KC headed into Estadio Azul with a 1-0 aggregate advantage against Cruz Azul, but were taken apart tonight by a much better Mexican team. Sporting held the lead heading into the break but were thoroughly embarrassed in the second half as they bowed out of the Champion's League.
KC suffered from the Galaxy's defensive disease at the beginning of the game as Joao Rojas cut inside on Josh Gardner, played the ball into the box to Mariano Pavone who turned Kevin Ellis and fired past Eric Kronberg. In the sixth minute, KC should probably have equalized. A cross field ball towards Jacob Peterson was deflected by a Cruz Azul defender but right into the path of Peterson who raced in alone on goal. He fired a shot, but it was right at Jesus Corona who made the save. Cruz Azul continued to pressure and Marco Fabian was incorrectly ruled offside after getting behind Ellis. In the 23rd minute though there was no offside call to rescue KC as Fabian timed his run very well and got behind Ellis. He dribbled into the box and fired a shot that Kronberg got down and saved, but gave upu a rebound right into the middle where Pavone knocked the ball home to make it 2-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate in favor of the Mexican side. Cruz Azul continued to pressure and a free header on a corner could have made it 3-0, but it was right at Kronberg who held the ball. KC started to get a little of the ball as the game continued on and in the 43rd won a corner. Graham Zusi played the ball short to Benny Feilhaber who cut inside his defender and then fired a shot that beat Corona to the near post and gave KC the lead on the away goal rule.
Cruz Azul came out in the second half and continued to pressure the game, with the game at altitude it was only a matter of time before tired legs started to take over for KC. In the 55th minute Cruz Azul hit again. Again it was Fabian setting the play up, racing by first half sub Mechack Jerome and squaring into the middle for Pavone who one timed a shot past Kronberg as Ike Opara fell down to make it 3-1 on the night. The pressure continued, especially down KC's right wing as Fabian had his way with Jerome. In the 66th minute Cruz Azul put the game to bed as Fabian again burned Jerome down the line. He cut inside along the end line and as Kronberg came out to commit he laid the ball back. The initial effort was blocked on the line by Matt Besler, but Mauro Formica got the rebound and fired home to make it 4-1 on the night. And four minute later the route was on as Cruz Azul combined well in the midfield leading to Christian Gimenez getting behind KC's defense and firing in a shot off the far post to make it 5-1. KC looked gassed while Cruz Azul looked fresh and had a couple opportunities to make the scoreline worse. In the end, the referee called the game basically right at 90 minutes and KC bowed out of the competition rather embarrassingly. Cruz Azul killed KC down the flanks all night and the altitude finally got to him.
It's not a bad thing to lose to a team like Cruz Azul, who has to be considered the favorites for the tournament, it's how KC ended up losing that's embarrassing. This game will end up in the same breath as the 7-0 loss to Chicago on July 4th, 2001, or the 6-1 loss at Morelia in the 2002 CONCACAF Champions Cup, or the 6-0 loss to Dallas in Curt Onalfo's last match in charge of the club.
Wizards Man of the Match - Benny Feilhaber - Cause he scored the goal, the lone bright spot.
Player Ratings - Kronberg 3, Gardner 3, Opara 2, Besler 3, Ellis 2, Rosell 3, Nagamura 3, Feilhaber 4, Zusi 3, Bieler 3, Peterson 3. Subs Jerome 1, Dwyer 2, Sapong 3
Showing posts with label Cruz Azul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cruz Azul. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
CCL Match Day 2: South of the Border
Sporting KC continues it's busy start to the season with a trip south of the border to Mexico City where tomorrow they'll take on Cruz Azul. Sporting KC travel to the capital with a 1-0 lead on aggregate thanks to the Kevin Ellis goal last week. This time though KC travel into a hostile environment at altitude looking to advance to the CCL semifinals.
