Sporting Kansas City opened up a roster spot today with the announcement that the club has traded defender/midfielder Lawrence Olum to the Portland Timbers in exchange for $50,000 in general allocation money and a 2018 first round pick.
Olum has spent his entire MLS career with Sporting Kansas City where he appeared in 105 games across all competitions, 86 in league play and scored five goals for Sporting KC. He was an integral part in Sporting KC's 2012 US Open Cup where he started in place of the suspended Aurelien Collin and the 2013 MLS Cup when he was an early substitute for the injured Oriol Rosell. He'd made his return to Kansas City last season after spending the 2015 season in Malaysia. Last year he'd 19 appearances for Kansas City, 17 of them starts, many of them at center back, where for a period of time, Olum was the preferred center back partner of Ike Opara as Nuno Coelho was injured and Matt Besler was on national team duty, injured, and out of form. This year though, Olum looked to be sliding down the depth chart, he was likely fourth on the center back depth chart behind Besler, Opara, and Kevin Ellis, and likely third at the defensive midfield position behind Soni Mustivar and Ilie Sanchez. To get $50,000 in allocation money and a first round pick for someone that on paper wasn't going to get much time in league play is quite good for Kansas City depending on where the first round pick of the Timbers ends up.
Olum previously played for the Portland Timbers back when they were in the USL in the 2007 and 2008 seasons appearing 44 times for the Timbers. His departure from KC puts Sporting's roster at 27 currently with first round pick Colton Storm still in camp. KC could also use the spot to add some midfield depth, an area where on paper KC still looks a little thin.
Showing posts with label Portland Timbers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portland Timbers. Show all posts
Friday, February 03, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Okugo's Rights Return to KC?
Some interesting news today that on the surface seems to be peak MLS, as Sporting KC apparently now have the MLS rights to Amobi Okugo again. At the end of the season, the Portland Timbers said that Okugo was out of contract with the club in their end of season roster announcement. Portland had said that they were interested in bringing Okugo back to the Timbers, in fact there were reports last night that it looked to be a done deal. This morning though a string of Tweets by Jeff Carlisle made the water murkier. Carlisle said that there was a hang up in the Okugo deal with Portland because while he was out of contract with the Timbers, he was apparently not out of contract with MLS and that his rights had reverted back to Sporting KC, who had waived the midfielder in early 2016. Carlisle continued, saying that Okugo was entering the third year of his three year contract that he had signed with Orlando back in 2015. The contract was guaranteed, meaning that he was still under contract to the league after Sporting had waived him (he played one game for the New York Red Bulls 2 in the 2016 USL season before signing with the Timbers). Carlisle finished saying that the hang-up has to do with which team is responsible for how much money in Okugo's new contract, presuming that KC could have to take some kind of hit because of the status of Okugo's contract when he was waived. Apparently the Timbers' commitment to Okugo was only for the 2016 season even though he still had a year on his contract.
Ives Galarcep jumped into the conversation, saying that the signing of Okugo was technically a loan and that at this point Okugo's rights reverted back to Kansas City, but that KC probably won't have to deal with Okugo's cap hit unless he is on the active roster and that his being waived released KC from being on the hook for his salary.
It seems a weird situation for all parties involved, but what it would seem to mean is that Portland would have to some how acquire Okugo's MLS rights from Kansas City to sign him to a new deal. That'd likely mean that KC would get some kind of throw away draft pick or at best some small amount of allocation money from the Timbers. With KC's current roster status it really doesn't make sense for them to bring back Okugo, especially on the deal that he was signed for, which was $300,000. Some times you got to love MLS's weird rules.
Ives Galarcep jumped into the conversation, saying that the signing of Okugo was technically a loan and that at this point Okugo's rights reverted back to Kansas City, but that KC probably won't have to deal with Okugo's cap hit unless he is on the active roster and that his being waived released KC from being on the hook for his salary.
It seems a weird situation for all parties involved, but what it would seem to mean is that Portland would have to some how acquire Okugo's MLS rights from Kansas City to sign him to a new deal. That'd likely mean that KC would get some kind of throw away draft pick or at best some small amount of allocation money from the Timbers. With KC's current roster status it really doesn't make sense for them to bring back Okugo, especially on the deal that he was signed for, which was $300,000. Some times you got to love MLS's weird rules.
Friday, January 06, 2017
Sporting Set to Acquire Forward's MLS Rights From Portland?
A string of Tweets this afternoon seem to have pieced together a trade coming up between Sporting Kansas City and the Portland Timbers.
