Sporting KC Vs Vancouver Whitecaps: 3 things we learned – Clock strikes midnight for Vancouver

1. Job done for Sporting KC

It was not necessarily a job well done, but a job successfully completed for Sporting KC. Far from pretty, they booked their spot in Thursday’s quarter-final matchup with the Philadelphia Union. And in the end, that is all that really matters.

Peter Vermes’ men played pretty well in every aspect of the game, with the exception of the one that wins games: finishing. While Hasal had an extremely impressive game, wasting so many chances is criminal and will be punished by better opponents. The game had a similar feeling to their tournament opener against Minnesota United, but this time, SKC had constant pressure for nearly the entire 90 minutes.

Alan Pulido’s five-match streak of being directly involved with a goal has come to an end, but he’ll be happy that he converted his penalty to help guide SKC to a win from the penalty shootout. Ultimately, his performance is emblematic of Sporting KC’s night: full of promise, very little production, but ultimately precise enough to get over the line.

There really shouldn’t be too much taken from this match, as is often the case in knockout competitions. But with this difficult win now behind them, Sporting KC can now refocus ahead of a fantastic matchup against the Philadelphia Union on Thursday.