Extra time: Appiah watches on as Blessing hits brace for Sporting KC

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah was in attendance at the Children's Mercy Park on Tuesday to monitor former Ghana Premier League topscorer Latif Blessing as his Sporting Kinsas City defeated FC Dallas 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup.

Blessing, who joined Sporting from Liberty Professionals last December, scored twice to send the homesters into the last four of the competition.

After going one man down only 15 minutes into the game following a red card to Seth Sinovic, Sporting held on to send the game to a goalless draw in regulation time.

Blessing latched on to a pass from Benny Feilhaber in additional time of the first period of extra-time to open the scoring, firing past onrushing goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez, before making it 2-0 few moments later.

The youngster beat the offside trap and calmly tapped into an empty net a shot from Jimmy Medranda. Daniel Salloi added another goal three minutes after the break to end Dallas' hopes of fighting back.

“When you've got something to prove, there's nothing greater than a challenge.

“Let me use this platform to say a very big thank you to head coach Kwesi Appiah and Mr Joe Addo, for the wonderful visit today," Blessing posted on his official Facebook page.

“Your presence at the stadium today was huge for me. I scored two goals tonight and I'm really excited about it. It's God,” he added.

The two clubs finished the game with ten men each after Maximiliano Urruti also received two yellow cards during the extra time period.

Blessing has now scored three goals in competitions.