The string started when Thad Bell Tweeted out that Sporting KC was set to make a trade with Portland, sending a fourth round pick in this year's Superdraft to the Timbers for something that would be announced next week. Sam McDowell with the KC Star confirmed that a trade was coming and that it was for the rights to a player. People in Portland got in on the search for who the mystery player was an appeared to quickly come to the conclusion that the player in question was Christian Volesky. McDowell confirmed that Sporting KC had spoken with Portland about Volesky earlier this offseason.
So who is Christian Volesky? Volesky was the 2015 MLS Combine MVP, scoring two goals in three games in the combine. He was drafted with the 32nd overall pick of the draft by the Timbers, the same draft where new Swope Park Rangers' signing, Kharlton Belmar, was also taken by the Timbers, two picks after Volesky. Volesky didn't sign for the Timbers though, instead eventually signing with the Rochester Rhinos. In his rookie year, Volesky helped lead the Rhinos to the 2015 USL Championship where the Rhinos won the title. Volesky lead the Rhinos in scoring with eight goals in his rookie year. Volesky followed it up in 2016 with a 10 goal season for the Rhinos where the Rhinos finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, eventually falling to the USL Champion New York Red Bulls 2 3-3 (5-4) on penalty kicks. From watching highlights of Volesky he seems to be a center forward, a position that Sporting could use some depth at currently with Daniel Salloi the only back up on the roster to Dom Dwyer currently with Diego Rubio out with a torn ACL. Volesky could provide some much needed depth at that position and could probably provide depth out wide, which would give KC another option.
The string started when Thad Bell Tweeted out that Sporting KC was set to make a trade with Portland, sending a fourth round pick in this year's Superdraft to the Timbers for something that would be announced next week. Sam McDowell with the KC Star confirmed that a trade was coming and that it was for the rights to a player. People in Portland got in on the search for who the mystery player was an appeared to quickly come to the conclusion that the player in question was Christian Volesky. McDowell confirmed that Sporting KC had spoken with Portland about Volesky earlier this offseason.
So who is Christian Volesky? Volesky was the 2015 MLS Combine MVP, scoring two goals in three games in the combine. He was drafted with the 32nd overall pick of the draft by the Timbers, the same draft where new Swope Park Rangers' signing, Kharlton Belmar, was also taken by the Timbers, two picks after Volesky. Volesky didn't sign for the Timbers though, instead eventually signing with the Rochester Rhinos. In his rookie year, Volesky helped lead the Rhinos to the 2015 USL Championship where the Rhinos won the title. Volesky lead the Rhinos in scoring with eight goals in his rookie year. Volesky followed it up in 2016 with a 10 goal season for the Rhinos where the Rhinos finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, eventually falling to the USL Champion New York Red Bulls 2 3-3 (5-4) on penalty kicks. From watching highlights of Volesky he seems to be a center forward, a position that Sporting could use some depth at currently with Daniel Salloi the only back up on the roster to Dom Dwyer currently with Diego Rubio out with a torn ACL. Volesky could provide some much needed depth at that position and could probably provide depth out wide, which would give KC another option.
Monday, August 08, 2016
Could Sporting Learn Something From Portland Yesterday?
The title is a loaded question, because there is plenty that Sporting Kansas City can learn from the game yesterday against the Portland Timbers, but there is one specific thing that I want to focus on. Sporting's offense again struggled in a road game, recording just three shots on goal against a team playing without its starting center backs and playing almost 30 minutes with a man advantage (failing to record a single shot on goal during the time up a man). The 3-0 loss was their 10 straight on the road without a win and third straight road loss. In those 10 games, Kansas City has scored just a single goal.
The one thing that I specifically want to focus on in the game was Portland's formation. For most of this season, Portland has played a 4-5-1/4-3-3 hybrid, similar to what Kansas City plays. Diego Valeri would be at the point of the midfield with Darlington Nagbe and Lucas Melano usually out wide behind Fanendo Adi. Behind the trio is the pairing of Diego Chara and either Ben Zemanski or Jack Jewsbury. In the past this lineup has allowed for Portland's speed on the wings to really help them get forward. Yesterday though Portland abandoned their traditional formation in favor of a standard 4-4-2 formation with two central midfielders and two wingers. As I was listening to the game on the radio (running late, missed the first five minutes on television) Taylor Twellman mentioned that Caleb Porter had mentioned how while Jack McInerney partnering Adi may not have given them the strongest midfield, he had made the change to get his finishers on the field for the game. Now granted, much of that plan was shot by the 12th minute red card to Diego Chara, but Portland basically stayed with the four man midfield after the red card with McInerney dropping deeper. What the formation did is that it put Valeri out on the wing where he was able to get himself more space isolated away from Kansas City's three central midfielders of Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber, and Soni Mustivar. Going against Kansas City's outside back he was able to float around more when he didn't have the ball. On the opposite wing Nagbe gave the Timbers an option on both wings to be a threat going forward and playing balls for Adi (and McInerney if the red card hadn't occurred).
