The Houston Dynamo saw their run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup come to an end as they fell to Sporting Kansas City 2-0 in the Round of 16 Wednesday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium.
Sporting Kansas City opened up the scoring in the 61st minute when midfielder Ilie Sánchez sent a corner kick to defender Kevin Ellis. Ellis’ headed pass into the center of the box found defender Ike Opara, who flicked the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
Three minutes later, the Dynamo had a shout for a penalty when midfielder Memo Rodriguez appeared to be tripped by Sporting defender Saad Abdul-Salaam on the left of the penalty area, but referee Fotis Bazakos deemed that Rodriguez simulated the foul and booked the 21-year-old Dynamo Academy alum for diving.
With the Dynamo chasing the game late on, Sporting put the result out of doubt when forward Gerso Fernandes finished a quick counterattacking combination with forward Latif Blessing. After giving a pass to Blessing, Fernandes sprinted into the area where Blessing returned the favor, and he slotted his shot past Dynamo goalkeeper Joe Willis into the lower left corner of the net in the 91st minute.
Both teams had chances in a scoreless first half. In the 12th minute, a Sporting corner kick saw the ball carom off of several players before falling to the feet of midfielder Jimmy Medranda, who took a blistering shot just inside the box that went off midfielder Charlie Ward and over the crossbar. Four minutes later, the Dynamo had a pair of dangerous strikes of their own. Midfielder Alex had two chances in the span of less than a minute, both coming from his left foot and both whistling just over the cross the bar.
The Dynamo will continue the 2017 season, presented by 76, on Saturday, July 1 at 8:00 p.m. CDT against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (KUBE 57) before returning home to take on the Montreal Impact on Wednesday, July 5 at BBVA Compass Stadium (7:30 p.m. CT | TICKETS).
Houston Dynamo 0-2 Sporting Kansas City
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – Round of 16
June 23, 2017 – BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
SCORING SUMMARY
SKC: Ike Opara 2 (Kevin Ellis 1, Ilie Sánchez 1) 61
SKC: Gerso Fernandes 2 (Latif Blessing 1) 90+1
LINEUPS
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; Kevin Garcia, Jalil Anibaba, Taylor Hunter, Dylan Remick; Charlie Ward, Eric Bird (Joe Holland 81); Andrew Wenger (Boniek GarcÃa 62), Alex (Ruben Luna 68), Memo Rodriguez; Vicente Sánchez ©
Unused Substitutes: Kai Greene, Jose Escalante, Calle Brown, Jorginho James
Total shots: 10 (Alex 3); Shots on goal: 2 (Vicente Sánchez, Charlie Ward 1); Fouls: 21 (Vicente Sánchez 4); Offside: 1; Corner kicks: 6; Saves: 5 (Joe Willis 5)
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Saad Abdul-Salaam (Erik Palmer-Brown 75), Ike Opara, Kevin Ellis, Seth Sinovic; Roger Espinoza ©, Ilie Sánchez, Jimmy Medranda; Gerso Fernandes (Kharlton Belmar 90+4), Cameron Porter (Soni Mustivar 54), Latif Blessing
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Dkystra, Felipe Hernandez, Parker Maher
Total shots: 12 (Roger Espinoza, Latif Blessing 4); Shots on goal: 7 (Roger Espinoza, Gerso Fernandes, Latif Blessing 2); Fouls: 13 (Roger Espinoza 4); Offside: 5; Corner kicks: 7; Saves: 2 (Tim Melia 2)
DISCIPLINE
HOU: Eric Bird caution (foul) 23
HOU: Andrew Wenger caution (foul) 48
SKC: Roger Espinoza caution (foul) 49
HOU: Memo Rodriguez caution (simulation) 64
OFFICIALS
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referee 1: Jeremy Weed
Assistant Referee 2: Tony Obas
Fourth Official: Michael Arrington