Cruz Azul is heading into the game with a couple holes to fill due to suspensions. In the midfield they will be without Alejandro Castro and in defense they'll be short Rogelio Chavez. Both of whom picked up yellow cards in Kansas City and are suspended for this game. Castro's midfield role may be the bigger one to fill for the Machine with their depth. But they'll still have their first team attack for the most part which will cause KC a number of problems. In league play this weekend, Cruz Azul picked up a 2-1 win at home over fellow quarterfinalist, Tijuana.
Kansas City comes in on the back of their 1-1 draw with Dallas at home, allowing the late equalizer. From following Twitter tonight, Sporting has traveled with the majority of their first team, which is really what I think everyone expected. The one exception to that is Seth Sinovic who is suspended for the game due to yellow card accumulation. KC does get Aurelien Collin back from suspension though to slot into central defense with Matt Besler. The question for KC is whether Peter Vermes will alter his strategy at all with the game at altitude, KC looked extremely tired by the end of the home leg. They'll need to hold a little bit back or else they'll burn out earlier at altitude.
Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin vs Mariano Pavone - Pavone is going to see a lot of the ball tomorrow. It will likely require a strong effort from Collin to contain the Argentine.
Number to Remember - 0 - That's the number of home and away series that MLS has won against Mexican sides when the second leg has been in Mexico. Only twice have MLS teams won a home and away series against a Mexican side, and both of those saw the MLS side advance with the second leg at the MLS' home stadium.
PREDICTION - This is no easy task at all for Kansas City heading into Mexico City. They have a strong team and have so far sacrificed some league form to put their best foot forward in the CCL. The question is whether that is going to be enough against a very good Cruz Azul side. I want to say that it will be, but I'm not so sure. My feeling is that Cruz Azul is going to score one goal in the first half and another goal in the early second half. The last 10 minutes will be hectic as Sporting looks for the one goal that will see them go through, but it doesn't come and KC bows out.
SKC - 0
CA - 2 (Fabian, Pavone)
Cruz Azul is heading into the game with a couple holes to fill due to suspensions. In the midfield they will be without Alejandro Castro and in defense they'll be short Rogelio Chavez. Both of whom picked up yellow cards in Kansas City and are suspended for this game. Castro's midfield role may be the bigger one to fill for the Machine with their depth. But they'll still have their first team attack for the most part which will cause KC a number of problems. In league play this weekend, Cruz Azul picked up a 2-1 win at home over fellow quarterfinalist, Tijuana.
Kansas City comes in on the back of their 1-1 draw with Dallas at home, allowing the late equalizer. From following Twitter tonight, Sporting has traveled with the majority of their first team, which is really what I think everyone expected. The one exception to that is Seth Sinovic who is suspended for the game due to yellow card accumulation. KC does get Aurelien Collin back from suspension though to slot into central defense with Matt Besler. The question for KC is whether Peter Vermes will alter his strategy at all with the game at altitude, KC looked extremely tired by the end of the home leg. They'll need to hold a little bit back or else they'll burn out earlier at altitude.
Kronberg
Ellis - Collin - Besler - Gardner
Nagamura - Rosell
Feilhaber
Zusi - Bieler - Peterson
Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin vs Mariano Pavone - Pavone is going to see a lot of the ball tomorrow. It will likely require a strong effort from Collin to contain the Argentine.
Number to Remember - 0 - That's the number of home and away series that MLS has won against Mexican sides when the second leg has been in Mexico. Only twice have MLS teams won a home and away series against a Mexican side, and both of those saw the MLS side advance with the second leg at the MLS' home stadium.
PREDICTION - This is no easy task at all for Kansas City heading into Mexico City. They have a strong team and have so far sacrificed some league form to put their best foot forward in the CCL. The question is whether that is going to be enough against a very good Cruz Azul side. I want to say that it will be, but I'm not so sure. My feeling is that Cruz Azul is going to score one goal in the first half and another goal in the early second half. The last 10 minutes will be hectic as Sporting looks for the one goal that will see them go through, but it doesn't come and KC bows out.
