Sporting Kansas City welcomes the New York Red Bulls to Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., on Tuesday in a match that features Major League Soccer’s top two teams from 2013.
The match will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes with coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.
Tuesday’s match will be the 44th consecutive sellout crowd at Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets are still available – including standing-room only tickets – and are available for purchase at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL. The first 15,000 fans through the gates will receive a replica MLS Cup championship ring.
Sporting KC and New York are both experiencing a short turnaround as Sporting KC played Toronto FC at home on Friday night and New York was host of the Portland Timbers at Red Bull Arena on Saturday.
Sporting Kansas City striker Dom Dwyer scored twice in the club’s 2-2 draw with Toronto FC and sits atop the MLS goals chart along with fellow Englishman and New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips. Dwyer and Wright-Phillips each have 10 goals this season heading into Tuesday’s Eastern Conference match.
Dwyer has scored in Sporting KC’s last four matches, a feat only Preki (1996) and Eddie Johnson (2007) have accomplished in the team’s 19-year-history. With a goal against New York, Dwyer will surpass Johnson and join Preki as only the second Kansas City player to score in five straight matches. Wright-Phillips also scored in his team’s last outing, a 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers. New York has not lost three consecutive matches since June 2013 and have not lost four straight since 2009.
Tuesday will be Sporting KC’s sixth of seven matches in a 28-day span. The Red Bulls will play their fifth of five games during that same time frame.
The last time these two clubs met, New York defeated Sporting KC 3-2 at Sporting Park with goals from Jonny Steele, Fabian Espindola and Lloyd Sam. Sporting KC’s Dwyer also tallied in that match, marking the first goal of his MLS career. Sam leads New York in assists this season with five.
Another scoring threat for the visitors will be Designated Player Thierry Henry, who heads into Tuesday’s match with three goals and four assists. Since the start of the 2011 MLS regular season, Henry ranks third with 42 goals in 88 starts. In seven matches against Sporting KC, Henry has zero goals and one assist.
After the conclusion of Tuesday’s match, fans are welcome down to the pitch to watch Matt Besler, Graham Zusi and the U.S. Men’s National Team face Azerbaijan. The match will be shown on the Sporting KC videoboard as well as in the Boulevard Members Club. The friendly is part of the Send-Off Series as the USMNT prepares for this summer’s World Cup in Brazil.
– Information from Sporting KC