KANSAS CITY, Kan. – With temperatures in the low 90s at the kickoff of Sunday's match against Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City took a calculated risk.
Press high, press hard, and hope to grab a goal in the opening minutes, and make the visitors try to overcome both a deficit and the heat.
“I don't think we ever want to try to chase a game here at home,” manager Peter Vermes said afterward. “I don't think anyone wants to ever try to do that. But especially today, I think the heat had a major impact on the way this game was going to be played.”
In the early going, Sporting had to wonder if the strategy was going to pay off. They had all the possession and several good chances, but couldn't put the ball in the net.
They finally got the goal they needed in the 21st minute, though, when Dom Dwyer slipped unmarked down the center of the penalty area to head Roger Espinoza's spot-on cross past Stefan Frei from a few yards out. Sporting tacked on two more goals – from Jacob Peterson just before the half and a second from Dwyer in the 79th – for a 3-0 victory that wasn't even that close.
Sporting outshot Seattle 19-1 – the Sounders' one attempt not coming until the 88th minute – and held 64.8 of the possession, dictating the pace of the match throughout against a Seattle side that visibly wilted down the second-half stretch.
“Keep the ball, create chances,” Espinoza told reporters afterward. “That's what we've done over the last few weeks. We just haven't finished our opportunities. Today, we did finish our opportunities. We were able to keep the ball in this type of temperature, and we won.”
Dwyer's brace on Sunday gave him 10 goals on the year – making him the third player in club history to hit double digits in three regular seasons, along with Preki (1996-98) and Josh Wolff (2004-05 and 2009).
“We opened them up, moved the ball well, played quickly,” he said. “That's what tired them out. We got the goals and finished them off.”
In the postmatch news conference, though, Vermes made sure Dwyer's defensive contributions in the high press – especially in Sunday's heat – didn't go unrecognized.
“It starts with Dom up top,” Vermes said. “If we lose the ball in their half of the field, and we get immediate pressure to the ball, what it does is that it makes the game very predictable for the back line and the guys behind the ball. So the fact that we had great pressure up front, and we didn't let them settle on the ball, put them under a lot of pressure to try to play the ball quickly.
“When you win it, you're usually in defensive mode, and that transition period, you're trying to open yourself up and get into a place where you can get into your offensive shape. For us today, we were very good – especially in this climate. I'd say we were excellent in the way that our transition was to pressure the ball and to defend. I think that's the reason we won a lot of balls back and they never really got anywhere close to our goal.”
