KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Sporting Kansas City don't have much time to enjoy their first home victory in any competition since mid-August – and a decisive clutch win at that.
Thursday night's 3-1 defeat of Costa Rican powerhouse Deportivo Saprissa does put Sporting in control of their CONCACAF Champions League group-stage destiny, but they can't afford to let up on Tuesday when they host Nicaragua's Real Esteli (8 pm ET, Fox Sports 1).
“Our feeling is that we have to, first and foremost, protect our home games,” winger Graham Zusi told reporters after the match. “If we can get wins there, that puts us in a great spot. We've already got a point on the road. So this puts us in a good place, but it puts a lot of importance on Tuesday night. If we don't get a win there, we're back in a tough spot.”
Sporting appeared to be in that tough spot at the halfway mark of Thursday night's match, after letting several scoring chances get away in the first 45 minutes, but pulled away from a 1-1 deadlock behind two second-half goals from winger Toni Dovale. That brought them even with Saprissa on four points each, and a win on Tuesday would ensure Sporting a spot in next year's knockout stage with a draw in next month's group finale at Saprissa.
“Every game is important,” manager Peter Vermes said in his postmatch news conference. “I've always said that every roll of the ball is important. And in this type of environment when you're in group play, you have to be prepared for everything. Scoring three goals tonight was a big deal. At the same time, giving up one wasn't something we wanted to do – but we didn't give up two.
“So obviously the next one is going to be a very big game, and then we have to go into the lion's den.”
Still, Vermes' players did allow themselves to reflect proudly on Thursday night's performance against arguably the toughest CCL club outside MLS and Liga MX.
“This was a nice game for us,” center back and captain Matt Besler said. “I thought Saprissa showed their quality as a team, but for me it was one of our best games of the season. We were able to be smart in certain situations of when to clear the ball and when to keep the ball. We were able to play out of certain things. And then, as you saw at the end of the game, the last 25 minutes, we were able to open them up and physically we were the better team.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
