/AZO
And for about the first 10 minutes Sporting was dominant, especially Benny Feilhaber who was wearing super short shorts for some reason. Maybe they allowed him a bit more freedom of motion, but whatever it was he was locked in, ripping a couple decent shots early on.
However, against the run of play in the 23rd minute, DC star Fabian Espindola broke through for the visitors. He beat Aurelien Collin badly down the left flank then cut back inside and sent a low roller to the far post. Several other DC players were running into the box and looked like they might be able to get a touch on it, but none did. Instead, the ball ended up in the side netting.
Don’t blink, because the visitors did it again a few moments later. This time it was Chris Rolfe who broke through the backline on what was a fairly close offside non-call. He coolly made KC third string keeper Jon Kempin commit before sliding it near post to put DC up 2-0.
Suddenly Sporting was looking badly out of sorts.
And then holy shit, a minute later DC added a third, again breaking through KC’s back line that seemed to playing for the offside call.
And it was 3-0 DC in the 30th minute and the game was basically over. KC looked uninspired and uninterested, really. Not sure why, but they were getting outworked, and at the break needed to ask themselves if they really wanted to try and put up a decent effort in the second half.
Sporting fan with fireworks burn
Was it because Wednesday’s game in Nicaragua as part of the CONCACAF Champions League just tired KC out too much?
“Absolutely not,” said Vermes. “D.C. was good on three counters, which our back four was absolutely horrendous on. It’s one of those days where they came down on three routine plays and they scored three goals because of the way we were organized at the back. There has been a lot of credit given to our back four over a long period of time, but the way that they performed tonight, they’re going to get the credit for giving up three goals.”
As usual, though, KC dominated possession, at about 63% to DC’s 37% at half. But if you’ve been following along the last few years, you know that that stat really means nothing for a Vermes-coached team.
The reason being that they just simply don’t create enough dangerous opportunities, despite the overwhelming edge in possession. You’ve gotta score to win.
At the closing whistle, the 3-0 beat down was Sporting’s worst loss ever in Sporting Park and Vermes was even more red-assed than usual.
He didn’t hesitate to lob a few grenades at his own players, calling them out for the weak performance.
“It wouldn’t be games off because of tiredness; it’d be games off because of performance,” Vermes stated when asked about Collin and Matt Besler’s horrendous night. “If the guys aren’t playing well, they aren’t going to play. It has everything to do with tactical decisions.”
The win puts DC atop the East and in second for the Supporter’s Shield race.
Credit to DC, all of their goals were pretty good. That first one was set up when Igor got caught too far up the pitch and Collin had to shift over. He basically got his ankles broke by Espindola, who juked left as if he was heading toward the corner flag, then cut in putting Collin on his ass. A really quality shot to the far bar. Couldn’t really see from my angle if Kepin had a bad angle or what, but the ball went across the entire face of the goal, kinda a slower roller and Kepin had no chance.
About 55 mins in I turned to the person next to me and said “They all look tired.” Which they did. Maybe they were just giving up because of the two goal lead, but they just looked wiped. The second two goals were on nice diagonal through balls that went in between Besler and Collin and caught the offside trap perfect, where the DC players could run onto the ball and then it was a footrace. Smart play by DC in my opinion. No one seems to be able to beat SKC back four through the air. So why not put it through on the ground and run after it.
All in all, a pretty poor game for SKC. No real good chances and Bill Hamid had a stellar game between the posts for DC. He must have pushed/punched out half a dozen crosses that were dangerous. Again SKC just needs one more attacking player who can create his own chance and beat someone one-on-one. And Saad?? What up dude? I almost forgot you were playing. That dude just disappears sometimes.
DC had to play a midweek game as well, although they were at home.
I certainly can’t explain such a piss poor showing.
Eh, sometimes ya show your ass. As long as it only happens once or twice a season and not in the playoffs it is not that big a deal.
At least one goal would have been nice.