Sporting Top New York

Sporting KC got their first win of their preseason yesterday against the New York Red Bulls 3-0. With the Red Bulls facing off against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday all of New York's starters have returned to New York to prepare for that game. That left the Red Bulls lineup with end of the roster players, trialists, and unsigned draft picks to take on Sporting KC.

Sporting started the game with what looks to be the club's starting 11 heading into the season with Graham Zusi at right back and Latif Blessing starting on the wing. KC controlled the game as expected with their starting 11 and created a number of chances but couldn't beat the Red Bulls defense. It took a foul by goalkeeper Rafael Diaz in the box on Dom Dwyer as he broke behind the Red Bulls defense to open the scoring. Dwyer stepped up to take the penalty and put it in off the post to put KC up in the 31st minute.

Sporting's starters stayed in the game through the half time break, playing a full hour, but were unable to extend their lead. After the full changes, Sporting's reserves continued to dominate the game, Daniel Salloi hit the cross bar in the 79th minute after some good work down the middle of the field. KC got their insurance in the 82nd minute when Salloi played a ball across the box towards Jimmy Medranda. The Colombian dummied the ball, letting it run through his legs to Cameron Porter who took a touch and fired a shot from a tight angle that beat goalkeeper Evan Louro high to make it 2-0. Four minutes later KC added a third as a corner by Medranda was flicked towards goal by a Red Bulls defender. Louro and Soony Saad both challenged for it, Louro got a touch on it but Salloi was following the play and headed the ball into the net to make it 3-0. Saad had a late chance to make it 4-0 in the 90th minute, his curlin free kick beat Louro, but couldn't beat the far post, where it hit the elbow of the goal.

The 3-0 win though was convincing, Sporting will finish up pool play of the Desert Diamond Cup on Wednesday against the New England Revolution.

Melia Carries Sporting to Three Points

Sporting KC's Tim Melia continued his good run of form in the early 2016 MLS season with a six save performance, including a penalty kick stop as Kansas City topped the New York Red Bulls 2-0 at Red Bull Arena. Kansas City took advantage of lax New York defending and the counter attack to score their two goals and to give Melia the offensive support that he needed to help KC to get all three point. Unfortunately it wasn't all good news for Kansas City as they were forced to use all three substitutions on injuries tonight with Kevin Ellis, Chance Myers, and Roger Espinoza all leaving the game due to injuries.

The two teams went back for forth early on with Connor Hallisey putting an effort wide of goal on the volley after a cross from Benny Feilhaber. Ten minutes later, Lloyd Sam fired a deflected effort that went just wide of Tim Melia's near post to keep the game tied at 0-0. Three minutes later though KC grabbed the lead as Sporting struck on a perfect counter. Dom Dwyer held up a long ball up to him before playing it through to Graham Zusi who was running through. With the leading goal, KC had to deal with mounting pressure from the Red Bulls as New York threw numbers forward. Melia was called into action to make saves on the likes of Sam and Bradley Wright-Phillips to keep the Red Bulls off the board. KC suffered their first injury sub in the 42nd minute when Kevin Ellis had to leave the game with a groin injury, replaced by Ike Opara. Ellis was having trouble even walking on his own after picking up the injury. In first half stoppage time the Red Bulls had another good chance as Sacha Kljestan played the ball through to Sean Davis who blasted a shot off the post and the rebound was fired over the goal.

Early in the second half Kansas City was forced to make another substitution due to injury as Chance Myers had to sub out for Saad Absdul-Salaam. Abdul-Salaam made a fairly quick contribution to the game in the 60th minute when he helped set up KC's second goal. On a throw in for KC, Abdul-Salaam threw the ball into the box toward Dwyer and Chris Duvall. No other New York player broke to the ball and it was allowed to bounce in the box.Dwyer held off Duvall as the ball bounced past the pair and Dwyer fired the ball inside the near post to double Kansas City's lead. The two goal lead looked like it'd only stand a few minutes when Ike Opara was called for a hand ball when a cross by Sam was blocked by Opara's hand. Wright-Phillips stepped up to take the penalty kick but Melia came up with a big save, diving to his right side to knock away the shot and keep KC up by 2-0. Melia continued to come up with big saves on the likes of Mike Grella and Wright-Phillips as Kansas City got back to their winning ways and moved to 4-1 on the season.

Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Came up with six saves, including one on a penalty kick, Melia had another big game for Kansas City.

Honorable Mention - Graham Zusi

Player Ratings - Melia 9, Dia 6, Ellis 6, Coelho 7, Myers 6, Olum 6, Espinoza 7, Feilhaber 6, Zusi 8, Dwyer 7, Hallisey 5.Subs: Opara 7, Abdul-Salaam 6, Medranda NR.

Match Day 5: Another Match Up of Depleted Sides

For the second straight week Sporting KC will play a game with an injury depleted side against a team that is suffering from injury issues of their own. Kansas City travel to New York to take on the injury depleted New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. It's a match up of teams with opposite records at this early point of the season with KC sitting at 3-1 while the Red Bulls currently have a 1-3 record.

The Red Bulls injuries issues start in defense where they are without potentially three starters as well as another back up center back. Three center backs look set to be out again for New York through injuries, Damien Perrinelle, Gideon Bah, and Ronald Zubar all look like they could miss out for the Red Bulls. Last week they played outside backs Karl Ouimette and Connor Lade at center back. The defensive issues though got worst as outside back Kemar Lawrence left the Red Bulls game last week against New England with a knee injury and is now doubtful for tomorrow's game. The defensive issues have led the Red Bulls to allow a league high nine goals in their first four games of the season. Offensively their leading scorer, Bradley Wright-Phillips has yet to get off the mark this season for the Red Bulls.

Kansas City's injury issues continue to mount as well. Defensively Matt Besler has yet to clear the league's concussion protocols, meaning he'll miss this weekend's game as well. The club also had another player pick up a concussion, Brad Davis will miss the game because of the concussion. Also missing tomorrow's game will be midfielder Soni Mustivar who picked up a hamstring injury. This will force more changes to the KC lineup, and questions of whether KC will go with someone like Lawrence Olum to replace Mustivar or whether Benny Feilhaber or Jordi Quintilla slide back into a more "deep playmaker" role that Feilhaber played at times last year. The good news for the midfield is that KC will welcome back Roger Espinoza, who missed last week due to a red card suspension. His absence was very apparent last week against Real Salt Lake.

Hallisey - Dwyer - Zusi

Feilhaber - Espinoza

Quintilla

Dia - Ellis - Coelho - Myers

Melia

Number to Remember - 0 - That's the number of wins that Kansas City has in their last six games against New York across all competitions. KC has gone 0-4-2 in those games, including a 2-1 playoff loss in 2014. The last win came back in 2013, a 1-0 win at Red Bull Arena with Aurelien Collin scoring the goal for KC.

Key Match Up - Kevin Ellis vs Bradley Wright-Phillips - The New York forward has yet to score a goal this season something that can't last forever. Kansas City will need to try to shut down Wright-Phillips who has scored six goals over the course of KC's current six game winless streak against the Red Bulls. Against Salt Lake Nuno Coelho was trying to do too much in the absence of Besler, hopefully with an extra week of working with Ellis, the pair will be able to work better together and keep Wright-Phillips in check.