Meanwhile Kansas City again threw out the wing pairing of Connor Hallisey and Jacob Peterson, a pairing that's not exactly going to cause any dread for the opposing wingbacks. Hallisey had another rough game, one game after looking stronger against Portland, Hallisey looked lost and not sure what to do with the ball a lot of times when he received it. When KC was up a man it seemed like Portland was dictating play for Kansas City to go through Hallisey, trying to force the second year pro to be the one to beat them. On the other wing, Peterson has been in some fine form, but has been a "squad" player his entire career, a guy that can give you a good shift out there; help the team out, but in the end isn't going to be very impressive. These are Kansas City's starting wingers at the moment with Graham Zusi, Brad Davis, and Justin Mapp all still recovering from injury.
With this current situation with the wing, the thought again turns to changing the formation. It's been a popular talking point for a while now among Kansas City fans, going away from the 4-3-3 that Peter Vermes has been true to since he took over the club back in 2009. He's worked to build rosters year in and year out that can play in that formation, that can work the way he wants that formation to work. This year though Kansas City isn't really getting that second goal scorer from the wing that Vermes has always seemed to have in the past. From CJ Sapong, to Kei Kamara, to Krisztian Nemeth, it seems that KC has always had a secondary scoring threat on the wing (minus 2014 when Dom Dwyer carried the Kansas City offense himself). In the current crop of wingers on the team though there really isn't that goal scorer, Davis, Hallisey, Mapp, and Zusi are all pure wingers that are going to look to go wide first and shoot second. The closest KC has is Peterson who has a career high of four goals in a league season and just 19 league goals over his 10 year career.
The answer it would seem with this group of wingers that Kansas City needs to play with two forwards on the field, adding Chilean Diego Rubio to the starting 11. Against Portland down a goal, Vermes put Rubio and Dwyer on the field together for the first time all season in the 78th minute. The introduction of Rubio led to a very good spell of play by Kansas City and some of their better chances late in the game when they had two forwards and were really pushing the game looking for an equalizer. Considering that this may well be only the second time that Dwyer has had a partner up top since he became the regular starter (Dwyer and Claudio Bieler were only on the field together for one to two games during Bieler's tenure), it's not something that Vermes really attempts to do much.
Let's ignore for a second the improbability of Vermes changing formations to a 4-3-3 (it's his stubbornness to change formations that has caused me to laugh off any ideas of changing formations over the last few years) and take a look at exactly how that lineup would look. For that I point you directly to Portland's lineup yesterday. Their normally attacking midfielder, Valeri (Benny Feilhaber) was on one wing with Nagbe (Peterson until Zusi is ready to start) on the other. Behind those two and central, basically creating an "empty bucket" midfield would be Espinoza and Mustivar. Then you have your box-to-box and your stay at home defensive midfielder both on the field. Espinoza gets the freedom to roam the same way Chara has with Jewsbury on the field. That would allow Sporting to get Rubio on the field with Dwyer to try to boost the offense. It would also be something different to throw at opposing teams that are used to seeing Vermes consistently throw out the same time.
With everyone healthy, it would also allow Kansas City to do something with Hallisey to try and boost his confidence. Hallisey has shown flashes at times on the field, but many times has looked like he's a step slow or just lacking for confidence. A switch in formation (that would see Feilhaber spending time on one wing) would put less reliance on needing him to regularly contribute and allow Kansas City to loan him to Swope Park where he could look to build up his confidence.
There are some draw backs to this formation (beside the fact that I don't think Vermes would do it). The change in formation would see Kansas City give up a lot in the middle of the field. So much of Kansas City's play involves controlling the middle of the field, keeping the other team moving the ball there looking for a turnover. Switching from the three man to a two man central midfield would see Kansas City conceding more ground in the middle and would see a drop in possession, probably not in the 72% to 28% variety that KC had on Portland yesterday, but the formation change would also need to come with a philosophy change when that formation is played. KC would likely need to change the way that they high press if they were to run with this formation, the midfield isn't going to have the same bite, especially when they would play against teams who still employ the three man center midfield (which is quite a few).