SKC - 0
CA - 2 (Fabian, Pavone)
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Ellis Goal Enough as Sporting Head to Mexico with Advantage
Sporting KC started their series against Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League tonight on the right foot riding Kevin Ellis' first professional goal to a 1-0 win over the Mexican giants. Whether that single goal will be enough to see Kansas City through to the semifinals or not remains to be seen.
KC came out and pushed the game right from the start against Cruz Azul. In the seventh minute they should have gone up a goal as the ball fellt to Graham Zusi on the left. Zusi fired a shot but put it well wide of the goal, sending it out for a throw in. In the 17th their early pressure paid off. After some passing on the right, the ball got played to Claudio Bieler who hit a cross field ball with the outside of his foot to an open Ellis. The home grown player cut inside his defender and before he was closed down again fired a shot that squeezed in the near post of Jesus Corona and KC w3nt up 1-0. KC continued to push the game and kept searching for a second goal. Ike Opara fired a shot from long range that Corona had to tip over the bar for a corner. Off the ensuing corner, Ellis headed a ball on goal that Benny Feilhaber tried to flick past Corona, but the Cruz Azul keeper beat him to the ball. Cruz Azul had a good chance themselves as Marco Fabian got in behind KC's defense. But his touch let him down and before he could get an opportunity against Eric Kronberg, Opara recovered and knocked the ball away. Late in the half KC had another golden opportunity as Ellis played Bieler in on goal with only one defender between him. Bieler cut back and forth on Luis Perea before firing a shot towards the corner of the goal, but Corona at full stretch knocked the ball out for a corner kick. Cruz Azul was left frustrated as the teams went into the half time break.
In the second half Cruz Azul came out pressing the game much more and looked much better. They got more of the possession and kept KC locked in deep in their own end. Cruz Azul looked sure to score in the 55th minute as Mariano Pavone got played in behind KC's defense. 1v1 with Kronberg, the striker rounded KC's goalkeeper but Pavone's shot was cleared off the line by a recovering Opara. On the ensuing corner a moment of controversy as the corner was headed onto Fabian at the back post. His header was blocked by the arm of Feilhaber, which was away from his body. The ball then started looping towards goal, but Seth Sinovic cleared the ball off the line. KC found opportunities going forward few and far between but Zusi got off a good effort in the 64th from about 22 yards from goal. His shot left Corona rooted to the ground, but it hit the cross bar and bounced back into play. Cruz Azul kept pushing the ball up field and KC started to look extremely tired as the minutes ticked by, but KC held on and will travel with the lead to Mexico. It won't be easy, but the confidence from this result will hopefully carry over.
Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Ellis - Not just because of the goal, but because of his defensive play as well. Cruz Azul went at him all night down KC's right and he did a very good job of keeping their attacks in check. Certainly looked like a guy that will be able to contribute more going forward.
Honorable Mention: Ike Opara, Benny Feilhaber's arm
Player Ratings: Kronberg 6, Ellis 8, Opara 7, Besler 6, Sinovic 7, Rosell 6, Nagamura 6, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 5, Bieler 7, Zizzo 6. Subs Peterson 5, Sapong 4, Dwyer NR.
KC came out and pushed the game right from the start against Cruz Azul. In the seventh minute they should have gone up a goal as the ball fellt to Graham Zusi on the left. Zusi fired a shot but put it well wide of the goal, sending it out for a throw in. In the 17th their early pressure paid off. After some passing on the right, the ball got played to Claudio Bieler who hit a cross field ball with the outside of his foot to an open Ellis. The home grown player cut inside his defender and before he was closed down again fired a shot that squeezed in the near post of Jesus Corona and KC w3nt up 1-0. KC continued to push the game and kept searching for a second goal. Ike Opara fired a shot from long range that Corona had to tip over the bar for a corner. Off the ensuing corner, Ellis headed a ball on goal that Benny Feilhaber tried to flick past Corona, but the Cruz Azul keeper beat him to the ball. Cruz Azul had a good chance themselves as Marco Fabian got in behind KC's defense. But his touch let him down and before he could get an opportunity against Eric Kronberg, Opara recovered and knocked the ball away. Late in the half KC had another golden opportunity as Ellis played Bieler in on goal with only one defender between him. Bieler cut back and forth on Luis Perea before firing a shot towards the corner of the goal, but Corona at full stretch knocked the ball out for a corner kick. Cruz Azul was left frustrated as the teams went into the half time break.