PREDICTION - New York is certainly allowing a fair number of goals right now, allowing nine through their first four games, but KC really struggled to in terms of creating chances against Real Salt Lake last week, not even recording a shot until almost first half stoppage time. With another makeshift back line in front of their attack, hopefully KC can put together more in terms of offense. On the other end, Espinoza's return should help to protect the back line a little bit more, as his bite in the midfield was sorely missed. The question is whether Mustivar's replacement can fill his role well enough. I'm just not sure that KC is clicking enough offensively to get the win tomorrow, even though the Red Bulls are struggling.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
NYRB - 1 (Wright-Phillips)

What We Want to Happen Today 9/25

Wednesday beside KC losing, Montreal won too, basically guaranteeing the top six teams in the Eastern Conference. It also allowed Montreal to close the gap on KC, which really only matters for MLS Cup hosting should KC find a way to make it. There's one MLS game tonight that could have some bearing on Sporting KC's season, but likely won't.

Orlando at New York
What we want to happen - Orlando win.

Orlando City is close to elimination from the playoff race, with Montreal four points clear and two games in hand Orlando doesn't have much time to make up the gap, and they'd need help to do it. That said, if they can win on the road tonight, they'll be helping KC out a little when it comes to MLS Cup hosting, as New York is four points clear of them. It's a very tall order for not only Orlando, but for KC to also catch the Red Bulls anyway.

Same Old Issues Arise in Sporting Draw with New York

It's a new year for Sporting KC, but it's the same old problems that came up again in their 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls Sunday at Sporting Park. Kansas City had 18 shots yesterday, just four of those 18 ended up being on goal, just 22%, and just one goal as KC played to a 1-1 draw, closing the game with just 10 men after Matt Besler was sent off for two cautionable offenses.

KC had some good early pressure in the first half forcing an early corner that almost led to the first regular season goal in Seth Sinovic's career. Graham Zusi played the corner short to Sinovic who was near the top of the box, he faced up and fired a low shot towards the far corner, but New York goalkeeper, Luis Robles got down well and pushed the shot away denying Sinovic the goal. Overall though other than that chance, both teams really struggled to create clear chances in the first half an hour or so with a lot of the play taking place around the middle of the field. New York really lacked for chances in the first half, their best coming on a break when Bradley Wright-Phillips received a ball over the top and touched it into the path of Felipe. The ball was too far in front of him though and Luis Marin was able to get quickly off his line and block Felipe's effort without it posing a ton of danger. Neither team really offered much in the first half as both teams still appeared to be in preseason mode feeling each other out.

The second half saw both teams pick up their level of play, and just five minutes into the half KC had jumped on top. After a corner by KC was partially cleared, KC kept the Red Bulls pinned in their own end. The ball eventually made it back wide to Benny Feilhaber who played a nice cross into the middle where Ike Opara came running in unmarked and headed the ball past Robles and into the net. The lead didn't last long though as minutes later, New York was level through Lloyd Sam. KC's midfield of Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber, and Krisztian Nemeth had done well in preseason in covering for each other and limiting space, but last night there were all kinds of openings there as neither Espinoza nor Feilhaber really sat back to help defensively. This allowed a through ball by Felipe to pick out Sam in that space between the midfield and center backs. With the gap, Besler stepped up to challenge Sam, who attacked at Besler as the defender was already on a yellow card at that time. Besler pushed back, trying to shadow Sam away from getting a shot away. Sam though cut back on Besler and curled a nice shot into the far corner out of reach of Marin and into the net to tie the game.

Besler wasn't able to avoid the second yellow forever though, and in the 71st minute as New York started to counter, Besler went for a ball that was played in to Wright-Phillips at midfield. Wright-Phillips got to the ball first knocking it ahead up field, Besler went through Wright-Phillips as the ball went away. Certainly a foul, but referee Baldomero Toledo felt it was a tactical foul, giving Besler his second yellow and his marching orders for his second foul of the game.

While New York had the man advantage and the possession after the red card they didn't seriously threaten Marin's goal that much. In fact, it was Kansas City that ended up looking to break more on the counter. In the 88th minute, Dwyer could have won it for KC as Sporting attacked down the right, Feilhaber played a great low cross into the middle for Dwyer, but he couldn't turn his sliding shot on target, pushing it wide of the post keeping the game tied at 1-1. In stoppage time, Dwyer had another great opportunity to score the winner. This time on a long ball over the top, Dwyer got behind his defender and into the box. He shrugged off a challenge from a defender and stayed on his feet before trying to put a shot between Robles' legs. The New York keeper though made the kick save and the rebound was eventually cleaned up by the New York defense as both teams settled for a point.

Overall last night the game looked like two teams playing their first real game, neither team looked like they were firing on all cylinders at any point during the night. In fact that seemed to be true of pretty much every MLS team this past week with one to two exceptions. Dwyer struggled greatly last night, and admitted his failings post game, specifically when it came to his finishing, taking the blame with his two late misses. As I mentioned previously, the midfield wasn't together last night either, without a true defensive midfielder in there, there are big gaps created between the midfield and defense. Maybe it's because over the years I've grown used to seeing the likes of Julio Cesar, Oriol Rosell, and even Lawrence Olum sitting in that hole to help clean up anything that comes through the middle. Last night without it, New York overran KC's midfield until the introduction of Paulo Nagamura helped to settle things down for KC. While Matt Besler's form still doesn't look like it's really picked up, Ike Opara looks like he came in with a chip on his shoulder, last night was a dominate performance from the center back, he read the game well and after Besler went out did a good job of organizing the back line with Feilhaber filling in at center back until Erik Palmer-Brown was subbed on late.

Wizards Man of the Match - Ike Opara - A great run to get into the box to get on the end of Feilhaber's cross to give KC the lead. Did a good job of denying service to Wright-Phillips throughout the night and shut down New York's attack when they were a man up.

Player Ratings: Marin 6, Dia 6, Opara 7, Besler 4, Sinovic 5, Espinoza 4, Feilhaber 6, Nemeth 5, Anor 4, Dwyer 4, Zusi 4. Subs Nagamura 6, Peterson 4, Palmer-Brown NR.

Match Day 1: Sporting KC vs New York Red Bulls

Compared to the offseason ahead of the 2014 MLS season, this past offseason seems like it has dragged on forever for Kansas City. The early playoff exit last season has made for a long offseason, but tomorrow it finally ends when Sporting KC take the field against the New York Red Bulls at Sporting Park. The game is the league's first back on the Fox network after the new deal the league agreed to with Fox and ESPN.

The big story in this game is the turnover from both sides from the end of last season when these teams met twice in a row in the regular season finale and in the playoffs. New York's big departures come in the form of two designated players as both Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill have departed for retirement and China respectively. Meanwhile they've replaced them by bringing in US international, Sacha Kljestan and making Bradley Wright-Phillips a designated player. That's not the only change as the team has replaced head coach, Mike Petke with former Montreal head coach Jesse Marsch.

Kansas City has had plenty of turnover themselves from the team that took the field against these same Red Bulls in the regular season finale last year, and KC's lone playoff game of 2014. The biggest of which is probably the return of Roger Espinoza in the midfield for Kansas City. He'll give KC a more consistent bite than they had last season with Paulo Nagamura who really just struggled to stay healthy again. Meanwhile, KC will have to deal with their center back pairing after the departure of Aurelien Collin to Orlando. So both teams are still working through issues as they head into the season having to adjust after losing key components.

