A couple of hours before the opening whistle, Dom Dwyer drove to Children’s Mercy Park, and it finally hit him. Earlier in the week, he had tried to dismiss this homecoming, of sorts, as just another match. But pulling into the Kansas City, Kan., stadium, the memories returned. The birth of his professional career. A tenure that included 57 goals. The three trophies.





“All good feelings came back,” he said.

They were trumped by the result. Dwyer had his moments Saturday, but Sporting Kansas City had the win.

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Felipe Gutierrez broke through in the second half, the lone goal in Sporting KC’s 1-0 victory against Orlando City SC at Children’s Mercy Park, souring Dwyer’s first trip to the venue as a visitor.

“Of course it’s not the result we wanted, but it was so lovely to come back,” said Dwyer, who was traded to Orlando in July 2017. “I appreciated the welcome from the fans. It was a great atmosphere, as always. I really enjoyed tonight.”







Moments before the opening whistle, Dwyer walked to the Sporting KC bench to greet his former manager. Peter Vermes embraced him with a long hug, a reunion of a relationship that thrived for more than a half-decade. The two had not conversed for nearly 14 months, after last season’s abrupt deal ended his stay.

Dwyer was the pregame storyline, the second leading scorer in Sporting KC history generating applause as his name was announced during the starting lineups. But the in-game storyline was an impenetrable Sporting KC backline and a consequential goal from Gutierrez, a player fighting to regain his form over the last month.

Still, Dwyer had his chances to disrupt the latter. A pair of particularly enticing opportunities fell to him. Only five minutes into the game, he found an open lane on the outer edge of the penalty box, the precursor to a one-on-one matchup with Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia. His ensuing shot connected with Melia’s shoulder. And after Sporting KC grabbed a one-goal lead in the second half, Dwyer had a chance to pull Orlando even. He attempted to chip Melia, who disposed of the shot.

“Absolutely, it helps,” Melia said of his experience seeing Dwyer in practice every day. “You know what he’s going to do. You know what he’s comfortable with. You know his movements and tendencies. That makes a huge difference.”

Dwyer’s effect on the match was limited by his club’s inability to possess the ball in the attacking third. He had only 17 touches and three completed passes in 90 minutes.

Gutierrez robbed him of a result in his return. In the 53rd minute, he slid a shot past Orlando City SC keeper Joe Bendik.

A decisive goal. And a potentially important one moving forward. Gutierrez blistered the league in his first month here, scoring five goals in his first five games before sports hernia injury halted the introduction.

A return to health — and he is not yet 100 percent — has not yet equaled a return to his early-season output. But Saturday offered a glimpse of it.

“I think he’s been trying for awhile to get back in the form,” Vermes said. “I kept telling him it’s going to come — just be patient.”

His strike stood as the only goal in a match in which Sporting KC was missing its entire front line — Diego Rubio, Johnny Russell and Daniel Salloi — due to international duty.

That’s a place Dwyer once occupied, too. His was a popular resident there, leading to the pregame applause from the Children’s Mercy Park crowd. But midway through the second half, The Cauldron began chanting “Sporting reject” as he attacked that end of the field.

After the match, Dwyer spoke with several of his former teammates. He and Sporting KC midfielder Ilie Sanchez exchanged jerseys.

“He was next to me all game bothering me, so I wanted to bother him after the game,” Sanchez quipped. “He’s a great player. He did a really good job for us when he was here. (But) it was good for us because we knew him. We knew what we needed to do to try to stop him.”

Sporting Kansas City 1

Orlando City SC 0

Orlando City 0 0 — 0 Kansas City 0 1 — 1

ORLANDO CITY: Joe Bendik; Carlos Ascues, Will Johnson (Stefano, 80th), Jonathan Spector, Scott Sutter; Cristian Higuita, Sacha Kljestan, Shane O’Neill, Oriol Rosell; Dom Dwyer, Chris Mueller (Josue Colman, 65th).

KANSAS CITY: Tim Melia; Matt Besler, Andreu Fontas, Seth Sinovic, Graham Zusi; Yohan Croizet (Khiry Shelton, 90th), Roger Espinoza, Felipe Gutierrez (Gianluca Busio, 86th), Ilie Sanchez; Gerso Fernandes, Krisztian Nemeth.

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GOAL SCORING

Orlando City: None.

Kansas City: 1, Gutierrez, 6 (Croizet), 53rd minute.





OC SKC Shots 8 16 Shots on goal 3 5 Saves 4 3 Corner kicks 3 9 Fouls 9 8 Offsides 2 3

YELLOW CARDS<QC><extra_leading>

Orlando City: Mueller (unsporting behavior), 38th; Johnson (unsporting behavior), 42nd.

Kansas City: None.

<extra_leading>RED CARDS<QC><extra_leading>

Orlando City: None.

Kansas City: None.

<extra_leading>OFFICIALS<QC><extra_leading>

Referee: Alan Kelly.

Assistant referee: Matthew Nelson.

Assistant referee: Brian Dunn.

Fourth official: Chico Grajeda.

Video assistant referee: Ricardo Salazar.

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Attendance: 19,332.