Sporting KC Falls 2-1 on the Road at FC Dallas

Sports stats



MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Falls 2-1 on the Road at FC Dallas

March 30, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (0-5-1, 1 pt.) fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat against FC Dallas (3-2-1, 10 pts.) at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night. Daniel Salloi gave Sporting the lead midway through the first half but a quickfire double from the hosts saw Dallas claim all three points.

Manager Peter Vermes made four changes to Sporting's starting lineup from last week with Dany Rosero, Khiry Shelton, Jacob Bartlett and Salloi all entering the XI, allowing Jake Davis to move back into midfield for the first time since the 2024 U.S. Open Cup Final on Sept. 25, 2024.

Sporting opened the match on the front foot and had the first shot of the game in just the second minute as Davis found Salloi with a brilliant pass in behind before Davis caught up with play and finished the action with a strike that sailed wide from 25 yards.

Dallas threatened for the first time in the 16th minute when a corner was recycled back into the area and star striker Petar Musa found himself alone in front of goal but his volley flew over the bar and Sporting breathed a sigh of relief.

Sporting found the breakthrough in the 32nd minute through an excellently worked goal from Salloi. After Davis and Shapi Suleymanov combined on the right wing, the Russian winger clipped a cross to the far post where Salloi controlled on his thigh before volleying into the side-netting for his second goal of the 2025 season.

The lead did not last long as Dallas roared back with a pair of goals three minutes apart as first former MLS MVP Lucho Acosta struck inside the area to equalize in the 37th minute before Sebastian Lletget set up Leo Chu in the 39th minute to complete the host's turnaround before halftime.

Sporting spurned a golden opportunity to equalize in the 56th minute when Shelton sprung forward and saw his low cross deflected into the path of Suleymanov whose half-volley from 12 yards flew narrowly over the bar.

Dallas had a chance to extend their lead in the 61st minute when Acosta's through ball almost found Musa in the area but John Pulskamp came off his line quickly to block the chance before Rosero forced the rebound wide.

Sporting almost found their way back into the game on a set piece from Davis in the 70th minute, as his in-swinging free kick was flicked on goal by Shelton and forced Maarten Paes into a decent save, beating the ball away to safety.

Another in-swinging free kick created Sporting's next opportunity in the 81st minute as substitute Memo Rodriguez's whipped in delivery found Rosero at the far post but his downward header was expertly repelled by Paes. Sporting continued to probe in the closing stages but was unable to find an equalizer.

Sporting KC returns home next weekend to take on cross-state rivals St. Louis at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV as well as on the radio via Sports Radio 810 WHB. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On conceding twice after taking the lead...

We actually played really well tonight, so I wouldn't say it derailed it. I mean, obviously, you don't want to give up the goals, but we played very well tonight from beginning to end. We were good on the ball. We created a lot of stuff. There was two chances. There wasn't a lot of chances on goal by them by any means. For sure, individually and collectively it can at times be a little bit of a learning lesson there. But this is one of our better performances of the season. I'm proud of the way the guys played.

On the result...

We're all disappointed. But the good thing is like tonight, we keep searching. We keep working towards it. The guys are determined and I think tonight showed it. I think we played in that regard. I haven't had a chance to look at the stats on the number of shots from one side to the other. We're away from home and we're leading in that category. But I think we were good in a lot of moments in the game and a lot of periods. So from that point of view, and then the energy and the desire, and the other thing is we didn't put our head down after we gave up the two. We played and we continued to try to search for the tying goal.

On Jake Davis moving to the midfield with Khiry Shelton at right back...

I don't have any complaints about the players. I know that we could have done some different things on the situations. But those guys all played well. I thought Khiry was very, very steady. For him to go 90 minutes like he did as well was very good. I thought Jake was good. He was good in the press. He was lively. He made very good penetrating runs. I thought Jacob Bartlett played well. I thought the group was good.

On finding a first win...

I think it comes down to goals, like the two goals that we gave up. There is so much more that we could have done in those situations on both of them. That's it. If we can do that, it change things.

Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi

Thoughts on the match...