With KC's lineup, the biggest questions have to do with the outside backs. Who plays on the left, is it the veteran Seth Sinovic, or the recently signed Canadian international, Marcel de Jong. And whichever one starts on the left will the other slide right and play the right back spot with Chance Myers still recovering from injury, or will it be Jalil Anibaba or rookie Amadou Dia. A minor follow up question on the line up has to be if Peter Vermes starts Krisztian Nemeth, the Hungarian had a great preseason, spending time in the midfield behind Dom Dwyer. But similar was said about Claudio Bieler last year in the midfield. I think Nemeth playing there is more likely than Bieler was, but will he actually play there? I think at home it's certainly more likely than if KC was opening the season away.

Marin

Dia - Opara - Besler - Sinovic

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Zusi - Nemeth - Anor

Dwyer

Number to Remember - 5 - KC is winless in their last four games against the New York Red Bulls, going 0-4-1 in those games. The team hasn't won against New York since a 1-0 win early in the 2013 MLS season. In those five games, they've gone 0-2-1 at home in that stretch, including the home finale last year when they fell 2-0.

Key Match Up - Opara and Besler vs Bradley Wright-Phillips - On his way to 27 goals last year in league play for the Red Bulls, Wright-Phillips scored six goals in the three match ups against Sporting KC. That's the most goals that KC has allowed by one player in a single season in the team's history. Shutting down the New York DP will be an important part for KC in the new season in their only meeting against the Red Bulls.

PREDICTION - I think KC is going to be a decent team this year, they have improved in the midfield this year with the acquisition of Espinoza while improving their wing play with Anor this year. I think they'll be much more cohesive than the Red Bulls will in the first game of the season. KC should be able to take care of the Red Bulls in the opener, the back line is there to be exposed by Anor, Zusi, and Dwyer with some pace. It'll all come down to whether the defense will be able to hold off Wright-Phillips enough to get the win.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Zusi)
NYRB - 1 (Wright-Phillips)

Sporting to Open 2015 Season at Home

For the first time since the club rebranded as Sporting Kansas City, the team will open the MLS season at home. Today MLS announced the home openers for all the teams, and Kansas City will be opening the season at home on Sunday, March 8th.

Sporting KC will play the New York Red Bulls at Sporting Park in a 6pm kick off to start the season. The game will also be the first MLS game to be shown on Fox Sports 1 with the new television deal kicking in this coming year. It'll be the first chance that fans have the chance to see what Fox is going to do with MLS with the new TV deal. With the game being the first of a double header, the second game being Seattle vs New England, I don't expect Kansas City to get Fox's "A" team for the game.

This will be the third straight game that Sporting will see the New York Red Bulls. Sporting KC ended the regular season against the Red Bulls, losing 2-0 at Sporting Park and then turned around losing 2-1 to the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena in the wildcard round of the playoffs. This will be the fourth time in the last six years, and fifth time overall that Sporting will open a season against a team that they ended the prior season against (2012-2013 Philadelphia Union, 2011-2012 DC United, 2009-2010 DC United, and 1996-1997 San Jose Clash).

Unfortunately, it looks like this will be all we get from the schedule until January when it's rumored the full schedule will be released.

Sporting Fall Late to New York, End Season

Before today's game I had prepared myself for Sporting KC's season to end. Kansas City had struggled with too many injuries and were too worn out from all the missed games. Still, with the season actually ending it's still disappointing, especially with it ending in the manner that it did for Kansas City, with Bradley Wright-Phillips scoring his sixth goal of the season against Kansas City in second half stoppage time to bring New York from a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 win.

Sporting came out with a different strategy than they did for much of the season. Instead of using the high pressure that KC has used for most of Peter Vermes tenure as coach, KC started the game sitting further back, attempting to absorb pressure and tried to hit New York on the counter. This allowed New York a lot of possession and pressure in KC's end of the field. In the 17th minute, Tim Cahill missed an open opportunity after a deflected shot fell to his feet at the top of the six. Cahill though fired the shot over Eric Kronberg's goal as the game stayed tied 0-0. New York kept pressure as Wright-Phillips missed with an open header in the 32nd minute. Thierry Heny also had a chance later in the half, curling a shot wide of Kronberg's far post. Kansas City did start to create some chances of their own on the counter and really should have taken the lead. Dom Dwyer held off Jamison Olave on a long ball from Aurelien Collin. Dwyer was able to get his head up and laid a ball right towards the penalty spot for an on running Paulo Nagamura who fired his shot right at Luis Robles who held on for the save. Shortly after that, CJ Sapong helped to set up Dwyer with a similar pass, but Dwyer's effort was blocked out for a corner by Olave as the two teams went into the half time break tied at 0-0.

Early in the second half the Red Bulls again had a great opportunity. Off a long set piece into the box, Kronberg came out attempting to punch the ball away, but only put it into the path of Dax McCarty. With the goal wide open though, McCarty put his header from the top of the box wide of the KC goal. Kronberg was making a habit of coming off of his line a lot in the game trying to keep New York from getting open headers or chances in the box. With all the pressure seeming to be coming from New York, it was actually KC that grabbed the lead in the 53rd minute. After a restart the Red Bulls were slowly, almost lazily bringing the ball up field. Henry played the ball into the center circle for Eric Alexander who was pressured by Dwyer. Alexander's touch took the ball right into the path of Benny Feilhaber who was racing to help Dwyer pressure the Red Bulls midfielder. Feilhaber won the ball and raced down field in a 2v4 situation. With both McCarty and Olave looking to close him down, Feilhaber slid a ball against the flow of the players into the path of Dwyer who one timed his shot past Robles and into the net to make it 1-0 KC. The Red Bulls almost responded immediately with Alexander making amends. An Henry cross was headed back across goal by Lloyd Sam for Alexander, but Matt Besler did a good job recovering to knock the ball wide for a corner. Just when it started to look like KC might hold on, New York scored. A ball was played in to substitute, Peguy Luyindula. Luyindula took a touch and turned on Jorge Claros to face up field. KC right back Kevin Ellis immediately pushed up to pressure the ball leaving Henry alone. Ellis pushing up allowed Luyindula to play the ball through to Henry beating Claros, Ellis, and Graham Zusi who was also there in one pass. Henry ran onto the ball as it went towards the end line with Collin sliding over to cover him. This led to Wright-Phillips being unmarked and Besler being stuck between two Red Bulls attackers. Henry picked out Wright-Phillips who fired a shot that went through Besler's legs and past Kronberg and into the net to tie the game. With the game tied, New York continued to pressure, finding chances. In the 90th minute, New York found a winner, a lofted ball into the box by Ambroise Oyongo was headed into net by Wright-Phillips for his second of the game. Like on New York's first goal there were plenty of defensive break downs as Besler appeared to make a run to the near post, expecting Wright-Phillips to continue his run. Collin, who was behind Wright-Phillips didn't make a play for the ball, and Kronberg, who'd been coming for everything all night decided that this was a good time to stay home. Wright-Phillips headed the ball towards the back post where it hit off the post and went into the net giving New York the lead. KC tried to find chances late, but couldn't and ended up seeing their title defense fall at the first hurdle in the playoffs.

Wizards Man of the Match - Benny Feilhaber - If only for the assist to Dwyer which was an absolute thing of beauty that I will be watching all offseason as a way to help me cope.

Player Ratings - Kronberg 2, Ellis 2, Collin 2, Besler 3, Sinovic 3, Claros 3, Nagamura 4, Feilhaber 5, Sapong 3, Dwyer 5, Zusi 3. Subs Peterson NR.

