Sporting Kansas City have been hungry for a rivalry. And thanks to more Tim Melia penalty-kick shootout heroics on Wednesday night, they’ll get to feast with a Round One Best-of-3 series against St. Louis CITY SC (No. 1) on deck.
Sporting (No. 8) advanced out of the Western Conference Wild Card round via PKs after a tense 0-0 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes (No. 9) at Children’s Mercy Park.
Melia saved Cristian Espinoza’s attempt in the first round, after Johnny Russell put his attempt past Daniel. It set the stage for a 4-2 victory from the spot, improving Melia’s professional record to 7-0 in shootouts and 5-0 for SKC.
“He’s the best I’ve ever been around, both player and coach, in regards to penalty kicks,†SKC manager and sporting director Peter Vermes said post-match. “He’s absolutely incredible. He just is. He’s incredible.â€
Melia has been center stage for some of Sporting’s biggest Audi MLS Cup Playoffs moments, and now he’ll play a pivotal role as their rivalry against St. Louis truly gets ignited.
“I love it. I’ve only had the opportunity to play there once – I missed the first away game – but they bring it at that stadium, they’re a good team, they attack fast, so we’ve got to be ready for them,†Melia said on MLS Wrap-Up.
“This is what we want to do as professional athletes. We want to be in these big games, we want to be under these pressure moments, so I think everyone is looking forward to it.â€
Vermes has been looking forward to this opportunity since 2000 when he played for SKC. There was a time when a rivalry was brewing with Chicago Fire FC, but Sporting bouncing between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference during the league’s rapid expansion cooled that dynamic.
Vermes has watched other rivalries from afar – in the Pacific Northwest and in New York and Los Angeles, to name a few locales. Now, at long last, one comes to the Midwest.
“I think it's about time and it's going to be good for the future,†Vermes said. “I think it's only going to get stronger and tougher and all those things over the years.â€
If CITY SC are looking for some bulletin board material, Vermes wasn’t delivering on Wednesday night. He was highly complimentary of the expansion team for their remarkable consistency and for maintaining their spot above the conference nearly all season.
St. Louis led the regular-season series, celebrating a pair of lopsided wins at home (combined 8-1 scoreline), while SKC earned a 2-1 victory at Children's Mercy Park.
Vermes said there’s no secret sauce to game-planning for a Best-of-3 series against St. Louis, which starts with Game 1 at CITYPARK on Sunday (10 pm ET | Apple TV - Free, FS1, FOX Deportes).
“I think you have to keep it simple. We have a game in front of us. It has two halves. We’ve got to play the first one we got to make our adjustments in the second half and then go from there,†Vermes said.
“Shoot, you’d love the finish it in two, right? I mean, that's what they would love to do as well — two wins, have a nice day. It's going to be a tough series.â€
Dániel Sallói, who scored the winning PK, described what awaits against the West's top seed after SKC needed a Decision Day win to complete their escape from a historically poor start.
"This is crazy," Sallói said. "Honestly, I don't know what to think of this year because for 10 games we couldn't win a game. Now we're playing St. Louis in the playoffs and this is insane. I think there's not really pressure on us. We shouldn't be there in terms of the way we started. We shouldn't be there, but we're there.
"So now we deserve to be there, but we have to play the same way this weekend and that's going to be very, very tough to go to St. Louis and win there."
