Category: Sporting KC

Today’s match at Real Salt Lake will determine playoff seed for Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City (11-6-3, 36 points) will play for a No. 1 seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs on Sunday when the club ventures west to face rivals Real Salt Lake (5-9-7, 22 points) in a pivotal regular season finale as part of MLS Decision Day 2020.

Sunday’s showdown at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, is slated for 5:30 p.m. with three hours of live programming on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports GO. The game will also air locally on ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM, while viewers outside of the FOX Sports Midwest footprint can stream the action on ESPN Plus.

MLS Decision Day 2020 will see all 26 clubs close the curtains on an unprecedented campaign that began over eight months ago on Feb. 29.

Sporting Kansas City currently occupies first place in the West based on points per game, the all-important metric that will decide seeding for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.

With 36 points from 20 matches, Sporting sits on 1.8 points per game and can clinch first place in the West with a win on Sunday.

Manager Peter Vermes’ men can also finish atop the standings regardless of their result if the second-place Portland Timbers and third-place Seattle Sounders FC both fail to win their games against LAFC and San Jose Earthquakes.

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, has already been eliminated from playoff contention and will therefore embrace the spoiler role this weekend.

Sporting will enter Sunday on plenty of rest, having played most recently on Oct. 28 in a 1-0 road triumph against FC Cincinnati. Last weekend’s regular season home finale versus Minnesota United FC was canceled due to two positive COVID-19 cases within the Minnesota team.

On the opposite sideline, Real Salt Lake took a 2-1 away loss to the LA Galaxy on Sunday — a result that officially dropped head coach Freddy Juarez’s side from the playoff picture.

No team had more wins (five) or points (16) during the month of October than Sporting, which claimed five regular season victories in a single month for the first time since April 2000.

Alan Pulido, Gadi Kinda, Johnny Russell and Erik Hurtado all played major roles in attack, while backline depth was also on display with solid performances from Andreu Fontas, Jaylin Lindsey, Amadou Dia, Winston Reid and Roberto Puncec, who has gone the full 90 minutes in all six shutout efforts this season. Between the posts, goalkeeper Tim Melia has posted three shutouts during a 5-1-1 stretch that began on Oct. 3.

Vermes confirmed in a press conference on Friday that Pulido — who has tabbed six goals and five assists during an excellent debut campaign — is week-to-week with a knee injury.

However, Sporting boasts one of the deepest and most balanced attacks in the league, as it is one of just three clubs to have five players with four or more goals this season. This approach has helped Sporting make a remarkable jump in 2020 after the club finished 11th in the West last year and missed the postseason for the first time since 2010.

After collecting 10 wins during a 34-game regular season in 2019, Sporting has eclipsed that total with 11 wins in 20 matches this year. Vermes has notably become the first head coach in MLS history to lead a single club to the playoffs nine times. He has led Kansas City to three previous first-place conference finishes in 2011, 2012 and 2018.

RSL is 1-5-1 in its last seven games dating back to the start of October and will be without chief playmaker Albert Rusnak on Sunday after he was permitted to join Slovakia for a crucial European Championship qualifier against Ireland. Juarez figures to lean heavily on the likes of Damir Kreilach (eight goals) and veteran center back Nedum Onuoha as well as a talented homegrown contingent that includes Justen Glad, Donny Toia, Aaron Herrera and Corey Baird.

Sporting and RSL have developed a rivalry over the last decade, squaring off in a number of high-stakes encounters. MLS Cup 2013 notably saw Sporting defeat RSL on penalty kicks at Children’s Mercy Park, but Vermes’ team also ousted RSL in the 2018 Western Conference Semifinals as well as the 2015 and 2018 editions of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Despite its superiority in the most important fixtures between the clubs, Sporting has struggled in recent regular season meetings. RSL is 8-2-5 in the regular season series since 2014, although the most recent battle did see Sporting prevail 2-0 thanks to goals from Russell and Gerso Fernandes on July 22 at the MLS is Back Tournament in Walt Disney World.

Sporting is 0-5-2 in its last seven regular season trips to Rio Tinto Stadium and hasn’t claimed a league win at the venue since July 2013.

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Sporting’s home finale Sunday canceled because two Minnesota players have COVID-19

Major League Soccer announced today that Sporting Kansas City’s regular season home match against Minnesota United FC on Sunday, Nov. 1, at Children’s Mercy Park has been canceled.

The cancellation follows confirmed positive COVID-19 tests to two Minnesota United FC players this week. Due to the limited number of match dates available prior to Decision Day on Nov. 8, the match will not be rescheduled, according to the announcement.

Sporting Kansas City season ticket members who used credit for tickets to Sunday’s match will have that credit refunded into their accounts for future use. Additionally, all single-game buyers who purchased tickets to the game via SeatGeek will be refunded in full.

As confirmed earlier this week, multiple clubs will finish the season without playing the full 23 scheduled matches due to disruptions from COVID-19. As such, qualification for the MLS Cup Playoffs will be determined by points earned on a per match basis, or points per game.

