Sporting Kansas City (5-4-2) plays host to Eastern Conference opponent Toronto FC (4-4-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.
The match will be broadcast on KMCI 38 The Spot and SKCTV with coverage beginning at 7 p.m., as well as on Univision Deportes nationally in Spanish. A limited number of tickets are available for fans to view the match live from Sporting Park and those can be obtained by visiting Ticketmaster.com.
Friday’s match is one of seven in the month of May for manager Peter Vermes’ side and the first of two at home during a five-day span. Sporting KC will welcome the New York Red Bulls at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Sporting Park in a clash of the top two teams from the 2013 MLS regular season.
Heading into Friday’s contest, Sporting KC sits in third place of the Eastern Conference despite dropping back-to-back matches for the first time since August of 2013. Most recently, Sporting KC fell 2-1 at Chicago after conceding two first half goals from the penalty spot and playing a man down for the final 26 minutes of the match.
Dom Dwyer put the visitors on the board with his 68th minute goal, just four minutes after 17-year-old centerback Erik Palmer-Brown was ejected for his second yellow card. Palmer-Brown became the youngest player in MLS history to start a match on defense and will miss Friday’s match as he serves his mandatory one-game suspension.
Dwyer leads Sporting KC in goals this season with eight, one behind League leader Bradley Wright-Phillips (9) for goals scored in MLS in 2014.
Toronto FC is seeking its first postseason berth in 2014 and was extremely active in the offseaon after the hiring of new general manager Tim Bezbatchenko, who spent the past three years as the senior director of player relations and competition with MLS. Bezbatchenko played a major role in acquiring three new designated players: U.S. Men’s National Team standout Michael Bradley, former West Ham United FC striker Jermain Defoe and Brazilian striker Gilberto. Defoe leads the team in goals scored with four this season, including the game-winner in Toronto FC’s 2-0 victory on Saturday over the New York Red Bulls, while Gilberto is seeking his first goal of the season.
U.S. Soccer announced its final roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Thursday, with Bradley selected alongside Sporting KC’s Matt Besler and Graham Zusi on the 23-player squad. All three are with the National Team in Palo Alto, Calif., and will be unavailable for Friday’s MLS match-up.
– Information from Sporting KC