Match Day Playoffs: Win or Go Home

Sporting Kansas City has played themselves into a difficult situation in the playoffs this year. After winning just two of their final 10 games, Sporting fell all the way into fifth place in the East and now head out on the road for the play in game against the New York Red Bulls. Sporting finished the season with a 0-2-1 record against New York drawing 1-1 in KC early in the season before falling 2-1 in New York and 2-0 in KC in the season finale.

New York has been good at home this year, losing only three times at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls will also be welcoming back their team captain, Thierry Hery, who missed the team's season finale in KC with an injury. While Henry has 10 goals this year, it's been his assists that have really gotten New York going this year.  Henry has pitched in 14 assists this year for New York. Many of those assists have gone to Bradley Wright-Phillips who scored both goals in Sunday's win in KC. He's also scored four of the five goals for New York against KC this year (Henry scored the other).

Kansas City continues to limp through the late stages of the season. Although they may get a bit of a boost as both Benny Feilhaber and Igor Juliao who were injured in Costa Rica, traveled to New York for tomorrow's game. They're still day-to-day, but with the season on the line seeing them play would not be out of the question at all. There are questions with the rest of KC's lineup as well. With more rest I doubt both Jacob Peterson and Sal Zizzo go on the wings for KC, even if Feilhaber can't go. Toni Dovale has been the better winger for KC and provides more to the offense than those two do. The other big question is who starts in the defensive midfield position for KC, whether it is Lawrence Olum who was removed after only 30 minutes on Sunday, or Jorge Claros, who returns from his 3 game suspension for inappropriate comments.

Kronberg

Ellis - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Claros - Nagamura

Zusi

Dovale - Dwyer - Peterson

Number to Remember - 0 - That's the number of wins New York has at home in the playoffs at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls are 0-4 in the playoffs at home since the stadium opened.

Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin/Matt Besler vs Bradley Wright-Phillips/Thierry Henry - New York's two strikers have all five of New York's goals against KC this year. They'll be going up against a central defense that is tired (Besler) and out of form (Collin). KC's center backs need to pick up their game at this point. The question is whether they'll be able to after the seasons they've had.

PREDICTION - KC really does look like a broken and beaten team at this point. The team looks worn out after a season that has forced role players to become every day starters. Now they're going to play their fourth game in 13 days in four different cities. Peter Vermes has done a lot with the team this season to get what he got out of it with all the injuries and call ups, but I don't think this team has a playoff run in them. And after tonight's Royals game, hopefully it's easier to deal with.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
NY - 2 (Wright-Phillips x2)

Sporting Loss Sees them Drop to the Fifth Seed

Sporting Kansas City's late season form continued to hurt them on Sunday at home against the New York Red Bulls as Sporting fell 2-0 at home to New York, dropping them from the third seed to the fifth seed, meaning a trip to New York on Thursday in an attempt to make the conference semifinals.

Kansas City came out with some fire looking to strike early. Dom Dwyer got played in with space behind New York in the eighth minute, but had his shot saved by Luis Robles and got cleared for a throw. Unfortunately for KC it'd really be their only shot on goal in the first half. KC had another opportunity in the 10th as Jacob Peterson played a decent lofted ball in to the back post for Kevin Ellis, but the right back put his effort over the bar giving New York a goal kick. In the 15th minute, Kansas City paid for not making more of the earlier opportunities as Bradley Wright-Phillips got played in behind KC's defense and beat Eric Kronberg to give New York the lead. Eric Alexander picked out the Golden Boot winner with a nice through ball that Ellis couldn't get a touch on. The Englishman then slotted the ball to the far post giving New York the 1-0 lead. With the lead, New York became the aggressor and KC's defense had to be on alert to keep New York from doubling the lead as Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler stepped up to block efforts from New York's attackers. KC couldn't create enough offensively in the first half to challenge New York, and dug themselves a hole that they'd have to try to dig out of in the second half.

In the second half, New York continued to be the more aggressive side. In the 54th minute they almost grabbed a second as a corner kick played to the back post was headed on goal by Dax McCarthy but Sal Zizzo was on the line to knock the ball away. In the 70th minute, New York doubled their lead. A long ball over the top for Wright-Phillips caused Collin a number of problems as he first tired to hold off the Englishman before losing the ball. Wright-Phillips collected the ball and lost Collin. Wright-Phillips started to attack Besler before cutting back and firing a shot inside the near post of Kronberg to double New York's lead and send KC reeling into the play in game. Down two goals, KC struggled to create opportunities, and it was New York that had the better chances on the counter. Wright-Phillips almost picked up the hattrick in the 83rd as he got played in behind KC's defense, but Kronberg came up with a big save and there was no one in the middle as Wright-Phillips tried to lay the ball off to a teammate. KC never seemed to really threaten the New York net late on as KC fell for the 5th time at home in league play this season, the most since the team rebranded after the 2010 season.

Wizards Man of the Match - None - Really no one stood out at all when it came to their work on the field. No one looked like they wanted to take over and really lift this team when they were struggling to create chances offensively. No one on defense had a shut down defense that stopped the New York attack from going, and no one in the midfield really controlled the game. Overall it just wasn't a great performance.

Player Ratings - Kronberg 4, Ellis 4, Collin 3, Besler 3, Sinovic 3, Olum 1, Nagamura 4, Zusi 4, Peterson 4, Dwyer 3, Zizzo 2. Subs Lopez 3, Dovale 3, Bieler 3.

Match Day 34 - Looking for Some Form

Heading into the final league game of the season Sporting Kansas City is looking to find some semblance of the form that they had earlier in the season and last season. Sporting has really struggled the second half of this season. Of the playoff teams, Kansas City has probably the worst record in the last 10 games, only 3-6-1 in those games heading into tomorrow's game against New York. The game is of huge importance to both teams as both are trying to find a way to finish in third place and avoid next week's play in game. New York needs to win and hop Columbus don't win, while just a win will guarantee the third seed for Kansas City.

New York comes into this game having lost last week to the Columbus Crew  3-1, a disappointing result against a fellow playoff team, especially at home. Like KC, New York had a midweek game, but unlike KC, the game was meaningless for New York who was already eliminated from advancing in the Champions League. Tomorrow's game could very well be a big turning point for New York, it could be the last regular season game in MLS for both Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill as Henry is out of contract and Cahill has been discontent this year, so this could be the final league game for both of New York's DPs. The Red Bulls are still dangerous with the likes of Henry and the likely golden boot winner, Bradley Wright-Phillips.

Kansas City is a hurt, tired, run down team at this point. They'll be playing their third game in nine days in three different cities tomorrow after trips to Philadelphia, San Jose, and Kansas City, at least four players who started in the first two games will likely start the third. There's also the possibility of another player being added to that list if Matt Besler is not able to return. They'll also be going into the game with more injuries, as Benny Feilhaber is set to miss the game after turning his ankle against Saprissa. Kansas City will also have to deal with a makeshift right back as Igor Juliao is suspended and Jacob Peterson will likely be the one to fill in for him.

Kronberg

Peterson - Collin - Ellis - Sinovic

Olum - Nagamura

Zusi

Zizzo - Dwyer - Dovale

Number to Remember - 0 - Since July 19th, when Sporting KC beat Los Angeles 2-1, Sporting KC has gone 0-4-1 against playoff teams (if Vancouver defeates Colorado tonight KC's record will fall to 0-5-1). On the season KC only has four wins in 15 games against playoff teams. Sporting's record has just not been good enough against the top of the table.

Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin/Jacob Peterson vs Bradley Wright-Phillips - I expect Peterson to fill in for the suspended Igor Juliao at right back. Earlier this year in Kansas City, Bradley Wright-Phillips found space between Juliao and Aurelien Collin and was able to exploit it and scored a goal against KC to earn a 1-1 draw. With a player who hasn't spent a lot of time at outside back, Collin is going to need to be communicating with his right back a lot to make sure the two stay in synch.

PREDICTION - New York is not good on the road, with only two wins away from home this year. Meanwhile KC is not that great of a team at home, having a 6-4-6 record at Sporting Park. For me this game has a draw written all over it. Kansas City is going to have a lot of tired legs from Thursday nigh in Costa Rica. That'll lead to some mistakes for the back line. New York though is poor defensively and will leave space for Kansas City to exploit. Unfortunately with all of KC's issues defensively and the makeshift back line, I am not sure that KC is going to be able to stop KC's attack. And with Columbus playing Philadelphia at home I expect these two teams will likely meet again mid-week in the play-in game.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Zusi)
RBNY - 2 (Henry, Wright-Phillips)

Fourth Straight Loss

Sporting Kansas City dropped their fourth game in a row as their current poor run of form continued in New York. For the first time since KC's 4-1 win over Toronto, KC didn't concede three goals, but still fell for the fourth time in a row, allowing the rest of the back in the East to catch up further to KC.

KC probably started the game as best as they have in the this losing streak, pressing the Red Bulls all over the field. But in the ninth minute KC again found themselves in a hole. A goal kick by Luis Robles was flicked on into the path of Bradley Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips was between Matt Besler and Aurelien Collin and started racing towards goal. Besler brought down the leagues leading scorer. The foul from replays looked like it may have started outside the box, but a penalty kick was given to the Red Bulls. On the penalty kick, Andy Gruenebaum guessed right, but Wright-Phillips put the ball into the corner for his 21st of the season making it 1-0 to New York. While behind, KC was able to find some opportunities, hitting New York's high line that they were holding. In the 27th minute, KC should have been level as Dom Dwyer was played in behind New York's defense, but the team's leading goal scorer fired his shot over the bar to keep scorers level. KC continued to keep the play pinned in the New York end for long periods of time and in the 42nd and another opportunity to equalize. A cross into the box by Paulo Nagamura was punched out by Robles, but only as far as Dwyer, who was able to settle and fire a shot on goal, but it was knocked away by the Red Bulls defense. First half stoppage time saw another golden opportunity for KC as Dwyer again was holding right on that last defender. Dwyer again got played in behind, but Robles came up with a big save as the ball went out for a corner kick and the Red Bulls held on into the half time break.

Early in the second half, Sporting KC regretted those missed chances in the first half as Thierry Henry made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute. After receiving the ball near the corner of the box, Henry cut inside and fired a shot that went into the far corner, leaving Andy Gruenebaum with no opportunity to save it. Kansas City though responded immediately via a free kick from Graham Zusi. His free kick went to the far post, where Seth Sinovic headed the ball back into the middle for Dwyer who volleyed the ball home to cut the lead to one. The goal by Dwyer tied the club record for league goals in a season, set by Preki in 1996. KC lacked opportunities really the rest of the way,failing to test Robles much down the stretch. Sinovic almost gifted an own goal shortly after Dwyer's goal, heading a ball back towards Gruenebaum who had come towards the ball. The header went wide for a corner though. While KC pushed the game for an equalizer, they really never found chances and fell to defeat for the fourth time in a row, and fifth time in six games.

Wizards Man of the Match - Dom Dwyer - Was really KC's lone danger man, had all three of KC's shots on goal tonight and had almost a third of their shots. He also tied Preki's club record for goals in a season.

Players ratings - Gruenebaum 5, Juliao 4, Collin 4, Besler 3, Sinovic 4, Olum 3, Nagamura 5, Feilhaber 4, Zusi 4, Dwyer 4, Dovale 4. Subs Zizzo 4, Claros 4, Sapong NR.

Match Day 28 - Trying to End the Streak

Sporting Kansas City's losing streak reached three games against New England on Wednesday, and they won't get time to dwell on it either, because tomorrow KC will face the New York Red Bulls at Red Bulls Arena. KC has had a string of bad performances dating all the way back to the friendly loss to Manchester City. While KC has picked up wins in that stretch (both against Toronto) they've been far from convincing in those games.

New York hasn't been very good themselves lately. Last year's Supporters' Shield winners have fallen to 7th place in the Eastern Conference, but they're only two points outside a playoff spot. They have the league's leading scorer, Bradley Wright-Phillips, who currently has 20 goals on the season, three more than KC's leading scorer, Dom Dwyer. He's been helped out by Thierry Henry who has provided 11 assists this year for the Red Bulls. The Red Bulls will be without one of their two DPs tomorrow though, Tim Cahill is going to miss tomorrow's game as he'll be on international duty with Australia. They'll also be missing defender, Ambroise Oyongo, who is also on international duty. All of Oyongo's 10 appearances have come in New York's last 10 games, he's started nine of them, so both absences will be felt by New York.

Another different lineup from Kansas City in New England didn't change KC's issues getting results. Heading into New York the question is what changes Peter Vermes will make ahead of that game. Two changes expected to be made would be the re-insertion of Dom Dwyer and Benny Feilhaber, who both return from their suspensions due to yellow card accumulation. With another three goals conceded against New England though one has to assume Vermes will look to make changes to the defense again. After the loss Wednesday, Vermes would not confirm whether Aurelien Collin would return tomorrow, making comments about his form. So we could see Lawrence Olum slot in at center back tomorrow. Of the two I personally feel Olum's form has been worse recently, and he should be the one sitting, but Vermes does not seem to agree.

Gruenebaum

Ellis - Olum - Besler - Sinovic

Claros - Steuble

Feilhaber

Dovale - Dwyer - Zusi

Number to Remember - 11 - That's the number of games Kansas City has gone without a shutout. The team's last shutout, was against Portland back on June 27th. That's the longest stretch that Kansas City has gone without a shutout in the Peter Vermes era. The last time KC went this long, was a 13 game streak without a shutout in 2007.

Key Match Up - KC Defense vs Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips - The league's leading scorer and third place in assists goes against a defense that has allowed nine goals in three games. Those two have to be licking their chops at this prospect. The KC defense will need to get their act together quickly.

PREDICTION - You have two forwards in very good form going against a back line completely out of form. This has the set up for another game to be a disaster for Sporting's back line. At this point it's really hard to pinpoint the root cause. Is it all the injuries and changes starting to catch up on KC? Players that weren't expected to play this many minutes (Igor Juliao, Kevin Ellis, Olum) this year starting to hit a wall? Either way KC needs to try to find a way to break this current streak. Unfortunately I'm not sure it happens tomorrow. New York has just two losses at home this season and have been playing well there. I just don't see it with the way that the defense is playing right now.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
NYRB - 2 (Wright-Phillips, Henry)

Will May Just End Already?

Once again the month of May cannot end soon enough for Sporting KC. With a 1-1 draw tonight against the New York Red Bulls, Sporting KC is now an abysmal 3-11-6 in the month of May under Peter Vermes.

