Sporting KC: Four things we learned in loss against Minnesota United

Sporting KC’s season came to an end with a shocking 3-0 loss against Minnesota United in the Western Conference Semifinals.

The stage was set under the bright lights as Sporting KC was set for a memorable night as the replacement to Thursday Night Football. With the chance to book their ticket to the Western Conference finals, Sporting simply blew it.

With some great opportunities early on, Sporting failed to convert. It was the visitors who broke through first, then twice more within a 12-minute span to make it 3-0 before halftime. Facing a three-goal deficit, SKC never really looked like they had enough to mount a comeback as they were shutout for the second time all season and eliminated from the playoffs.

Here is what we learned from SKC’s loss to the Loons.

Underwhelming Performances

Sporting looked good in the first 15 minutes or so, but they fell flat after that. Johnny Russell had two chances, one where his chip was cleared off the line by a Loons defender Michael Boxall and another where he was 1 v 1 with the keeper and Russell hit it straight into the keeper despite a wide-open Gerso to his left. While Russell’s two big chances weren’t converted, he still kept his motor going for most of the 90 minutes.

Gianluca Busio was another player who didn’t live up to expectations. He wasn’t making the correct runs and his reading of the game seemed a bit off. He also hit two free-kicks into the wall. I was in favor of taking Busio off at halftime to bring in Gadi Kinda (knowing that Vermes likely wouldn’t do it), but this switch didn’t happen until the 56th minute.

Elsewhere, SKC’s entire defensive unit was all out of sorts on several occasions. They allowed Minnesota to cut through them far too easily. It was Ilie who failed to follow his runner on the first goal and let Kevin Molino drift off his shoulder before executing a fantastic volley on the second goal. Khiry Shelton had some good quick turns to spring SKC forward, but Gerso wasn’t lively enough and the subs didn’t have an impact.

SKC will also have some gripes about the officiating crew, but I’m not sure much really would have changed if they had been able to apply the laws of the game more appropriately. Overall, the fact that no one was able to step up and deliver when it mattered was very disappointing.