Sporting Kansas City tried to give MLS their first win of the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals but came up short on the road in Panama.
Independiente used goals from Romeesh Ivey and Alexis Corpas to down SKC 2-1 in their first leg win at Estadio Agustin Sanchez on Wednesday night, despite being out possessed and outpassed by their MLS counterparts.
The Panamanian side opened the scoring in the 39th minute with Ivey beating Adrian Zendejas. Juan Pineda was able to play a pass into the middle of the box before stepping out of bounds, allowing Ivey an easy finish from point-blank range. It was Ivey’s third goal against MLS opposition, after scoring a brace against Toronto FC in the Round of 16.
After halftime, Sporting KC was able to pressure the hosts and a foul on Jaylin Lindsey gave Peter Vermes’ side a lifeline. Ilie Sanchez stepped up and rifled the ensuing penalty kick into the left side of the goal, beating the outstretched hand of Jose Guerra.
Not long after SKC leveled the match, Independiente’s Alexis Corpas put his side back in front after 59 minutes. The midfielder lined up an effort and made zero mistake as he beat Zendejas to the top-left corner.
SKC had 71% of the match possession but was outshot seven-to-four in shots on goal. Zendejas made five saves in the loss while Guerra made a pair in the surprising victory.
Luckily for the MLS side, they return to Children Mercy’s Park for the second leg on March 14th. Prior to that though, Vermes and Co. will take on the Philadelphia Union on Sunday in league action.
This team wasn’t prepared to play on that ? surface. WTF, but that is the story of the USMNT in those countries. Just about every pass, touch, shot, dribble, and/or bounce was brutal to watch. Yohan Croizet, Daniel Solloi, Johnny Russell struggled to find footing. Roger was murdering people in the 1st half and then disappeared. Botond Baráth (Center Back) was awful. Beaker and Barath need a lot of work.
*Besler
SKC’s last 3 games have been at altitude in Toluca, a tough game vs. LAFC, and then this one in Panama. They looked and played like a tired team. Didn’t look at all like the team that dominated Toluca. So many passes were way off mark and right to their opponents. Here are some other examples, Rodney Wallace playing on the left had an open cross and kicked it about 10 yards behind the goal and 10 feet too high. On a play in midfield with a 3 yard pass, the SKC player missed his teammate and passed to an opponent. On a throw in committed a foul throw by stepping on the line. Just one mistake after another. They were lucky they didn’t lose worse than they did. If Vermes can rest his key players before the return leg, they should be good enough to win on aggregate
“SPEED KILLS”…Literally ?