Sporting KC started incredibly brightly though, in just the second minute, Igor Juliao made a great run from midfield towards the New York goal. The Brazilian got into the box and chipped Luis Robles from close range, but before the ball crossed the goal line it was cleared away by the New York defense. A few minutes later Sporting had another chance cleared off the line as a Sal Zizzo headed was knocked away. Off the header, KC eventually won a free kick right at the top of the box. Benny Feilhaber stepped up and curled a free kick towards the corner of the net. The ball though hit the underside of the cross bar and bounced back out into play leaving the game still level at 0-0. Finally in the ninth minute Sporting took advantage of their early possession. Again it came from some good dribbling. This time it was Toni Dovale receiving a ball from Feilhaber. Dovale dribbled towards the middle as Dom Dwyer pulled defenders away. Dovale fired a shot that curled into the far corner past Robles and into the net giving KC the deserved 1-0 lead. KC couldn't make much more of their early pressure and the game settled down quite a bit as the half went on. Neither team was really able to test the opposing keeper though.

Early in the second half, the Red Bulls returned the early pressure and found an equalizer in the 50th minute. And they did it with a man advantage after Dwyer went down with a bloody nose after catching an elbow. Thierry Henry dribbled the ball through the middle of the field before playing a ball through for Bradley Wright-Phillips who was held on by Juliao. One v one with Eric Kronberg, Wright-Phillips slotted a ball past him to the far post leveling the game at 1-1 on his 11th goal of the year. New York almost took the lead a couple minutes later on the counter. Eric Alexander tried to pick out Wright-Phillips again but Aurelien Collin cut the ball out. Not enough though as the ball fell to Wright-Phillips who had his shot well saved by Kronberg one v one. New York continued the pressure, winning a free kick at the top of the box after Kronberg touched the ball outside the box, thinking a foul had been called at midfield. The ensuing free kick was headed away by the wall. KC finally started to come into the game a bit more again, Juliao set up a nice chance by Dwyer, but the forward's effort was just over the bar. Dovale and Juliao continued to cause issues down New York's left side. In the 79th Dovale forced a good save out of Robles after winning the ball at the corner of the box and cuting inside. KC continued to search for an winner, but were never able to find the net again as both teams settled for a draw. Both teams extended their winless run to four now.

Wizards Man of the Match - Toni Dovale - Had some of KC's best chances and just looked like a menace on the dribble tonight from KC's right side. He combined well with Juliao and scored his first goal for the club.

Honorable mention - Igor Juliao

Player Ratings - Kronberg 5, Juliao 6, Collin 6, Ellis 6, Sinovic 6, Feilhaber 6, Nagamura 5, Martinez 5, Zizzo 5, Dwyer 5, Dovale 7. Subs Saad 5, Medranda 4.

Match Day 13: Who Needs a Center Back Part 3: Back in Training

There may finally be an end in sight to the current center back crisis for Kansas City. Even though Sporting added another name to the long list of center back injuries, Aurelien Collin was back in training today with an eye towards playing tomorrow against the New York Red Bulls. Collin's return along with Erik Palmer-Brown's return from red card suspension actually gives them two available center backs, which they haven't had since the loss to Philadelphia. The team could also welcome back another center back option, Oriol Rosell who has missed the last two games with a quad strain.

New York heads into tomorrow night's game on a losing streak. The Red Bulls fell on Saturday night at home to the Portland Timbers 2-1, their third loss in a row and second straight at home. Before that they'd lost in Toronto 2-0 and a barnburner 5-4 at home to Chicago. The Red Bulls have the league's joint leading scorer, Bradley Wright-Phillips, who tied Dom Dwyer on Saturday with a penalty kick in the lost to the Red Bulls. The Red Bulls will be without one of their two designated players tomorrow as Tim Cahill has left to join Australia ahead of the World Cup. They'll still have Thierry Henry who is second in both goals and assists for the club at this point.

Getting Collin back would be a huge boost for Sporting, it would certainly take some pressure off of whoever it is that partners him at center back. Whether it's Kevin Ellis, who partnered Chance Myers and Seth Sinovic in KC's 2-2 draw with Toronto, Palmer-Brown, who returns from his red card suspension, or Rosell, who has also missed the last two games with an injury. One thing that KC doesn't appear to have to worry about is forward, where Dom Dwyer continues to find the net and now is tied for the league lead in goals scored. One thing about that that does concern me though is the lack of goals from elsewhere. Dwyer has scored 10 of KC's 18 goals, 6 of the last 7 and 8 of the last 11. The team's second leading scorer is Collin with just two. KC is going to need production from other players as well if KC is going to continue to be successul.

Number to Remember - 0 - That's the number of goals that Thierry Henry has scored against KC. He has picked up more red cards (1) and delayed suspensions (1) than he has goals against Sporting.


Key Match Up - KC defense vs Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips - While KC's issues in central defense appear to be getting a little better, it's not going to be an easy go of it tomorrow against the league's joint leading scorer and the ever dangerous Henry on the field. If Collin plays, no matter who partners him in central defense a lot of the leadership responsibilities will fall on the Frenchman's shoulders tomorrow.

PREDICITON - Last season's Supporters' Shield winner and last season's MLS Cup champions have picked up a combined 1 point in their last 3 games each. Not the level you'd expect from either one of those two teams. With the league's top two leading scorers going at it, one would assume that there will be plenty of space to find in each team's back line for the two teams. Add in a goal scorer like Henry still lurking there and there are a number of concerns still for Sporting defensively. On the other hand, the Red Bulls have shown that they struggle to stop other teams from scoring, having allowed 21 goals already this season. I'm just not sure that either team is going to be able to end their winless runs tomorrow.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
NY - 1 (Henry)

Disney Pro Soccer Classic Schedule is Out

Preseason for Sporting KC begins next week, it seems like just yesterday Sporting lifted MLS Cup. They report to Tucson a week from this Friday and play their first preseason game two weeks from Saturday. The season is right around the corner. Today came the announcement of more preseason games.

The schedule for the Disney Pro Soccer Classic was released today. Sporting KC will play two Eastern Conference rivals along with a foreign side in the tournament.

The team's first game on February 19th is against the Supporters' Shield winners, New York. They follow that up with a game on the 22nd against Brazilian side Fluminense's U23 team. Their final group game is on the 26th against the Montreal Impact. They'll play one more game as part of the tournament one week before first kick, on March 1.

A Look Towards the Rest of the Season

With Sporting Kansas City off this weekend from league play, I thought I'd take a look at the rest of the season for Sporting KC and how it looks to shake for KC vs the rest of the team's they're fighting with in the East.

Here is how the East currently stands:

Kansas City currently sits tied for first place in the East on 45 points with Montreal and New York. All three are six points clear of 4th place Philadelphia.

Here's how the East breaks down, starting with Kansas City.

Sporting KC - 45 points - 8 games left (4 home, 4 away)
Home - 9/17 vs Real Esteli (CCL), 9/27 vs Philadelphia, 10/18 vs DC, 10/23 vs Olimpia (CCL)
Away - 9/21 at Toronto, 10/5 at Columbus, 10/9 at Houston, 10/26 at Philadelphia
Average PPG of opponents - 1.11

KC has the fewest home games in league play of any team in the East, with just 2 left. They also have two Champions' League games to worry about. Of the teams in the East though, KC has the easiest schedule, with the teams KC is facing averaging 1.11 points per game. KC also has a little luxury in their CCL group, not only with both games at home but having taken three points in both of their road games puts them in a very good position for advancing.

