Now don't get me wrong here, I respect FC Dallas a ton. They're a great side with great players. Hartman is a beast in goal. However, I hate them. The only team I hate worse than Dallas is our rival, Colorado. No offense Dallas fans, I hate your team because they're good, not because I think they suck. So it's like a respect hate. Anyways, I'm always up for seeing Dallas get spanked because let's face it, it doesn't happen very often. (On a side note, I did pull for Dallas in the MLS Cup last year, I'm sure you can figure out why. Plus if Dallas were to get through to the CONCACAF Finals, I'd pull for them to represent MLS.)
You wouldn't have picked this to be the game Dallas got spanked in though. Sporting KC, really? I mean the men in the baby blue kits looked horrid the other night against the Fire, and Dallas had a whole week's rest. Not to mention it was 97 degrees at Pizza Hut Park at kickoff.
Well things didn't go according to script tonight for Dallas. I really think they overlooked Sporting. They were sloppy on both ends of the ball all night. Even their announcers were full of attitude coming into the match, talking like the Hoops are God's Gift to MLS. I mean hey, after Saturday night, we all know that God's Gift really is Eric Hassli.
Sporting were the far more active and motivated team from the opening whistle. They put just enough pressure on Hartman and Dallas's back line to make them uncomfortable. In the 28th minute the pressure finally paid off. Zusi came running up his left and slammed a shot from just around the edge of the Penalty area. It caught Hartman napping and went in, making it 0-1 to Sporting.
That woke up Dallas a bit though, as they probably thought, "Oh crap, we're losing at home to KC." Just four minutes after the Zusi goal, Brek Shea waltzed his way through the Sporting Midfield and defense and banged home a goal to equalize at 1-1. Dallas pushed for the rest of the first half after that but we went to the interval tied at 1-1.
The second half was pretty much all Sporting, as they came out to prove that their great job in the first half wasn't a fluke and they wanted to walk away from Frisco with three points. In the 49th minute, Sapong batted a corner back into play and Colin headed it down into the goal to give KC the 1-2 lead. It looked like Dallas was on the ropes.
In the 55th, KC appeared to throw the knockout punch. Dallas gave up a seemingly harmless free kick just at the edge of the center circle. Zusi lined up over it and struck it perfectly, like 50 yards into the back of the net. A stunned Kevin Hartman could only watch and sputter into action late but in the end it was 1-3 for KC. This would be goal of the week in any other week.
However, Sporting's fortunes took a turn for the worse just two minutes later. Stojcev made a horrible challenge on the sideline and picked up his second yellow of the match, earning him the red card. For the second game in a row, KC was down a man.
Dallas was never able to capitalize or even get back into the match though. Sporting closed it out in the 78th minute when Cessano beat a tired and spent looking Hartman to make the final score 1-4.
Probably this was the worst outing of the year for Dallas. They looked horrible, especially on defense. I'm pretty sure it's the worst outing Hartman has had in a long time. They need to make sure it doesn't happen again, and they can't count on Brek Shea to do it all, every game. Great win for Sporting KC. Coming off an emotional night on Thursday, this could be a real turning point in their season.
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