Another issue would be on the bench where Kansas City would be back to where they were last year in terms of bench depth; they'd have no one on the bench to really give a spark in terms of goal scoring. Sure Davis and Mapp have scored their fair share, and a healthy Zusi would allow Peterson to be a sub off the bench, but in a tie game or losing, the hope that maybe a goal would be found on the bench really wouldn't exist, similar to the 2015 season.
While I don't expect any change in Vermes' strategy to come, having a formation that he trusts to throw out could be very beneficial to the team. Kansas City threw out the 3-4-3 at times in a game earlier this season to some decent success; it caused issues for the LA Galaxy to adjust to after expecting the traditional 4-3-3. Doing something out of the box to catch an opposing team off guard would be a good way to change the team's fortunes on the road.
The one thing that I specifically want to focus on in the game was Portland's formation. For most of this season, Portland has played a 4-5-1/4-3-3 hybrid, similar to what Kansas City plays. Diego Valeri would be at the point of the midfield with Darlington Nagbe and Lucas Melano usually out wide behind Fanendo Adi. Behind the trio is the pairing of Diego Chara and either Ben Zemanski or Jack Jewsbury. In the past this lineup has allowed for Portland's speed on the wings to really help them get forward. Yesterday though Portland abandoned their traditional formation in favor of a standard 4-4-2 formation with two central midfielders and two wingers. As I was listening to the game on the radio (running late, missed the first five minutes on television) Taylor Twellman mentioned that Caleb Porter had mentioned how while Jack McInerney partnering Adi may not have given them the strongest midfield, he had made the change to get his finishers on the field for the game. Now granted, much of that plan was shot by the 12th minute red card to Diego Chara, but Portland basically stayed with the four man midfield after the red card with McInerney dropping deeper. What the formation did is that it put Valeri out on the wing where he was able to get himself more space isolated away from Kansas City's three central midfielders of Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber, and Soni Mustivar. Going against Kansas City's outside back he was able to float around more when he didn't have the ball. On the opposite wing Nagbe gave the Timbers an option on both wings to be a threat going forward and playing balls for Adi (and McInerney if the red card hadn't occurred).
Meanwhile Kansas City again threw out the wing pairing of Connor Hallisey and Jacob Peterson, a pairing that's not exactly going to cause any dread for the opposing wingbacks. Hallisey had another rough game, one game after looking stronger against Portland, Hallisey looked lost and not sure what to do with the ball a lot of times when he received it. When KC was up a man it seemed like Portland was dictating play for Kansas City to go through Hallisey, trying to force the second year pro to be the one to beat them. On the other wing, Peterson has been in some fine form, but has been a "squad" player his entire career, a guy that can give you a good shift out there; help the team out, but in the end isn't going to be very impressive. These are Kansas City's starting wingers at the moment with Graham Zusi, Brad Davis, and Justin Mapp all still recovering from injury.
With this current situation with the wing, the thought again turns to changing the formation. It's been a popular talking point for a while now among Kansas City fans, going away from the 4-3-3 that Peter Vermes has been true to since he took over the club back in 2009. He's worked to build rosters year in and year out that can play in that formation, that can work the way he wants that formation to work. This year though Kansas City isn't really getting that second goal scorer from the wing that Vermes has always seemed to have in the past. From CJ Sapong, to Kei Kamara, to Krisztian Nemeth, it seems that KC has always had a secondary scoring threat on the wing (minus 2014 when Dom Dwyer carried the Kansas City offense himself). In the current crop of wingers on the team though there really isn't that goal scorer, Davis, Hallisey, Mapp, and Zusi are all pure wingers that are going to look to go wide first and shoot second. The closest KC has is Peterson who has a career high of four goals in a league season and just 19 league goals over his 10 year career.
The answer it would seem with this group of wingers that Kansas City needs to play with two forwards on the field, adding Chilean Diego Rubio to the starting 11. Against Portland down a goal, Vermes put Rubio and Dwyer on the field together for the first time all season in the 78th minute. The introduction of Rubio led to a very good spell of play by Kansas City and some of their better chances late in the game when they had two forwards and were really pushing the game looking for an equalizer. Considering that this may well be only the second time that Dwyer has had a partner up top since he became the regular starter (Dwyer and Claudio Bieler were only on the field together for one to two games during Bieler's tenure), it's not something that Vermes really attempts to do much.
