Sporting Kansas City used a last-second Daniel Salloi to seal its 4-2 win Sunday against Real Salt Lake. Moving forward on aggregate, Kansas City will play in its first Western Conference Finals since 2013. Here are three things we learned from Sunday’s thriller:
Felipe Gutierrez is the lifeblood
Kansas City’s four-goal offense truly ran through Gutierrez Sunday. The slippery midfielder assisted on both first-half goals (one from Daniel Salloi and one from Diego Rubio). Gutierrez also created the chance for Rubio that ended up in a penalty call, and Ilie Sanchez’s converted PK in the 66th minute.
Despite missing most of the summer because of a hernia surgery, Gutierrez looked back to his true form Sunday.
“His quality showed today,” manager Peter Vermes said. “He did some things in the game, his passes, the way he played balls – that’s a different-level player, and one of the reasons we got him.”
The offensive flair of this team is something
Even besides Gutierrez wiggling through defenders, Sporting maintained plenty of flash in its offense. When Ilie Sanchez stepped to the spot to take a penalty kick, he had the chance to give Kansas City a much-needed two-goal cushion.
Not that there is ever a “safe” option when it comes to penalty-kick strategy. But Sanchez went with the Panenka approach, lofting the ball up high and down the center.
“He’s a really good goalkeeper,” Sanchez said. “I respect a lot Nick Rimando, but I had to do it.”
And from Vermes: “That was a big finish,” he said. “I mean that was a gutsy finish.”
And then, of course, came Salloi’s last-second goal – which he shot without looking.
For a team whose biggest question this offseason was whether or not it would be able to score, Kansas City is riding its scoring confidence straight into the conference finals.
Yohan Croizet can be a calming force
Croizet subbed into the match Sunday in the 77th minute, when Real Salt Lake was making its last push. There was a certain frantic energy to Kansas City’s back line, with several moments of straight pinball action from Salt Lake’s offense.
Not that that completely settled down upon Croizet’s entrance – this is the playoffs, after all. But the midfielder (and part-time defender when needed) made several smart plays that made a difference in what could have been a monumental collapse from Kansas City.
Towards the end of the 90 minutes, Croizet held the ball near the sideline instead of crossing inside, maintaining possession when Sporting was struggling to do so. And in the waning seconds of stoppage time, as Salt Lake was charging towards his side of the field, Croizet lofted the ball all the way to the other side. That play not only chewed up precious seconds, but it also got to Salloi, who scored the game-winner as time ran out.