Diego Rubio came off the bench to score the game-winning goal in the 109th minute, giving Sporting Kansas City a 2-1 victory over Minnesota United FC on Wednesday night in a “Round of 32” contest of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
In a hotly contested match at the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine, Minnesota (north of Minneapolis), Benny Feilhaber and Christian Ramirez exchanged penalty kick goals in the second half, setting up Rubio’s strike in the late stages of the match.
One of 14 MLS clubs still alive in the tournament, defending champion Sporting Kansas City improved to 7-0-1 all-time in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. Meanwhile, Minnesota United FC failed to reach the final 16 for a fourth straight year.
Sporting Kansas City (5-8-3, 18 points) will resume its 2016 MLS regular season campaign on Sunday, hosting FC Dallas (8-4-4, 28 points) at Children’s Mercy Park. The match will kick off at 4 p.m. CT and a limited number of tickets, including standing-room only tickets, are available via Ticketmaster.com. ESPN will broadcast the match live as eighth-place Sporting KC looks to gain ground in the Western Conference against their second-place counterparts.
Sporting Kansas City will face the Houston Dynamo at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, June 29 at BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX) in the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16, U.S. Soccer announced Thursday.
U.S. Soccer unveiled the Round of 16 as well as the potential quarterfinal pairings and host scenarios for the U.S. Open Cup on Thursday. A regional bracket placed Sporting Kansas City, Houston, Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas into the Plains Region. The remaining field consists of 14 MLS sides plus the New York Cosmos and Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the NASL.