Let's ignore for a second the improbability of Vermes changing formations to a 4-3-3 (it's his stubbornness to change formations that has caused me to laugh off any ideas of changing formations over the last few years) and take a look at exactly how that lineup would look. For that I point you directly to Portland's lineup yesterday. Their normally attacking midfielder, Valeri (Benny Feilhaber) was on one wing with Nagbe (Peterson until Zusi is ready to start) on the other. Behind those two and central, basically creating an "empty bucket" midfield would be Espinoza and Mustivar. Then you have your box-to-box and your stay at home defensive midfielder both on the field. Espinoza gets the freedom to roam the same way Chara has with Jewsbury on the field. That would allow Sporting to get Rubio on the field with Dwyer to try to boost the offense. It would also be something different to throw at opposing teams that are used to seeing Vermes consistently throw out the same time.
With everyone healthy, it would also allow Kansas City to do something with Hallisey to try and boost his confidence. Hallisey has shown flashes at times on the field, but many times has looked like he's a step slow or just lacking for confidence. A switch in formation (that would see Feilhaber spending time on one wing) would put less reliance on needing him to regularly contribute and allow Kansas City to loan him to Swope Park where he could look to build up his confidence.
There are some draw backs to this formation (beside the fact that I don't think Vermes would do it). The change in formation would see Kansas City give up a lot in the middle of the field. So much of Kansas City's play involves controlling the middle of the field, keeping the other team moving the ball there looking for a turnover. Switching from the three man to a two man central midfield would see Kansas City conceding more ground in the middle and would see a drop in possession, probably not in the 72% to 28% variety that KC had on Portland yesterday, but the formation change would also need to come with a philosophy change when that formation is played. KC would likely need to change the way that they high press if they were to run with this formation, the midfield isn't going to have the same bite, especially when they would play against teams who still employ the three man center midfield (which is quite a few).
Another issue would be on the bench where Kansas City would be back to where they were last year in terms of bench depth; they'd have no one on the bench to really give a spark in terms of goal scoring. Sure Davis and Mapp have scored their fair share, and a healthy Zusi would allow Peterson to be a sub off the bench, but in a tie game or losing, the hope that maybe a goal would be found on the bench really wouldn't exist, similar to the 2015 season.
While I don't expect any change in Vermes' strategy to come, having a formation that he trusts to throw out could be very beneficial to the team. Kansas City threw out the 3-4-3 at times in a game earlier this season to some decent success; it caused issues for the LA Galaxy to adjust to after expecting the traditional 4-3-3. Doing something out of the box to catch an opposing team off guard would be a good way to change the team's fortunes on the road.
Sunday, August 07, 2016
Road Woes Continue for Sporting
For the seventh time this season, Sporting Kansas City fell on the road, 3-0 to the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. What made the loss hurt more is the fact that Kansas City spent most of the first half up a man and couldn't take advantage of it, failing to record a single shot on goal up a man after Diego Chara's first half red card. His card was followed by a red card to KC's Soni Mustivar late in the first half that forced both teams to play 10 on 10.
KC had the better of the early going with Saad Abdul-Salaam forcing a good save from Jake Gleeson after he was played in on goal by Roger Espinoza. In the 12th minute the game took its first big turn when Diego Chara was sent off for violent conduct for getting his hands into the face of Benny Feilhaber after the two had scuffled near midfield. The Portland midfielder was sent off and Portland was down to 10 men. For almost the next 30 minute, Kansas City controlled the game, pinning Portland in their own end for long stretches, but couldn't make anything of all that possession. They failed to record a single shot on goal in those 30 minutes as the game remained 0-0. The ineptitude of KC's offense was no more apparent than a stretch where the club had a stretch of about five or six corners where they had trouble clearing the first defender. Benny Feilhaber seemed dead set on striking a driven ball to the near post even though Diego Valeri had lined up 10 yards from the ball. Immediately after that stretch Soni Mustivar got his marching orders. After Gleeson collected a corner, he fired a quick pass to Valeri who was racing up field. Mustivar tried to knock the ball away and kill the counter attack but missed the ball getting Valeri. Initially Baldomero Toledo looked set to pull out a yellow card but after a conversation over his headset produced a red card for the Haitian removing both team's deepest midfielder and making the game 10 on 10.