In the second half Cruz Azul came out pressing the game much more and looked much better. They got more of the possession and kept KC locked in deep in their own end. Cruz Azul looked sure to score in the 55th minute as Mariano Pavone got played in behind KC's defense. 1v1 with Kronberg, the striker rounded KC's goalkeeper but Pavone's shot was cleared off the line by a recovering Opara. On the ensuing corner a moment of controversy as the corner was headed onto Fabian at the back post. His header was blocked by the arm of Feilhaber, which was away from his body. The ball then started looping towards goal, but Seth Sinovic cleared the ball off the line. KC found opportunities going forward few and far between but Zusi got off a good effort in the 64th from about 22 yards from goal. His shot left Corona rooted to the ground, but it hit the cross bar and bounced back into play. Cruz Azul kept pushing the ball up field and KC started to look extremely tired as the minutes ticked by, but KC held on and will travel with the lead to Mexico. It won't be easy, but the confidence from this result will hopefully carry over.
Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Ellis - Not just because of the goal, but because of his defensive play as well. Cruz Azul went at him all night down KC's right and he did a very good job of keeping their attacks in check. Certainly looked like a guy that will be able to contribute more going forward.
Honorable Mention: Ike Opara, Benny Feilhaber's arm
Player Ratings: Kronberg 6, Ellis 8, Opara 7, Besler 6, Sinovic 7, Rosell 6, Nagamura 6, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 5, Bieler 7, Zizzo 6. Subs Peterson 5, Sapong 4, Dwyer NR.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Match Day CCL: Sporting Need to Start on the Right Foot
Sporting KC return home and return to the CONCACAF Champions League for their first game in the quarterfinals against Mexican side Cruz Azul. The home and away series will see KC head to Mexico next Wednesday for the second leg. Sporting will look to head to Mexico with a couple goal advantage in their hopes of advancing. While a win as a whole would be nice, going to Mexico with a multi-goal advantage would be huge for KC.
Cruz Azul comes into CCL play on the back of their first loss of the Mexican Clausura season, 3-0 to Tigres, a shocking result considering their standing in the league table. Up to that point, Cruz Azul had been 8-0-1 in league play, scoring 18 while allowing just 3. The loss may serve as the wake up call to keep Cruz Azul from coming into this game complacent, especially since the loss occurred with a majority of their starters on the field. I expect that they've traveled with a majority of their first team for this game as well.
Sporting on the other hand rested a few players ahead of this game, or at least that's the assumption. Paulo Nagamura, Chance Myers, and Seth Sinovic all sat out KC's game against Seattle with injuries. The reports out today have Myers and Sinovic both as doubts for tomorrows games. Combine that with Aurelien Collin being suspended for yellow card accumulation and KC could be without three quarters of their best back four with only captain Matt Besler remaining. Personally I feel like the Myers and Sinovic injuries are some gamesmanship by Vermes and I expect one or both to start against the Mexican side. And as for replacing Collin, Ike Opara filled in quite well throughout the 2013 season. Overall though I think we'll see KC throw out the best they can for this game.
