SEATTLE – Sporting Kansas City’s season is over following their 1-0 Knockout Round defeat to the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field on Thursday. But to hear head coach Peter Vermes tell it, it’s his side that would be moving on to the Western Conference Semifinals were it not for some controversial calls.
One of those calls came on a second-half slide tackle from Sounders midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who upended SKC’s Benny Feilhaber with a lunging tackle while already on a yellow card. Though Sporting lobbied for a second yellow that would've sent Alonso to the locker room, referee Ismail Elfath did not whistle for a foul on the play.