Early in the second half things went from bad to worse for KC when Roger Espinoza picked up a yellow card, suspending him for next week's game against FC Dallas, meaning two-thirds of KC's midfield will be available for the game. KC continued to control the game though even with more space on the field, but couldn't create anything in the way of chances. The inability to create chances came back to bite them in the 65th when a Vytautas Andriuskevicius cross was headed by Ike Opara into the path of Diego Valeri who volleyed the ball past Alec Kann and into the net to to put the Timbers on top 1-0. Kansas City continued to push numbers forward looking for an equalizer and had a number of decent opportunities with Graham Zusi firing over from the top of the box and Jacob Peterson pushing an effort wide of the post after some good combination play by KC to create space in the box. Peterson though couldn't get his effort on goal and Portland remained on top. With the push for a goal Peter Vermes finally threw Diego Rubio on the field at the same time as Dom Dwyer, the first time the pair have been on the field together this season. Rubio helped give KC a shot of energy and it seemed like KC may just be able to find a goal and steal a point. Unfortunately in the 87th though Portland put the game away. After Darlington Nagbe turned two KC defenders he laid the ball back to Jack Jewsbury who fired a ball past Kann and into the net doubling the lead. Things got worse in stoppage time as the KC defense seemed to quit a little bit, Fanendo Adi got some space and slotted a shot past Kann and into the net to make it 3-0 for the Timbers. KC now head into their busy stretch of the season with five games in five cities and three countries over a two week period. And they'll start it without two-thirds of their starting midfield in Dallas.
Wizards Man of the Match - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Had arguably Kansas City's best chance of the game when he forced a good save out of Gleeson. Wasn't on the field for the late meltdown.
Player Ratings - Kann 4, Abdul-Salaam 5, Opara 5, Olum 4, Sinovic 4, Mustivar 3, Espinoza 5, Feilhaber 5, Hallisey 3, Dwyer 3, Peterson 4. Subs Zusi 5, Myers 4, Rubio 5.
KC had the better of the early going with Saad Abdul-Salaam forcing a good save from Jake Gleeson after he was played in on goal by Roger Espinoza. In the 12th minute the game took its first big turn when Diego Chara was sent off for violent conduct for getting his hands into the face of Benny Feilhaber after the two had scuffled near midfield. The Portland midfielder was sent off and Portland was down to 10 men. For almost the next 30 minute, Kansas City controlled the game, pinning Portland in their own end for long stretches, but couldn't make anything of all that possession. They failed to record a single shot on goal in those 30 minutes as the game remained 0-0. The ineptitude of KC's offense was no more apparent than a stretch where the club had a stretch of about five or six corners where they had trouble clearing the first defender. Benny Feilhaber seemed dead set on striking a driven ball to the near post even though Diego Valeri had lined up 10 yards from the ball. Immediately after that stretch Soni Mustivar got his marching orders. After Gleeson collected a corner, he fired a quick pass to Valeri who was racing up field. Mustivar tried to knock the ball away and kill the counter attack but missed the ball getting Valeri. Initially Baldomero Toledo looked set to pull out a yellow card but after a conversation over his headset produced a red card for the Haitian removing both team's deepest midfielder and making the game 10 on 10.
Early in the second half things went from bad to worse for KC when Roger Espinoza picked up a yellow card, suspending him for next week's game against FC Dallas, meaning two-thirds of KC's midfield will be available for the game. KC continued to control the game though even with more space on the field, but couldn't create anything in the way of chances. The inability to create chances came back to bite them in the 65th when a Vytautas Andriuskevicius cross was headed by Ike Opara into the path of Diego Valeri who volleyed the ball past Alec Kann and into the net to to put the Timbers on top 1-0. Kansas City continued to push numbers forward looking for an equalizer and had a number of decent opportunities with Graham Zusi firing over from the top of the box and Jacob Peterson pushing an effort wide of the post after some good combination play by KC to create space in the box. Peterson though couldn't get his effort on goal and Portland remained on top. With the push for a goal Peter Vermes finally threw Diego Rubio on the field at the same time as Dom Dwyer, the first time the pair have been on the field together this season. Rubio helped give KC a shot of energy and it seemed like KC may just be able to find a goal and steal a point. Unfortunately in the 87th though Portland put the game away. After Darlington Nagbe turned two KC defenders he laid the ball back to Jack Jewsbury who fired a ball past Kann and into the net doubling the lead. Things got worse in stoppage time as the KC defense seemed to quit a little bit, Fanendo Adi got some space and slotted a shot past Kann and into the net to make it 3-0 for the Timbers. KC now head into their busy stretch of the season with five games in five cities and three countries over a two week period. And they'll start it without two-thirds of their starting midfield in Dallas.
Wizards Man of the Match - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Had arguably Kansas City's best chance of the game when he forced a good save out of Gleeson. Wasn't on the field for the late meltdown.
Player Ratings - Kann 4, Abdul-Salaam 5, Opara 5, Olum 4, Sinovic 4, Mustivar 3, Espinoza 5, Feilhaber 5, Hallisey 3, Dwyer 3, Peterson 4. Subs Zusi 5, Myers 4, Rubio 5.
