Sporting Kansas City closes out 2022 Major League Soccer season with loss at FC Dallas

Graham Zusi made sure Sporting Kansas City’s season wouldn’t end on the wrong end of a shutout, finishing a 51st-minute sequence at FC Dallas with his second goal of the year in a 2-1 loss Sunday afternoon.

Dallas midfielder Sebastian Lietget put the hosts on the board in the 33rd minute of the Major League Soccer “Decision Day” match at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

Zusi’s goal tied it, but Dallas’ Paul Arriola scored the go-ahead in the 65th.

With the final-game defeat, Sporting KC’s season ends at 11-16-7 for a 12th-place Western Conference finish. Sporting had a 2022 goal differential of -12

While Sporting’s postseason fate had already been decided, FC Dallas was still playing Sunday to earn a home playoff match. Dallas needed one point at least to secure third in the West.

Sporting KC also played its final match of the 2019 season at FC Dallas. That day, Sporting lost in embarrassing fashion, 6-0. While all losses count the same, the optics tell different stories.

“Back then we never recovered in that year,” Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said. “This year, we recovered a long time ago.”

Indeed they have. They went 7-1-2 in their final 10 matches, earning 23 points. They won six straight at home after a stretch of five straight home losses. But the club faced an uphill battle once things started to change for the better because of how the early part of the season had played out, especially in terms of injuries.

“I’m super-proud of the group,” defender Ben Sweat said. “We could have rolled over and died after losing the (Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup) semifinal in Sacramento. But we didn’t. We were probably the best, if not one of the best teams, in the league the past two-and-a-half months.”

The match on Sunday was fairly even throughout, as each team took more than 15 shots. Kendall McIntosh, who started at goalkeeper for Sporting in place of John Pulskamp, made six saves to match Maarten Paes of FC Dallas.

Paes faced one fewer shot on target, which was the difference in the scoreline.

Sporting was a bit unlucky to concede first. A long-range shot from Lletget skipped off the foot of Sporting’s Andreu Fontas, leaving McIntosh helpless as he dove the other way.

While Dallas carried a 1-0 lead into halftime, Sporting responded and equalized thanks to Zusi. Arriola’s clinching goal came roughly 15 minutes later when a bad giveaway up the field put Sporting in a tough defensive position.

As for Sporting KC’s golden boot — most goals scored this season — that honor will be shared three ways between captain Johnny Russell, Willy Agada and Daniel Salloi. Each man tallied eight.

Despite the defeat, Vermes — like his players — is excited about 2023.

“I believe they have proven to themselves that they can play,” Vermes said. “I think for a while they thought they couldn’t anymore. I think that they’ve regained their confidence.

“With some guys coming back next year, and some time off and everything else, I believe that we’ll be in a different place a year from now. But we’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then.”