Kronberg
Myers - Opara - Besler - Sinovic
Rosell - Nagamura
Feilhaber
Zusi - Bieler - Zizzo
Key Match Up - Sporting KC's defense vs Marco Fabian - Fabian, the Mexican international is going to be a handful for KC to contain. And he's no stranger to scoring at Sporting Park:
)
Number to Remember -2 - That's the number of home and away series that MLS teams have won against Mexican teams in the CONCACAF Champions' League and it's predecessor, the Champions' Cup. The KC Wizards topped Santos Laguna 3-2 on aggregate in 2002, while Seattle topped Tigres by the same 3-2 aggregate scoreline. The other side of that though is both of those series saw the MLS team have the second leg at home, no MLS team has advanced when the Mexican team has had the second leg at home.
PREDICTION - If Sporting KC want to advance they need to get a result at home and they need to win by a couple goals. Cruz Azul is just too good of a team to not take advantage of your home field advantage. They'll need to have better finishing at home than they've shown in the past. I'm just not sure that KC can shut down Cruz Azul's offense enough while being able to produce enough offensively themselves to get a result that will make me comfortable in league two.
SKC - 1 (Bieler)
CA - 1 (Pavone)
Cruz Azul comes into CCL play on the back of their first loss of the Mexican Clausura season, 3-0 to Tigres, a shocking result considering their standing in the league table. Up to that point, Cruz Azul had been 8-0-1 in league play, scoring 18 while allowing just 3. The loss may serve as the wake up call to keep Cruz Azul from coming into this game complacent, especially since the loss occurred with a majority of their starters on the field. I expect that they've traveled with a majority of their first team for this game as well.
Sporting on the other hand rested a few players ahead of this game, or at least that's the assumption. Paulo Nagamura, Chance Myers, and Seth Sinovic all sat out KC's game against Seattle with injuries. The reports out today have Myers and Sinovic both as doubts for tomorrows games. Combine that with Aurelien Collin being suspended for yellow card accumulation and KC could be without three quarters of their best back four with only captain Matt Besler remaining. Personally I feel like the Myers and Sinovic injuries are some gamesmanship by Vermes and I expect one or both to start against the Mexican side. And as for replacing Collin, Ike Opara filled in quite well throughout the 2013 season. Overall though I think we'll see KC throw out the best they can for this game.
Kronberg
Myers - Opara - Besler - Sinovic
Rosell - Nagamura
Feilhaber
Zusi - Bieler - Zizzo
Key Match Up - Sporting KC's defense vs Marco Fabian - Fabian, the Mexican international is going to be a handful for KC to contain. And he's no stranger to scoring at Sporting Park:
)
Number to Remember -2 - That's the number of home and away series that MLS teams have won against Mexican teams in the CONCACAF Champions' League and it's predecessor, the Champions' Cup. The KC Wizards topped Santos Laguna 3-2 on aggregate in 2002, while Seattle topped Tigres by the same 3-2 aggregate scoreline. The other side of that though is both of those series saw the MLS team have the second leg at home, no MLS team has advanced when the Mexican team has had the second leg at home.
PREDICTION - If Sporting KC want to advance they need to get a result at home and they need to win by a couple goals. Cruz Azul is just too good of a team to not take advantage of your home field advantage. They'll need to have better finishing at home than they've shown in the past. I'm just not sure that KC can shut down Cruz Azul's offense enough while being able to produce enough offensively themselves to get a result that will make me comfortable in league two.
SKC - 1 (Bieler)
CA - 1 (Pavone)
Monday, January 06, 2014
Sporting KC to Resume CCL Play on March 12
The schedule for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal was released today, and Sporting KC will continue their quest to win the CCL on March 12th. The first leg of the two leg affair will see Sporting KC host Mexican side, Cruz Azul at Sporting Park on March 12th. The return leg of the series will take place one week later, on the 19th at Estadio Azul.
Sporting KC will be including tickets to the game at Sporting Park in the team's season ticket package for the season. So this game will serve as the official home opener for the team for the 2014 season.