Sporting Kansas City has clinched a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs and currently occupies second place in the Western Conference with 1.8 points per game. The top four finishers in the West will have homefield advantage in the first round of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, which will unfold in a single-elimination, bracket-style format through MLS Cup on Dec. 12.

Sporting Kansas City will conclude its regular season campaign next Sunday, Nov. 8, visiting rivals Real Salt Lake in a 5:30 p.m. kickoff at Rio Tinto Stadium. More information about playoff dates and tickets for potential playoff matches at Children’s Mercy Park will be released in the near term.

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Sporting KC clinches berth in playoffs with 1-0 win over Cincinnati

Second-half substitute Roger Espinoza scored a pivotal goal on Wednesday night as Sporting Kansas City (11-6-3, 36 points) clinched a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs following a 1-0 road victory over FC Cincinnati (4-13-4, 16 points) at Nippert Stadium in Ohio.

The result guarantees Sporting Kansas City a top-eight finish in the Western Conference and vaults the club back into first place with two scheduled matches remaining in the regular season.

Espinoza’s decisive strike, coupled with two saves from history-making goalkeeper Tim Melia, helped Sporting eclipse their regular season win total from 2019 and improved the team’s record to 5-1-1 during the month of October.

Under the guidance of manager Peter Vermes, Sporting Kansas City has sealed a return to the postseason after their club-record eight-year playoff streak from 2011-2018 ended last year.

Vermes, who has led the club to the 2013 MLS Cup title and three Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championships, becomes the first head coach in MLS history to reach the playoffs nine times with a single club.

Four days removed from his team’s impressive 4-0 defeat of the Colorado Rapids at Children’s Mercy Park, Vermes made two changes to the Sporting Kansas City lineup as homegrown midfielder Felipe Hernandez replaced Espinoza and forward Khiry Shelton stepped in for the rested Gianluca Busio.

The first 45 minutes unfolded in pedestrian fashion as both sides combined for a single shot on target.

Sporting survived a scare in the early stages, however, when Cincinnati winger Jurgen Locadia burst down the left channel and cut the ball back across the box. Joseph Claude-Gyau had space to unleash a first-time effort, but his shot was scuffed and Siem de Jong’s redirected strike carried well over the crossbar.

Having scored in Saturday’s win over Colorado, striker Alan Pulido manufactured Sporting’s first chance in the 29th minute by charging into the attacking third and spreading a clever pass left to Hernandez, who fended off a challenge from Zico Bailey but was unable to steer his attempt goalward.

On the brink of intermission, Melia etched his name into the record books. Locadia raced onto a well-weighted Haris Medunjanin through ball and pulled the trigger with his left peg, but Melia produced a fine stop at the near post to keep the game scoreless.

In doing so, the 34-year-old passed club legend Tony Meola for first on Sporting’s all-time chart with 508 saves in the regular season.

The visitors showed increased aggression after the restart as Vermes subbed Espinoza and winger Gerso Fernandes into the contest.

Gerso nearly had an instant impact on proceedings, volleying high after Johnny Russell nodded Amadou Dia’s chipped delivery back across the face of goal.

Vermes’ halftime switch paid dividends in the 57th minute when Espinoza fired Sporting into the lead.

The play opened up thanks to an inch-perfect through ball from Kinda that set Pulido free down the left side of the penalty area. The Mexican coolly squared the ball to an open Espinoza, whose left-footed strike beat Cincinnati goalkeeper Spencer Richey.

Espinoza tallied his second goal of the season on the play, while Pulido recorded his team-leading fifth assist.

Cincinnati was awarded a golden opportunity on the hour mark when rookie Frankie Amaya won his team a penalty kick after drawing a foul on Roberto Puncec. VAR Hilario Grajeda prompted referee David Gantar to review the play for a potential handball on Amaya just before the foul took place, but the call stood and de Jong stepped to the spot with intentions of drawing Cincinnati level.

He smacked his attempt off the left post and back out, keeping the hosts off the scoreboard as Melia dropped his remarkable penalty goals conceded percentage to 53.8% — the lowest in MLS history among keepers with at least 10 penalties faced.

The final half-hour packed plenty of action, with Russell almost catching Richey off his line via an audacious long-range free kick in the 65th minute.

A few moments later, Richey sprawled left to parry aside Espinoza’s missile through traffic, denying the Honduran his first MLS brace. The Cincinnati gloveman delivered another stop on 72 minutes, punching away a thunderous Pulido free kick.

With 87 minutes on the clock, and just seconds after Russell’s shot near the top of the box trickled wide, Cincinnati went incredibly close to salvaging a point in the club’s final regular season match at Nippert Stadium.

Substitute forward Brandon Vazquez turned past his defender and unfurled a shot from the right side of the box, but Melia got the slightest of touches on the ball as it caromed off the near post and skipped out of play.

One point ahead of second-place Seattle Sounders FC in the West, Sporting Kansas City will return to Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday to play Minnesota United FC in the club’s final regular season home match at Children’s Mercy Park. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. with tickets available at SeatGeek.com and live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports GO, ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM.

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