Sporting Kansas City said goodbye to the last remaining lower division club as the MLS side shutout Indy Eleven, 2-0 to advance to their fifth US Open Cup Final.
Two first half goals by Johnny Russell and Dany Rosero boosted KC past Indy as Sporting learned from their mistakes in 2022 and defeated a USL team in Tuesday’s Semifinal match of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
With the win, Sporting will advance to the Final where they will play on the road against the winner of Wednesday’s Semifinal between the Seattle Sounders FC and Los Angeles FC.
If Kansas City is able to win the 109th US Open Cup Final, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 25, the club would tie the tournament’s all-time record with a fifth championship. Only three clubs in history have lifted the trophy five times: Bethlehem Steel, Maccabee AC, Fall River Marksmen/New Bedford Whalers.
Before the match could even begin, a storm swept over Kansas City. Thunderstorms along with large lightning strikes surrounded Children’s Mercy Park and the match’s kickoff was delayed from 7 p.m. local time all the way to 9:45 p.m., an almost three-hour delay. This isn’t the first time this has happened though, as the second half of SKC’s quarterfinal affair against FC Dallas was delayed for over two hours as well.
Though the delay didn’t seem to impede KC’s intentions on getting to the final and putting themselves in position to win a record-tying fifth US Open Cup title.
In the 14th minute, Sporting’s Jake Davis decided to take on a defender, then laying it off to Johnny Russell who buried a long-range effort into the bottom left corner. Russell’s fifth career US Open Cup goal proved to be the game’s winning strike. This goal is historic as it was the Scotsman’s 67th for the club, which ties former striker Dom Dwyer for second all-time in scoring.
Although Russell has been at the club since 2018, this will be the first final he will be a part of.
“I’m buzzing to be back (in a final),” said Russell. “Just to have an opportunity going there with these guys and hopefully to go win a trophy. I’m 0-for-5 in finals so winning this one would be very special.”
Though Sporting had already taken the lead, they continued to lay the pressure on Indy.
Erik Thommy hit the post twice, one that rattled the crossbar coming off of a long range effort in the 10th minute, the other coming from a close range freekick that nailed the inside of the left post.
Indy only threatened KC twice in the first half, one being a close-range shot in the 22nd minute from Augustine Williams that Melia got himself in front of, and the other being a ball played across the box that the dangerous Williams narrowly missed getting a foot to it in the 41st minute.
“We did really well (in the first half), pulling them out of their shape, eliminating their ability to play the ball over the top,” said Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia.
In the 35th minute, Remi Walter collected a semi-cleared out corner and lofted to the back post where Dany Rosero lurked and headed home a second for KC. The Colombian scored his second goal of the tournament, coming in back-to-back games. It was also his seventh goal for the club, all seven coming from headers.
Indy faced an unlikely comeback scenario as there have only been four instances in the Modern Era where an MLS side has been eliminated by a lower-level club when leading by two goals or more.
Indy was a lot more lively in the second half, producing eight of their ten shots in the half. They had great chances in the 52nd minute, when Williams’ had another shot saved by Melia, and a deflection that Melia also tipped wide. Jack Blake also had two long range volleys coming from semi-cleared corners, both of which were saved by Melia.
Melia’s heroics in the second half earned him man of the match honors and is expected to be a nominee for TheCup.us Player of the Round with another stellar performance in the Open Cup. He produced five saves or more saves in the second consecutive Open Cup game and kept his second consecutive clean sheet in all competitions.
“We had to grind in the second half, they’re a good quality opponent, and we shouldn’t take anything away from them,” said Melia.
Although happy about the result, Melia sees this as a way to redeem a season that hasn’t fully met his team’s standards.
“Yeah. I think this one’s different because we’re not where we wanna be right now,” said Melia, who was voted TheCup.us Player of the Round for the 2015 and 2017 US Open Cup Finals. “So I think this one is a little bit more important to, I don’t wanna say make something with the season, but this one just means more because of the position that we’re in within the (MLS) season.”
In the last minute of play, Agada was able to win a late penalty to cap off an important win, though Alan Pulido’s attempt was saved to the keepers right by Hunter Sulte. This was KC’s third penalty attempt that has been unsuccessful this season in all competitions. The game also marked Pulido’s 100th appearance in all competitions for the club, in which he joined in 2020.
This win takes Sporting’s home unbeaten streak in the Open Cup to 16 matches, the second longest streak in the Modern Era (1995-present). Kansas City hasn’t suffered a loss at home in the tournament since Fifth Round match in 2014 against the Portland Timbers. Sporting KC’s manager Peter Vermes has always treated this tournament different than most MLS clubs and feels that the tournament needs to be respected.
“I think from a commercial perspective, the tournament has to get better,” said Vermes, who earned his 26th career Open Cup win, which is tied for second among all Modern Era coaches. “I just think there are certain things within the tournament that can be better. Unfortunately, that’s a responsibility of US Soccer. That has to take another level up.”
They will face the winner of the other semifinal match between LAFC and Seattle on Wednesday, and if LAFC is victorious in that match, Kansas City will have a place in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup as LAFC have already qualified for the competition via the Leagues Cup earlier this month, meaning the spot falls to the next highest finishing team.
Sporting added to the club’s tournament resume, earning a 36th win, which moves them into a tie for sixth place in the Modern Era with the Richmond Kickers.
During Vermes’ press conference, he mentioned that a fan was struck just outside the stadium before kickoff. “ Our thoughts and prayers and everything goes to the family involved. Very sad news to hear coming off the field”. KCPD has released an update that the victim is, “at a local hospital with potential life-threatening injuries” as of 11:45 p.m. local time.