Saturday, August 06, 2016
Match Day 25: The Final Stretch
Sporting Kansas City head into the final 10 games of the MLS regular season tomorrow when they play the Portland Timbers in the second of back to back games between the two. Kansas City won their home game last weekend to move themselves five points clear of the Timbers and the red line for missing the playoffs. Kansas City will be looking to extend that total to eight in tomorrow's game at Providence Park.
While these games are back to back for Sporting Kansas City, the Portland Timbers had a mid-week game on Wednesday in the CONCACAF Champions league. The Timbers started their campaign with a 2-1 win over CD Dragon of El Salvador. It wasn't easy for them though especially with a lineup that included 10 of the 14 players that played on Sunday in Kansas City. Portland has put an emphasis on the CCL with playing their first team, but with a team that is struggling for healthy players, especially on defense, it could leave some tired legs on Sunday. The club looks like they'll still be without Liam Ridgewell who is still trying to get back from his calf injury, which means another makeshift back line for the Timbers at center back.
Kansas City meanwhile may finally be getting some of their players healthy in time for their brutal travel stretch that starts next week. Graham Zusi traveled with the team to Portland after playing in just one of the last five games. Also close to being available is center back Nuno Coelho who has played just two of the last 10 games for Sporting KC. Their return will be quite welcome and will allow KC to give some players a rest during this busy stretch. Tomorrow though Sporting will likely be sticking close to the same lineup that they put out last weekend, even in goal where Tim Melia looks set to miss his second game in a row due to a back injury. The team will be forced into one change as Jimmy Medranda is suspended tomorrow due to yellow card accumulation.
Number to Remember - 482 - That's how long Sporting KC's shutout streak against Portland is in the regular season. Kansas City haven't allowed a league goal to the Portland Timbers since Rodney Wallace scored in the 58th minute of Portland's 3-2 win in Kansas City back in 2013. In Portland, the Timbers have only scored twice against KC in league play, and one of those was a Chance Myers own goal.
Key Match Up - Ike Opara vs Fanendo Adi - These two got into it last week with a number of match ups against each other. Adi left Opara bloodied twice from elbows while the two challenged for balls. As Opara walked off the second time he got into Adi's face.
PREDICTION - With the number of starters that Portland had playing on Wednesday, there could certainly be some tired legs for the Timbers come Sunday when they play Kansas City. With that though KC still has to be mindful of the Timbers speed, Darlington Nagbe and Diego Valeri both have the ability to ping balls all over the field and can find a streaking runner on the counter. For their part, Kansas City would have blown the Timbers out if not for the goalkeeping of Jake Gleeson. On the road this week KC is going to have to make their chances count more, The Timbers are a much better team at home than they are on the road (all of their seven wins this season have been at home), KC will have to take more advantage of their chances. With KC's struggles on the road this season (2-6-3) and Portland's success at home, I can't see KC getting all three points.
SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
PDX - 2 (Valeri, Adi)
While these games are back to back for Sporting Kansas City, the Portland Timbers had a mid-week game on Wednesday in the CONCACAF Champions league. The Timbers started their campaign with a 2-1 win over CD Dragon of El Salvador. It wasn't easy for them though especially with a lineup that included 10 of the 14 players that played on Sunday in Kansas City. Portland has put an emphasis on the CCL with playing their first team, but with a team that is struggling for healthy players, especially on defense, it could leave some tired legs on Sunday. The club looks like they'll still be without Liam Ridgewell who is still trying to get back from his calf injury, which means another makeshift back line for the Timbers at center back.
Kansas City meanwhile may finally be getting some of their players healthy in time for their brutal travel stretch that starts next week. Graham Zusi traveled with the team to Portland after playing in just one of the last five games. Also close to being available is center back Nuno Coelho who has played just two of the last 10 games for Sporting KC. Their return will be quite welcome and will allow KC to give some players a rest during this busy stretch. Tomorrow though Sporting will likely be sticking close to the same lineup that they put out last weekend, even in goal where Tim Melia looks set to miss his second game in a row due to a back injury. The team will be forced into one change as Jimmy Medranda is suspended tomorrow due to yellow card accumulation.
Hallisey - Dwyer - Peterson
Espinoza - Feilhaber
Mustivar
Sinovic - Olum - Opara - Abdul-Salaam
Kann
Number to Remember - 482 - That's how long Sporting KC's shutout streak against Portland is in the regular season. Kansas City haven't allowed a league goal to the Portland Timbers since Rodney Wallace scored in the 58th minute of Portland's 3-2 win in Kansas City back in 2013. In Portland, the Timbers have only scored twice against KC in league play, and one of those was a Chance Myers own goal.