Montreal - 45 points - 10 games left (5 home, 5 road)
Home - 9/14 vs Columbus, 9/21 vs Vancouver, 9/24 vs Heredia (CCL), 10/12 vs New England, 10/19 vs Philadelphia.
Away - 9/17 at San Jose (CCL), at Chicago 9/28, 10/4 at Houston, 10/16 at LA, 10/26 at Toronto
Average PPG of opponents - 1.3

The Impact have played the few league games of any team in the league, they still have 8 league games left, but they also have two Champions League games left during the final month and a half of the regular season. That will put them in a fairly congested schedule late this season. Starting Saturday, Montreal starts a stretch of 4 games in 11 days. Three of those four games are at home, but they have a cross country flight to play San Jose.

New York - 45 points - 6 games left (4 home, 2 road)
Home - 9/14 vs Toronto, 9/22 vs Dallas, 10/5 vs New England, 10/27 vs Chicago
Away - 9/29 at Seattle, 10/20 at Houston
Average PPG of opponents - 1.35

New York doesn't have the extra league games that Montreal and KC have so their stretch run is less congested. They also have just two away games left. The down side is that they have the second toughest remaining schedule PPG wise of the eight teams I looked at.

Philadelphia - 39 points - 6 games left (3 home, 3 away)
Home - 9/14 vs Houston, 10/5 vs Toronto, 10/26 vs KC
Away - 9/27 at KC, 10/12 at DC, 10/19 at Montreal
Average PPG of opponents - 1.27

Half of Philadelphia's remaining six games are against teams that are currently tied for first place in the East. Two of those three are on the road, traveling to KC and Montreal, while hosting KC to end the season.
Those will be tough match ups for the Union and they'll need to take advantage of their other three games, especially the Houston game especially with the Dynamo only two points back, but currently sitting outside the playoffs.

New England - 37 points - 7 games left (3 home, 4 away)
Home - 9/21 vs DC, 9/28 vs Houston, 10/19 vs Columbus
Away - 9/14 at Chicago, 10/5 at New York, 10/12 at Montreal, 10/27 at Columbus
Average PPG of opponents - 1.26

The Revolution have quietly worked themselves into a playoff position right now. They have more games left to catch and pass Philadelphia, but do have to travel more. Like Philadelphia, they have two trips to teams currently tied for first in the East traveling to New York and Montreal on consecutive weekends.

Houston - 37 points - 9 games left (5 home, 4 away)
Home - 9/21 vs Chivas, 9/25 vs W Connection (CCL), 10/4 vs Montreal, 10/9 vs KC, 10/20 vs New York
Away - 9/14 at Philadelphia, 9/28 at New England, 10/24 at Arabe Unido (CCL), 10/27 at DC
Average PPG of opponents - 1.3

Houston has seven league games and two CCL games left this season. The certainly have the chance to make up plenty of ground in the table, of their seven remaining league games, five of them are against teams ahead of them in the table, including hosting all three teams at the top of the East in consecutive home games from 10/4 through 10/20.

Chicago - 36 points - 7 games left (3 home, 4 away)
Home - 9/14 vs New England, 9/28 vs Montreal, 10/19 vs Toronto
Away - 9/21 at Columbus, 10/4 at DC, 10/12 at Dallas, 10/27 at New York
Average PPG of opponents - 1.24

Chicago has a good chance to make up ground in the race. Not only do they have a few games against the bottom teams in the conference, at DC and vs Toronto, but they also have the chance to catch teams ahead of them with games against New England, Montreal, and New York.

Columbus - 32 points - 6 games left (3 home, 3 away)
Home - 9/21 vs Chicago, 10/5 vs KC, 10/27 vs New England
Away - 9/14 at Montreal, 9/29 at Dallas, 10/19 at New England
Average PPG of opponents - 1.48

The Crew have the toughest stretch of any of the teams I've listed here. Each team that Columbus play for the rest of the season currently have more points than they do. They're really going to need to have a very good run of form if they are going to climb into the playoffs this year.

CONCLUSION - While KC has the fewest home games of any team left, they still have a very good chance of getting a top seed, or finishing in the top two. Montreal is going to have their hands full with eight league games left, plus having two CCL games and needing to probably win both to guarantee their advancement to the knockout stages. New York with their games at home will be tough to keep pace with for KC, even though Sporting has the "easier" schedule. For the other playoff teams, Philadelphia is going to have the hardest time I think, Houston plays all three top teams, but at home, where they've had a fairly decent record, unlike KC handed them their first loss. I rarely ever bet against Dominic Kinnear when it comes to making the playoffs.

Schooled in the Art of the Counter

Sporting Kansas City was killed on the counter last night, The New York Red Bulls taught KC a clinic on counter attacking soccer as they came into Sporting Park and came away 3-2 winners thanks to goals by Jonny Steele, Fabian Espindola, and Lloyd Sam.  Two of the goals came on the counter attack. KC controlled 65% possession and created 27 shots but could only score twice. It was the same story we've come to expect from KC in the shot department, a large number of shots, fewer (only eight) on goal.  Meanwhile New York created just five shots, all of them were on goal, and three of them went in.

KC started out the game fantastically, pressuring the Red Bulls and pushing the game. In the 12th minute a long ball over the top to Kei Kamara gave KC their first good chance of the game. Kamara dribbled inside on his man and then squared the ball to Benny Feilhaber at the top of the box. Feilhaber's shot was well saved by Luis Robles but he parried the rebound into the path of Soony Saad. Saad though couldn't make quality contact with the shot and put it over the goal from an acute angle. Shortly after that chance the Red Bulls almost scored on the counter. Fabian Espindola laid a ball off out wide to Thierry Henry. Henry played a cross to the back post for Steele, but Jimmy Nielsen came up with a big save knocking the ball out for a corner. In the 27th minute though Steele didn't miss. After winning possession off a goal kick, Dax McCarty played a nice through ball to Steele who had ghosted in behind Chance Myers and ran onto the ball.  He collected and then fired a shot that beat Nielsen at his near post. KC should have been level in the 42nd. After working the ball down the wing, Seth Sinovic played a ball to the back post. Myers headed the ball back into the middle for Claudio Bieler.  Bieler unmarked and with Robles out of position you'd expect the DP to score, but he headed the ball from inside the 6 over the bar. In the 45th though KC did level it. A cross by Myers to the near post was flicked on goal by Saad. Robles though made the save but spilled the rebound right in front where Kamara tapped it home to tie the game.

The second half saw Kansas City continue to try to push the game, getting a number of shots but not able to take the lead. and in the 63rd minute they paid for it as the Red Bulls struck on the counter. Sam received the ball out wide and immediately slid a ball through for Espindola who was extremely close to being offside, but on replays appeared to be even with Aurelien Collin. Espinodola raced into the box and fired a shot past Nielsen as Collin tried to make a last second sliding tackle. And a few minutes later, in the 69th the Red Bulls did it again. A quick distribution found Robles out wide ahead of most of the KC defense. He then played a ball across the field to Sam who raced towards goal.  Peterson Joseph caught up with Sam, but Sam stopped, cut inside and then beat Nielsen to his near side making it 3-1.

