KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kevin Ellis and Erick Torres scored back-to-back goals just seconds apart a few minutes from time as Sporting Kansas City and Chivas de Guadalajara played to an entertaining 2-2 draw Wednesday night in a friendly at Livestrong Sporting Park.
The Goats took an early though a Marco Fabián penalty kick before Kansas City answered back through substitutes Soony Saad and Ellis in the second half, only to give up the equalizer in frustrating fashion when Torres latched on to Milos Stojcev’s wayward back pass.
Sporting outshot Chivas 20-5 but couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities in front of net, earning the club’s second friendly draw this season after tying Newcastle United 0-0 in July.
With a large contingent of red and white clad fans behind them, Chivas managed to get on the board first as referee Ramon Hernandez pointed to the penalty spot when Aurélien Collin pulled down Carlos Fierro in the 18th minute. Fabián stepped up to take the ensuing spot kick a minute later and sent Eric Kronberg the wrong way, calmly side-footing the ball into the right side of the net.
Despite the goal Sporting dominated the rest of the half, creating plenty of scoring opportunities but failing to cash in on their efforts.
Kei Kamara came the closest when his stinging shot struck Luis Ernesto Míchel’s far post in the 30th minute, leading to a rebound that fell to Graham Zusi. Zusi put his follow-up effort on goal, but it was headed out of danger by the Chivas defense.
Kamara connected with Zusi again five minutes later, curling a pinpoint cross to the far post, but the midfielder’s header was just wide. Just a minute later, Jéferson nearly evened the score as well, uncorking a right-footed shot that skimmed just outside the post after dribbling from midfield.
The final chance of the half went to Kansas City captain and former Guadalajara legend Omar Bravo. Jéferson chipped an inch-perfect ball over the Chivas backline for the former Goat to run onto, but Bravo’s effort was pushed away by Míchel.
Both teams made wholesale chances at halftime with Kansas City manager Peter Vermes submitting five changes and Chivas’ Fernando Quirarte swapping out two players after having made two substitutions in the first half.
With both teams looking to find their footing, the second 45 minutes started slowly. Bravo had a goal called back for offside before leaving to cheers in the 53rd minute, but the pace slowed considerably during the early-going after what was an active first half.
Kansas City finally took advantage of their relative dominance in the 75th minute when Saad evened the score at 1-1. Fellow substitute Stojcev chipped a delicate through ball behind the Chivas defense, and, despite some hints of offside, Saad ran onto the pass and finished with aplomb.
A little more than 10 minutes later, another Kansas City rookie gave the home team the lead. After Ellis earned a free kick, Jéferson curled the ball into a dangerous area and the rebound eventually fell to the Home Ggrown product for an easy tap-in.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, the lead was short lived. Torres intercepted Stojcev’s errant pass almost immediately after the ball was kicked off and slid it under Kronberg for the equalizer to conclude the scoring.
In what amounted to the last action of the match, Craig Rocastle was sent off for a dangerous tackle from behind that left Torres writhing in the ground in pain.
Scoring Summary
CDG – Marco Fabian (penalty kick) 19
SKC – Soony Saad (Milos Stojcev) 75
SKC – Kevin Ellis (unassisted) 87
CDG – Erick Torres (unassisted) 88
Discipline Summary
CDG – Kristian Alvarez (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 16
SKC – Aurelien Collin (caution; Tactical Foul) 19
CDG – Antonio Gallardo (caution; Dissent) 44
SKC – Lawrence Olum (caution; Reckless Tackle) 78
CDG – Jorge Mora (caution; Reckless Tackle) 86
SKC – Craig Rocastle (ejection; Dangerous Play) 90+
Chivas de Guadalajara – Luis Ernesto Míchel (Victor Hugo Hernández 62), Arturo Ledesma, Mario de Luna, Héctor Reynoso (Kristian Álvarez 14), Jonny Magallón (José Luis Verduzco 83), Marco Fabián (Antonio Salazar 53), Antonio Gallardo (Patricio Arauje 46), Edgar Mejía, Julio Nava (Jorge Mora 40), Carlos Fierro (Erick Torres 46), Jesús Sánchez (Xavier Báez 59)
Substitutes Not Used: Uriel Navarro, Isao Torres, Alberto Medina, Omar Arellano
Sporting Kansas City – Eric Kronberg, Seth Sinovic (Korede Aiyegbusi 46), Lawrence Olum, Aurélien Collin, Chance Myers (Michael Harrington 46), Jéferson (Scott Lorenz 87), Graham Zusi (Birahim Diop 46), Davy Arnaud (Kevin Ellis 61), C.J. Sapong (Soony Saad 46), Omar Bravo (Milos Stojcev 53), Kei Kamara (Craig Rocastle 46)
Substitutes Not Used: Jon Kempin
Referee: Ramon Hernandez
Referee's Assistants: Jonathan Johnson, Mark Boyko
4th Official: Younes Marrakch
Attendance: 17,142
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 77 degrees
