Sporting Kansas City delivered history and heartbreak to Union Omaha as a 120th minute Alan Pulido strike pushed four-time Open Cup champions to a 2-1 victory on Wednesday night.
The match, which saw an MLS team play in Omaha for the first time, turned out to be physical and fast-paced as the hosts were not intimidated by the side in front of them. A first-half goal from Lagos Kunga was cancelled out by a second-half Marinos Tzionis tally, and the game appeared to be heading for another penalty shootout. A moment of chaos and brilliance from the Mexican forward, though, would deny the Owls the chance to take down another giant in PKs.
Coach Peter Vermes, in pregame comments, anticipated that this would “be a very tough game for us, and we’re not going to take it lightly.”
True to his word, the four-time Open Cup champions rolled out a strong lineup, with even more firepower on the bench. As expected, the opening minutes belonged to the visitors with several runs, pace up the wings, and some well-worked possession that left the Owls scrambling at the back at times. Despite this, Omaha’s back line found a way to divert the most dangerous attacks by staying compact and disciplined in front of keeper Rashid Nuhu. Despite the initial onslaught, Sporting was rarely able to get a clean look at goal for the first few minutes—a marked change from the clubs’ first meeting in the Open Cup two years ago when Sporting scored the first of six goals in the 10th minute.
In fact, it was the defense-minded hosts that would get into a dangerous position early on as in the 12th minute Union Omaha’s Pedro Dolabella sent a long ball in from midfield toward the box. With Aaròn Gòmez streaking past his man to get on the ball, Khiry Shelton made a challenge that clattered Gòmez and immediately drew shouts from the players and supporters for a penalty. Referee Nabil Bensalah would waive off those pleas, but the passage of play showed that Omaha was ready to counter quickly and decisively when the opportunities arose.
But Sporting continued to dominate possession, passing, and positioning as they forced Nuhu into action. The keeper was able to get a dive in on a shot from Filipe Hernandez before turning away a rocket from the club’s leading goalscorer Erik Thommy just a couple of minutes later.
The Owls would finally show their talons despite being on the back foot for most of the first half. In the 31st minute, Dion Acoff took on Robert Voloder down the right side and managed to skip past him into the box. Cutting inside, Acoff attempted to center the ball for either Marco Milanese or Joe Gallardo, both waiting in the area. The play seemed broken when Gallardo couldn’t get a good touch on the ball, but it fell to Lagos Kunga who lasered a shot off of Sporting’s Kayden Pierre. The deflection left John Pulskamp no chance at a save, and Union Omaha took a very unlikely 1-0 lead.
Sporting would continue their own attacks, getting an open header from William Agada as well as a dangerous chance from Zorfan Bassong, but Union Omaha stayed disciplined at the back and had an answer for every question asked of them until halftime.
That would change not three minutes after the break as Marianos Tzionis would find an equalizer off a forced turnover in the attacking half. Pedro Dolabella was trying to find an outlet pass when Tzionis managed to turn the midfielder and take the ball off him. A darting run put the Cyprus international at the top of the box with an opening to shoot. Though he didn’t get the ball cleanly, he’d done just enough to put Nuhu off and unable to recover. The scuffed shot went off the post and rolled in over the line to even the score.
Sporting would continue to turn up the heat, keeping the ball for long stretches and forcing the compact defense into playing the counter. That almost worked for the Owls once or twice, including a 1-on-1 from Aàron Gòmez whose attempt to chip Pulskamp went just high of the goal. However, the more dangerous opportunities continue to go Kansas City’s way as the Union Omaha backline tried to hold on.
As Coach Vermes could sense the advantage, he continued to bring on more of his reserve firepower to try to find a breakthrough. One of those subs, Johnny Russell, had two great opportunities to put Sporting ahead in regulation. In the 84th minute he was able to whip a free kick in around the Omaha wall, but Nuhu was in perfect position to cover it up. Just a few minutes later, Russell would get the ball in almost the exact same position and unleash a left-footed shot that prompted Nuhu’s best save of the night. A quick dive, and the fingertips of his glove, were all that kept the scoreline knotted heading into extra time.
The extra period would go pretty much the same way the rest of the match went. Russell saw an effort beat Nuhu, but not the post, while Ryen Jiba had an open look from the left side of the box that went just wide. Sporting were still in dominance, and toward the end of extra time, looked to have Omaha playing counter and just trying to get to penalties.
Those penalties wouldn’t come, however, as Alan Pulido would finally come up with the breakthrough. After a back and forth bit of play in the defensive half, Marinos Tzionis would recover the ball on the left side of the box. Holding off his defender, Tzionis managed to find Pulido open at the top of the box. A quick touch was all he needed to find space between the oncoming defenders and put a shot into the bottom left corner, just out of Nuhu’s reach.
Commenting on his goal, Pulido said “Normally this is my shot when I put the ball behind the defender and I try to score in between the legs because normally the goalkeeper goes a little bit to the left. This happened in this game and I scored.”
As the final whistle blew, cheers of celebration and relief erupted from the traveling Kansas City supporters. Meanwhile the Union Omaha supporters started cheers of their own for a valiant effort that fell just short.
With the win, Sporting Kansas City will move on to host FC Tulsa of USL Championship in the Round of 16 the week of May 21-22.