The games are going to be at a busy time for both teams. Cruz Azul will be the more in season form team of the two as they kicked off their Clausura season in Mexico this past weekend. Both teams though have their CCL games sandwiched between league games with one in the middle. Before the first game, both teams head out on the road. Sporting heads to the West Coast to take on Seattle. Cruz Azul has the shorter trip, only having to travel from Mexico City to Toluca to take on UANL. After the first leg, both teams will be playing at home, Sporting hosting Dallas while Cruz Azul plays fellow CCL quarterfinalist, Tijuana. If you're looking for where things go after that game, KC return home to take another CCL quarterfinalist, San Jose while Cruz Azul travels to play Apertura winner, Leon. So not an easy stretch of games for either team in league around the quarterfinals.
Sporting KC will be including tickets to the game at Sporting Park in the team's season ticket package for the season. So this game will serve as the official home opener for the team for the 2014 season.
The games are going to be at a busy time for both teams. Cruz Azul will be the more in season form team of the two as they kicked off their Clausura season in Mexico this past weekend. Both teams though have their CCL games sandwiched between league games with one in the middle. Before the first game, both teams head out on the road. Sporting heads to the West Coast to take on Seattle. Cruz Azul has the shorter trip, only having to travel from Mexico City to Toluca to take on UANL. After the first leg, both teams will be playing at home, Sporting hosting Dallas while Cruz Azul plays fellow CCL quarterfinalist, Tijuana. If you're looking for where things go after that game, KC return home to take another CCL quarterfinalist, San Jose while Cruz Azul travels to play Apertura winner, Leon. So not an easy stretch of games for either team in league around the quarterfinals.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Sporting to Face Cruz Azul in CCL Quarterfinals
The final 8 for the 2013-2014 CONCACAF Champions League are set. Last night in their 0-0 draw with Olimpia, Sporting KC clinched a spot in the final 8, but had to wait until tonight to learn their opponent. With Houston losing in Panama tonight, Sporting KC got themselves locked into the 7th seed. Then the LA Galaxy lost 4-0 to Metapan setting Kansas City up against Mexican club, Cruz Azul.
The two teams will meet up in a home and away series when the season kicks back off in late February/early March. Should KC advance out of the group, they'd earn a match up against the winner of the Tijuana/LA Galaxy series.
KC will host the first leg of the series at Sporting Park before traveling to Mexico City for the second leg. It's not going to be easy going for KC in the match up. Only twice has an MLS team won a home-away series with a Mexican side. Kansas City did it against Santos back in 2002 losing 2-1 away before winning 2-0 at home. Seattle became the second team to do it in the 2012-2013 version of the tournament, topping UNAL 3-2 on aggregate (losing 1-0 away, winning 3-1 at home). Only twice have MLS teams won in Mexico as well, with Dallas and Seattle both winning in Mexico during the group stage of the 2011-2012 version of the tournament.
Personally I'd been hoping for a match up with the LA Galaxy. The match up would have been a better fit for KC coming out of preseason. Now KC will get a Cruz Azul team that will be in midseason form. Yes they would have eventually had to have played a Mexican team, but getting their feet under them to start would have been nice.
The two teams will meet up in a home and away series when the season kicks back off in late February/early March. Should KC advance out of the group, they'd earn a match up against the winner of the Tijuana/LA Galaxy series.
KC will host the first leg of the series at Sporting Park before traveling to Mexico City for the second leg. It's not going to be easy going for KC in the match up. Only twice has an MLS team won a home-away series with a Mexican side. Kansas City did it against Santos back in 2002 losing 2-1 away before winning 2-0 at home. Seattle became the second team to do it in the 2012-2013 version of the tournament, topping UNAL 3-2 on aggregate (losing 1-0 away, winning 3-1 at home). Only twice have MLS teams won in Mexico as well, with Dallas and Seattle both winning in Mexico during the group stage of the 2011-2012 version of the tournament.
Personally I'd been hoping for a match up with the LA Galaxy. The match up would have been a better fit for KC coming out of preseason. Now KC will get a Cruz Azul team that will be in midseason form. Yes they would have eventually had to have played a Mexican team, but getting their feet under them to start would have been nice.
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