Down 3-1, KC continued to throw numbers forward, but it was the Red Bulls that almost made it 4-1. Again it was on a counter attack. Peguy Luyindula and Sam countered 2v1 with Sinovic. Sam laid the ball over to Luyindula, but Nielsen made a good save. the rebound fell back to Luyindula though, but he scuffed the shot and it was cleared. Shortly after the chance KC almost scored themselves. A quick corner by KC was played into the box, substitute Dom Dwyer beat his man, but put his header into the bar keeping the score 3-1. In the second minute of stoppage time though KC did get one back. A cross by Kamara into the box was headed down and past Robles by Dwyer for his 1st goal for Sporting KC. KC continued to push looking for an equalizer. The original 5 minutes of stoppage time were extended to almost 10 because of an injury to Red Bulls Kosuke Kimura who had to be stretchered off the field with a concussion. KC throw everything forward, including inserting Ike Opara as a target striker. KC had opportunities, but couldn't find the back of the net.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kei Kamara - A goal and an assist for Kamara last night, the goal his 50th in MLS play for his career. Congrats to him on the landmark goal.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 4, Myers 3, Besler 4, Collin 3, Sinovic 3, Rosell 4, Joseph 5, Feilhaber 4, Saad 5, Bieler 4, Kamara 5.

Sporting KC Welcome the Red Bulls

Sporting KC return to league play and return home this weekend when they'll take on the New York Red Bulls at Sporting Park. The Eastern Conference race is really tightening up between the top four teams.with about 3 months left in the regular season. Sporting KC currently is still holding onto the top spot, but is only one point ahead of both New York and Montreal in the East.

New York comes into the game without one of their big name designated players.  Tim Cahill has a tear in his PCL and will miss this weekend's game against Sporting. He'll be a miss, especially on set pieces where he'd cause problems matched up against Aurelien Collin. New York pulled off a dramatic late win in their last game, first blowing a 2-0 lead against Real Salt Lake before coming from a goal down and then getting a late winner from Dax McCarty to win 4-3. Thierry Henry played just under an hour for the All Stars on Wednesday so he shouldn't be too tired heading into the match up this week.

The big question heading into tomorrow for KC is the health of Graham Zusi. The latest update on Zusi was that he was doubtful for the game because of his injury picked up in the all star game. While it's a drop down skill wise, at least with Benny Feilhaber on the team there wont' have to be too much of a change to the way the midfield plays. Other than Zusi's injury, Sporting KC should be able to field basically their best 11 tomorrow. Matt Besler is back to partner Collin in the middle of defense. The only potential question is if Zusi can't go who else is in the midfield. My guess is along with Feilhaber and Oriol Rosell we would again get Peterson Joseph to provide a bit of the box-to-box role.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Rosell - Joseph

Feilhaber

Kamara - Bieler - Saad

Number to Remember - 2 - That's the number of points in the Eastern Conference that currently separate first place Sporting KC on 36 points and the fourth place Philadelphia Union on 34 points. Two points between home field advantage and having to play the play-in game to make the playoffs.

Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin vs Thierry Henry - Teammates on Wednesday will likely be facing off on the field tomorrow. Henry will be looking to run at Collin throughout the course of the game. Collin hasn't been the greatest this season, but he'll need to be up for tomorrow to take care of Henry.

PREDICTION - Sporting lost their first in seven last weekend on the road in Montreal and their first road game since May.  They'll now look to get some separation at the top of the East again. They'll be looking to do it at a busy time in their schedule as well. Because starting on Wednesday, Sporting will enter the CONCACAF Champions League by traveling to Nicaragua. Some people will look to see KC rest a few guys for Wednesday but I still see Peter Vermes as seeing the league as the number 1 priority. KC will be focused on getting the win on Saturday above Wednesday.

SKC - 2 (Bieler, Kamara)
NYRB - 1 (Steele)

Starting the Road Trip Right

Sporting Kansas City took care of business on Wednesday night in New York as they defeated the Red Bulls 1-0 at Red Bull Arena to start their cross country road trip. An early Aurelien Collin goal off a Graham Zusi corner kick was all KC needed as they held off the Red Bulls.

Sporting Kansas City had some early success going forward against New York and could have been up in the 9th minute as a failed clearance deflected off a Red Bulls defender into the path of CJ Sapong who turned in on goal, but before he could get a shot off, Jamison Olave made a nice sliding challenge conceding the corner but stopping the chance.  KC kept up the early pressure, and Seth Sinovic forced a nice save out of Luis Robles with a shot from range.  Off the ensuing corner from Zusi though KC grabbed the lead.  Collin held off Olave and beat him to the ball and headed it past Robles and into the net to give KC the lead.  The Red Bulls almost responded immediately with a free kick of their own from Juninho.  Jimmy Nielsen punched the first effort away but it fell to Thierry Henry who tried to place his shot past Nielsen, but the Dane recovered to know the shot down and it was then cleared away. The Red Bulls looked dangerous throughout the rest of the half, especially on the free kicks from Juninho.  Fabian Espindola also caused some problems for the KC back line, but KC was able to keep them from many good chances.  Collin did a fantastic job on defense keeping Henry in check for much of the half and recovering well when he needed to.

In the second half, New York continued to bring the game to Kansas City.  KC pushed forward for a second which gave New York some space to hit on the counter.  Henry missed a decent chance inside the first few minutes of the second half, just curling a shot wide of Nielsen's post.  KC though was able to create chances of their own and really should have doubled the lead in the 57th.  After a great run by Zusi, he played a nice ball splitting two New York defenders to set up Paulo Nagamura. Nagamura's shot though was right at the feet of Robles who knocked the ball away.  If Claudio Bieler had been in that position, KC goes up 2-0.  New York's best chance came in the 63rd.  A ball over the defense by Roy Miller was misjudged by Matt Besler.  Henry controlled the ball and turned on goal but fired his shot just wide of the target.  KC continued to withstand the pressure while creating a few chances of their own.  CJ Sapong had a shot from range that Robles had to just push away and have cleared for a corner as Nagamura was racing in for the rebound. New York came back down to the other end and it was Nielsen's turn to give up a rebound off a shot from Juninho.  Nielsen though was able to recover and jump on the rebound before Henry got a foot to the ball. 

The Red Bulls kept pushing the game but in stoppage time were dealt a big blow.  After a Red Bulls chance led to a KC goal kick, Nielsen was wasting some time taking his time to get the ball that had rolled back into play.  Juninho ran up to the ball, rolled it a little with his foot and then fired it towards Nielsen.  Whether he was intending to hit Nielsen or not, he hit him square in the hand, which at the time was in front of his chest.  Referee Allen Chapman had no hesitation pulling out the red card and sending off the Brazilian. Nielsen certainly embellished the contact but it's hard to argue that Juninho didn't deserve the red.  Speaking of Nielsen's embellishment, that was a major problem for me tonight.  KC seemed to be doing a lot more embellishing and time wasting by faking injuries in the game than they have done in the past.  Normally I'm ok with some time wasting, but tonight it got to the point where I really was starting to get frustrated and angry with my own team because of the faking injuries.  It annoys me the lengths that teams go to now to kill time.

Sporting did have to survive one last chance for the Red Bulls late in stoppage time as a header Markus Holgersson off a free kick was put just wide of KC's goal.  The final whistle blew a few seconds after the goalkick though and KC escaped with 3 points.

Wizards Man of the Match - Aurelien Collin - The Frenchman shut down is countryman, Henry for the majority of the game and did a fantastic job of tackling and breaking up chances.  He also made the most of his chance offensively.

Honorable Mention - Graham Zusi, CJ Sapong

Player Ratings - Nielsen 7, Myers 6, Collin 8, Besler 6, Sinovic 7, Nagamura 6, Rosell 7, Feilhaber 6, Zusi 7, Bieler 5, Sapong 7.  Subs Joseph 5, Olum 5.