Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes moved into a tie with Bob Gansler as the all-time winningest coach in club history with a 3-1 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday at BMO Field.
Benny Feilhaber and Krisztian Nemeth tallied their team-leading eighth goals of the season, while Jacob Peterson struck against his former side for the second straight year as Sporting Kansas City overcame the absences of Roger Espinoza, Dom Dwyer and Graham Zusi to remain unbeaten versus Eastern Conference opponents (6-0-2) in 2015.
Vermes earned the 86th regular season win and 108th victory across all competition of his coaching career, equaling the club marks held by his former coach.
Gansler served as manager of the U.S. MNT at the 1990 FIFA World Cup and later led KC to all three major domestic titles with Supporters Shield (2000), MLS Cup (2000) and U.S. Open Cup (2004) championships.
Sporting KC kicked off a stretch of five games in 15 days with a lineup that featured 21-year-old Jimmy Medranda making his first start at left back on a backline tasked with containing Major League Soccer’s leading scorer, Sebastian Giovinco, as well as the U.S. MNT duo of Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley.
Medranda proved up to the task, winning all six of his tackles – a game-high among Saturday’s starters – to go along with six recoveries and five interceptions in the match.
In the lone meeting between the cross-conference foes, Feilhaber and Giovinco took center stage as Major League Soccer’s mid-season frontrunners for Most Valuable Player.
Feilhaber created two early chances for the visitors, testing Joe Bendik with a free kick in the seventh minute and then connecting with Chance Myers two minutes laters with a cross that was headed just over the crossbar.
Myers, making back-to-back MLS starts for the first time since returning from injury, was again involved in the attack in the 13th minute and came within inches of burying a Goal of the Year worthy volley.
Medranda took three touches, all without the ball hitting the ground, and delivered a pinpoint pass with the final touch that was met by Myers with a right-footed volley that whistled just wide of the post.
Sporting Kansas City continued to cause problems for the Toronto FC defense in the 19th minute. Amid a goalmouth scramble, Ahmed Kantari did well to twice block attempts by Nemeth and Paulo Nagamura then Bendik was at his best to deny Connor Hallisey from close range with a sprawling stop.
The offensive pressure paid off in the aftermath of the ensuing corner kick when Kantari fouled Kevin Ellis inside the penalty area and Toronto FC conceded their League-leading eighth penalty kick of the season.
Feilhaber converted his fourth penalty kick of the season, sending Bendik the wrong direction and giving Sporting KC a 1-0 advantage away from home.
The lead was shortlived, however, as Toronto FC responded with the game-tying goal just 16 seconds after the resulting kickoff.
Bradley and Giovinco combined on a give-and-go to cap off a nine-pass scoring sequence with Bradley’s third goal of the year and Giovinco’s 11th assist of the campaign.
Feilhaber pulled Sporting KC back into the lead by winning a free kick and then delivering the game-winning assist on the subsequent set piece in the 29th minute.
His service was driven low toward the top of the penalty area, where Nemeth miraculously managed to float a flicked header from 15 yards out beneath the crossbar and beyond the outstretched arm of Bendik.
The assist moves Feilhaber atop the MLS chart with 12 on the season, five of which have from set play – tying the World Cup veteran with Brad Davis for most in MLS.
Moreover, Sporting KC leads all MLS teams with 12 assists from set play, 50 chances created from set play and 10 headed goals in 2015.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia made four saves on Saturday with his first coming in the 35th minute to tip away Bradley’s dipping shot from distance.
Collen Warner’s header carried wide on the corner that followed and the former first-round pick again saw his header flash narrowly off target on another corner in the 62nd minute.
Toronto FC’s endeavor for an equalizer would have come to fruition with 10 minutes remaining if not for Melia, who was called into action to make three saves in a 30-second span.
Daniel Lovitz’s header was pushed over the crossbar in the 79th minute, a simple save in comparison to the back-to-back stops Melia made moments later.
Jackson swerved a shot from the edge of the penalty area that was destined to nestle inside the post until Melia drove low to his right with a one-handed save, then recovered instantly to block the follow-up effort from Kantari.
Undeterred, Toronto FC were poised to capitalize seconds later when Giovinco’s cross found Altidore unmarked for a free header at the top of the six-yard box only for the Designated Player’s header to bounce wide of frame.
Though Sporting KC would be held to only one shot in the second half, Peterson made the most of the opportunity and sealed the victory in the 87th minute with his first MLS goal since netting the game-winner at BMO Field last July.
Peterson, making his 100th appearance for Sporting KC in all competition, put the finishing touch on an impressive 12-pass build up in which eight different SKC players – all but the team’s goalkeeper and two central defenders – played a part, including an assist from Amobi Okugo on his debut as a second-half substitute.
Sporting Kansas City will now return home to play host to Real Salt Lake at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Sporting Park in the semifinals of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Tickets for the knockout match are available via Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL.
– Story from Sporting KC