Sporting Kansas City vs. FC Dallas
2018 U.S. Open Cup – Round of 16
Children’s Mercy Park — Kansas City
June 16 – 9 pm ET
Two surging teams atop the Western Conference standings will square off in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16, when defending champions Sporting Kansas City host FC Dallas Saturday night.
Could there be more dramatics on the horizon? A year ago, in the quarterfinals, Latif Blessing struck for a brace in the first half of extra time that helped Sporting pull away from FC Dallas, 3-0, in a match that saw them play with 10 men for the final 105 minutes, while FC Dallas ended with nine men with two extra time sendings off.
Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City opened defense of their USOC title with a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake in the Fourth Round at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 6. Johnny Russell opened the scoring two minutes after the halftime break and Kharlton Belmar tacked on a 74th-minute insurance goal.
Sporting remained on the road and played the Portland Timbers to a 0-0 draw at Providence Park on Saturday. Tim Melia was strong again in net for SKC, with four saves, his best coming in the 56th minute to deny a Fanendo Adi header.
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: None
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: M – Felipe Gutierrez (sports hernia surgery), D – Jimmy Medranda (knee injury), M – Yohan Croizet (hamstring injury), D – Seth Sinovic (hamstring injury), D/M – Brad Evans (thigh injury); QUESTIONABLE: F – Khiry Shelton (thigh injury), D – Matt Besler (undisclosed injury)
Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Tim Melia — Graham Zusi, Ike Opara, Emiliano Amor, Jaylin Lindsey — Roger Espinoza, Ilie Sanchez, Wan Kuzain — Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi, Gerso Fernandes
- Notes: Sporting KC owns four Open Cup titles in team history, tied with the Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders FC for the most among MLS clubs. Peter Vermes has guided the team to three Open Cup championships over the last six seasons, hoisting the trophy in 2012, 2015 and 2017.
FC Dallas
A goal seconds into the second half, courtesy of Tesho Akindele, provided the difference in FC Dallas’ 1-0 win over San Antonio FC, June 6, at Toyota Stadium.
FC Dallas returned to league play and defeated the Montreal Impact, 2-0, at Stade Saputo, to extend their unbeaten streak to seven league games with their fourth straight victory.
Following a Matteo Mancosu own goal after five minutes, Mauro Diaz doubled the lead in the 18th minute as FC Dallas moved level with SKC on points in the West.
“Sporting is a well-known team, players and a coach who have been working there for many years. We have faced them there and here and have gotten good results against them and we have lost games too,” Oscar Pareja said. “It is a pretty level match with Kansas. We always know that and now we have another opportunity to advance in the Cup.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: None
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: D – Kris Reaves (sports hernia surgery), D – Anton Nedyalkov (broken collarbone)
Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Jesse Gonzalez — Reggie Cannon, Matt Hedges, Reto Ziegler, Ryan Hollingshead — Roland Lamah, Carlos Gruezo, Kellyn Acosta — Mauro Diaz, Maxi Urruti, Michael Barrios
- Notes: Homegrown Jordan Cano and Ema Twumasi made their first appearance for FC Dallas in the Fourth Round with both players going the entire 90 minutes. Cano, 22, was signed to a Homegrown contract on January 11, while Twumasi, 21, was a first-round SuperDraft pick for FCD nine days later on January 19. Both have spent time on loan with USL-affiliate OKC Energy FC this season.
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