It's unlucky. I think we played better but we shut down for a couple of minutes and conceded two goals. Unfortunately, that's not good enough. We came out very well in the second half, I thought. Yes, we had chances, but we need to be more clinical there with the last passes and a little bit better combination trying to create chances to score because these are the games and we have to get points. So yes, (tonight was) better, but not good enough.

On creating better chances...

Every game is different. I thought we actually had a lot of space this game and we could find each other. We had some good combinations on my side with Manu (Garcia) and Logan (Ndenbe), but we couldn't find (Dejan Joveljic) very well. Those last passes just didn't click. So we just have got to gel more and do better next time. Hopefully against St. Louis it's going to be better.

On captaining the team...

It's a big honor. I've been here many years and Peter has spoken to me many times. He trusts me with that role. I take privilege in that and I'm very pissed about the result obviously, especially wearing the captain's armband and leading the team. But every game I get to wear it, it's a big honor. I had great captains in front of me who I could learn from, so I think I've always gotten the right example. I try to do my part and lead well and hopefully I can be a good captain one day and lead the team to victories. Today wasn't one of those, but, as I said, it's a big honor always.

On needing time to form chemistry with Dejan Joveljic...

Yes and no. Obviously it is. But missed passes are not going to the right places at the end. You can have an off day as well. I just feel like when you're losing games, the confidence goes down. It's very difficult to turn that momentum. It takes a lot more work than usually it does. So we just have to keep grinding and keep working hard. We understand the frustration. Trust me, we are the most frustrated out of everybody. We'll be back tomorrow and start working hard again to get a result against Saint Louis. It's going to turn at one point. We just have to keep gelling and keep getting better.

On his goal...

Shapi (Suleymanov) played a great ball. I tried to separate myself from the defender and just take a quick touch and finish it. It came off perfectly. So I'm very happy. This is my second goal this year. I want to keep chipping away. Hopefully, one of these days it's going to mean a win.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 6

Toyota Stadium | Frisco, TX

Attendance: 11,004

Weather: 77 degrees and cloudy

Score 1 2 F

Sporting Kansas City (0-5-1, 1 point) 1 0 1

FC Dallas (3-2-1, 10 points) 2 0 2

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton, Jansen Miller, Dany Rosero, Logan Ndenbe; Jacob Bartlett (Memo Rodriguez 71'), Jake Davis (Zorhan Bassong 91+), Manu Garcia; Shapi Suleymanov (Erik Thommy 80'), Dejan Joveljic (William Agada 79'), Daniel Salloi (C)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Tim Leibold, Robert Voloder, Nemanja Radoja, Stephen Afrifa

FC Dallas: Maarten Paes; Shaq Moore, Sebastien Ibeagha, Osaze Urhoghide, Nolan Norris (Marco Farfan 75'); Ramiro, Sebastian Lletget (Kaick Ferreira 75'), Patrickson Delgado (Katlego Ntsabeleng 56'), Lucho Acosta (C) (Lalas Abubakar 91+); Leo Chu (Logan Farrington 56'), Petar Musa

Subs Not Used: Michael Collodi, Bernard Kamungo, Pedrinho, Show

Scoring Summary:

SKC - Daniel Salloi 2 (Shapi Suleymanov 2) 32'

DAL - Lucho Acosta 3 (Petar Musa 3) 37'

DAL - Leo Chu 1 (Sebastian Lletget 1, Osaze Urhoghide 1) 39'

Misconduct Summary:

DAL - Shaq Moore (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 24'

SKC - Jacob Bartlett (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 25'

DAL - Eric Quill (Yellow Card; Dissent) 47+

DAL - Ramiro (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 69'

STAT SKC DAL

Shots 13 8

Shots on Goal 5 2

Saves 0 4

Fouls 12 12

Offsides 3 2

Corner Kicks 7 2

Referee: Fotis Bazakos

Assistant Referee: Ian McKay

Assistant Referee: Nick Balcer

Fourth Official: Calin Radosav

VAR: Carol Anne Chenard

AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert

-- SportingKC.com --

Check out the Sporting Kansas City Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...

Major League Soccer Stories from March 30, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Sporting Kansas City Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central