Blessing brace helps Sporting KC beat FC Dallas in U.S. Open Cup

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Sporting Kansas City beat FC Dallas 3-0 in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday night in a wild match that saw the hosts finish with 10 men and the visitors with just nine and Ike Opara stretchered off in the first extra-time period.

Both teams had quality chances in the opening 10 minutes, with Max Urruti firing over the bar one end right after Diego Rubio did the same with a Gerso Fernandes assist that left him wide open in the center of the penalty area.

Gerso then rounded Jesse Gonzalez and was in on goal only to have his goal-bound shot cleared off the line by the Dallas defense.

The hosts were dealt a harsh blow in the 15th minute, when Seth Sinovic committed a silly foul on Michael Barrios and was shown a straight red card to leave SKC to play the rest of the match with 10 men.

Roland Lamah set up Mauro Diaz in the 25th minute, but his well-hit shot from 18 yards out went right at Tim Melia who collected it with little trouble.

Diaz then turned the tables, flicking to Lamah on the left side of the area and setting him up for a low driving strike that skipped just wide of the post.

Sporting were unlucky not to score in the 35th minute, as Gonzalez just tipped away a perfect free kick from the right-hand side that would have found Latif Blessing at the far post.

Visiting Dallas pushed the tempo after the break and came close to finding the opener when Walker Zimmerman got his head on an Atiba Harris pass from close range, but the attempt came up short and fell to Melia.

Ilie Sanchez tested Gonzalez in the 60th minute, cutting in from the left side and firing a right-footed shot that the Dallas keeper punched away to safety.

A furious closing five minutes of regular time saw Dallas shots from Lamah, Urruti and Barrios all force saves from Melia, but SKC held its ground with 10 men to force extra time. 

Blessing had the best chance early in added time, finding space in the Dallas area and send a low drive in on goal that Gonzalez did well to save.

Urruti was then shown his second yellow card for an extremely overhead kick that connected with the head of Opara and left the Sporting defender needing medical attention before being stretchered off the pitch.

Opara was able to raise his hand and motion to teammates and fans as he was carted from the field with his head in a neck brace.

And just as play resumed, Sporting KC would score the first goal of the match, with Benny Feilhaber setting up Blessing on the counter-attack for the Ghanaian to slot home with his second touch and give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Javier Morales hauled Feilhaber down on another counter minutes later and was shown straight red leaving Dallas with just nine men and Sporting took advantage with Blessing redirecting a shot from distance past Gonzalez to make it 2-0.

With time winding down, Sporting added a third when a Feilhaber pass left Daniel Salloi one on one with Gonzalez who had no chance as Peter Vermes' team booked passage to the semifinals.