Jonathan Sirois’ most important work came before FC Dallas had lost its lead and after the match had become a one-goal balancing act. In the 34th minute, Sporting Kansas City’s André Luiz sent a shot from the center of the box toward the bottom-left corner. Sirois saved it, and Dallas remained ahead 1-0.
In the 74th minute, Luiz tried again from the center of the box. Sirois stopped that attempt in the center of the goal. Those two saves bookended the stretch in which Sporting could have taken control, and they help explain why Dallas left Kansas City with a 1-1 draw rather than a defeat.
They also explain why a road win stayed within reach even though Dallas made Kansas City goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland work only once.
The reshaped starting XI gave Dallas its early advantage. Sirois joined the changed lineup alongside Job, Abubakar and Binyamin. It was start No. 11 for Sirois; Binyamin had started 12 previous matches, Abubakar four and Job two.
That group did not need long to produce: in the 19th minute, Herman Johansson finished from the right side of the box after a fast break, with Binyamin credited for the assist.
The early goal was clean and valuable. It also placed greater importance on the next dangerous sequence, because Dallas had established a lead without establishing control. Luiz’s 34th-minute effort tested that advantage, and Sirois answered.
Sporting then drew level in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, when Jansen Miller headed in from the left side of the six-yard box after Owen Wolff’s cross following a set-piece situation.
A goalkeeper cannot preserve a lead forever, particularly when the opponent keeps finding shooting opportunities. Sirois made another significant stop in the 60th minute, turning aside Luiz’s left-footed attempt from outside the box in the top-right corner. Fourteen minutes later came the closer-range chance that he saved in the center of the goal.
Luiz accounted for all three of Sirois’ saves, a tidy personal duel that prevented Sporting from adding the goal Dallas’ attacking output left available.
The two goalkeepers received very different amounts of work. Sporting had eight attempts and four on target. Dallas had 10 attempts, but only two on target: Johansson’s goal and the shot Cleveland saved.
The other eight did not require a save. Some missed and some were blocked, but a double-digit shot total can look busier than an attack actually was when only one effort after the goal asks the opposing goalkeeper for a response.
Dallas had chances beyond its opening finish. Joaquín Valiente’s attempt from the center of the box went high and wide in the 61st minute. Abubakar missed headers in the 67th and 72nd minutes, then had another header blocked in the 86th.
