Daniel Salloi bailed out Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night with a stoppage-time equalizer, rescuing a 1-1 result against the San Jose Earthquakes. Afterward, the forward offered some spicy comments about how the Quakes played.
"[I'm] not a fan of San Jose, playing against them – they are playing very dirty football and I don't think they deserve points, ever," he commented during a post-match interview on Bally Sports Kansas City.
As MLSSoccer.com's Jason Le Miere detailed in his match recap, "Salloi's goal came during an action-packed nine minutes of stoppage time in which Sporting KC thought they had a penalty for a challenge on \[Johnny\] Russell, only to have the decision overturned through Video Review. San Jose also went down to 10 men after conceding the equalizer, with Judson shown a second yellow card, allowing Sporting chances to take all three points in the closing moments."
Salloi went on to say, of his hustle and determination on the game-tying goal, "I was just sprinting as hard as I could to tap it in. Sorry to Khiry \[Shelton\], wouldn't even let that go if my mom had that goal."
The Western Conference match featured a combined 35 fouls, 22 of those coming in the second half, with five yellow cards between the teams.
An overview of 2021 MLS stats reveals that while San Jose are near the top in several disciplinary categories, they're not the outlier that Salloi might have you believe. While the Quakes have 31 yellow cards on the year, placing them even with CF Montréal and Inter Miami, there are five teams ahead of that trio, including co-leaders FC Cincinnati and FC Dallas with 34. The Philadelphia Union actually lead the league in sendoffs with two, while the 'Quakes are among a large group of teams that have had one player sent to the locker room ahead of his teammates.
And the Quakes' 168 fouls committed puts them well below D.C. United, who have amassed 212 to date, while their 181 fouls suffered indicate they don't quite give more than they get – at least in the referees' eyes.
Salloi, who had a rejected attempt at a match-winner in the ninth minute of stoppage time, registered frustration at not grabbing all three points against a team that's now winless in their previous nine contests. Assessing the next match on SKC's schedule, he noted, "We have to go to Seattle and get points on the road. It's going to be a very tough weekend."
