Kansas City, Kansas -- Sporting Park continues to be a fortress for Sporting Kansas City as they remain undefeated at home during the 2015 campaign.
Sporting KC came into their midweek U.S. Open Cup Match having defeated Eastern Conference foe Toronto FC 3-1 on the road just a few days prior to hosting long-time rival Real Salt Lake.
Real Salt Lake came into Wednesday’s match having lost their last two MLS matches by a combined score of 10-4, most recently losing in a blowout fashion at BC Place last weekend at the hands of the Vancouver Whitecaps, 4-0.
Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake, who had already completed their three-game season series (2-0-1 in favor of Real Salt Lake) continued their rivalry for the second time this season at Sporting Park on Wednesday night (the teams drew 0-0 on April 11th).
Both lineups weren't at full force with Sporting Kansas City's Graham Zusi out with a leg strain suffered during warmups last Saturday in the team's victory at Toronto and Real Salt Lake being without both main center backs Jamison Olave and Chris Schuler.
Real Salt Lake, who dominated possession in the early goings on Wednesday night and continue their high-pressure set-up into the midway point of the 1st half added the first tally on the board when Olmes Garcia finished a close-range look past Sporting KC keeper Tim Melia in the 24th minute.
Sporting KC would rebound before the end of the first half as central defensive midfielder Soni Mustivar scored the first goal of his Sporting KC career when he perfectly headed a Benny Feilhaber corner past Real Salt Lake and MLS All-Star keeper Nick Rimando, who made eight saves in the match.
The match, would remain scoreless with Sporting KC almost breaking through early into the second half with forward Krisztian Nemeth squeezing a chip past the falling Rimando, only to be robbed by RSL defender Tony Beltran clearing the look off the line just in time to keep the match equal at 1-1.
Sporting KC turned to their two sparks in their 4-3-3 set up in the 80th minute when Dom Dwyer dribbled with ease through the Real Salt Lake backline and blasted a shot past Rimando and straight into the far post, Benny Feilhaber was there to put away the easy finish and see the crowd erupt as the home squad took a late 2-1 lead over their rivals.
Krisztian Nemeth would add insult to injury when he faked Rimando off his line and dribbled around him to finish his 11th goal across all competitions in the 85th minute, giving Sporting KC a commanding 3-1 lead.
The score would end 3-1 as the match was blown final minutes later and with the victory, Sporting KC earned a berth in the U.S. Open Cup Final which will be played on September 30th hosted by the Philadelphia Union, who defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0 in the other USOC Semifinal also played on Wednesday night.
With Wednesday's victory, Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes now owns the club record for most coaching victories with a total of 109 victories across all competitions.
Sporting Kansas City returns to MLS action Saturday night as they host Western Conference member, the Vancouver Whitecaps at 7:30 PM CST at Sporting Park.
Real Salt Lake returns home to host the Portland Timbers in a Western Conference match-up Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.