Key Match Up - Ike Opara vs Fanendo Adi - These two got into it last week with a number of match ups against each other. Adi left Opara bloodied twice from elbows while the two challenged for balls. As Opara walked off the second time he got into Adi's face.
PREDICTION - With the number of starters that Portland had playing on Wednesday, there could certainly be some tired legs for the Timbers come Sunday when they play Kansas City. With that though KC still has to be mindful of the Timbers speed, Darlington Nagbe and Diego Valeri both have the ability to ping balls all over the field and can find a streaking runner on the counter. For their part, Kansas City would have blown the Timbers out if not for the goalkeeping of Jake Gleeson. On the road this week KC is going to have to make their chances count more, The Timbers are a much better team at home than they are on the road (all of their seven wins this season have been at home), KC will have to take more advantage of their chances. With KC's struggles on the road this season (2-6-3) and Portland's success at home, I can't see KC getting all three points.
SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
PDX - 2 (Valeri, Adi)
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Sporting Take Down Timbers
Sporting Kansas City continued their current home unbeaten run with a win over the Portland Timbers 1-0 at Children's Mercy Park. Unlike their previous matches in the win streak where Kansas City has scored three goals in each game, Kansas City had struggles finding the back of the net again thanks to some poor finishing and good goalkeeping by Jake Gleeson. It took a flicked header by Jacob Peterson off a Benny Feilhaber free kick to give KC the only goal they needed.
Portland started the game on the front foot, pressing Kansas City in their own end. Kansas City didn't help themselves out as the defensive giveaways returned in the game. A poor clearance by Lawrence Olum allowed Ben Zemanski to set up Darlington Nagbe, but Alec Kann made a nice diving save to his right to tip the ball wide for a corner kick. KC came back and in the 20th had a chance of their own as Gleeson didn't handle a low cross by Peterson, spilling it right in front of his goal. The Timbers defense only cleared it as far as Feilhaber at the top of the box, but his shot with his left foot hit the cross bar leaving the game scoreless. Portland continued to have the better of the play as the half continued but both teams went into the half without a goal.
Early in the second half though KC jumped on top thanks to a free kick by Feilhaber that Peterson flicked on into the net to put KC up 1-0. The goal seemed to wake the Kansas City offense up as they started to create more chances for themselves. Only the goalkeeping of Gleeson kept KC from adding to their lead. Less than five minutes after the goal Dom Dwyer had been left unmarked on the back post where he received a cross, brought it down, but his shot high to the near post was saved by Gleeson. On the ensuing corner the ball made it to Olum who headed the ball back across goal, but Gleeson was able to dive back and get a hand on it to keep it out before Portland cleared up the rebound. Minues later Gleeson again denied Dwyer after he was played in by Peterson, the rebound fell to Connor Hallisey who had a good look but Gleeson was back to his feet and knocked that shot away. KC continued the pressure but Gleeson was up to the task. Late on the Timbers had a great chance to equalize on the counter. With a five on three advantage, Diego Valeri fed the ball wide to Jack McInerney who curled a shot towards the far post, but his effort hit the cross bar and bounced away. Minutes later the final whistle blew and KC walked out the winners.
Wizards Man of the Match - Jacob Peterson - Scored the winner for Sporting and had a strong game overall. He almost set up Dwyer for a goal shortly after his effort. And he did all of this when it looked like he'd sub out early in the first half.
Player Ratings - Kann 6, Medranda 5, Olum 6, Opara 7, Abdul-Salaam 6, Mustivar 5, Espinoza 7, Feilhaber 6, Hallisey 6, Dwyer 6, Peterson 7. Subs Porter 5, Ellis NR, Myers NR.
Portland started the game on the front foot, pressing Kansas City in their own end. Kansas City didn't help themselves out as the defensive giveaways returned in the game. A poor clearance by Lawrence Olum allowed Ben Zemanski to set up Darlington Nagbe, but Alec Kann made a nice diving save to his right to tip the ball wide for a corner kick. KC came back and in the 20th had a chance of their own as Gleeson didn't handle a low cross by Peterson, spilling it right in front of his goal. The Timbers defense only cleared it as far as Feilhaber at the top of the box, but his shot with his left foot hit the cross bar leaving the game scoreless. Portland continued to have the better of the play as the half continued but both teams went into the half without a goal.
Early in the second half though KC jumped on top thanks to a free kick by Feilhaber that Peterson flicked on into the net to put KC up 1-0. The goal seemed to wake the Kansas City offense up as they started to create more chances for themselves. Only the goalkeeping of Gleeson kept KC from adding to their lead. Less than five minutes after the goal Dom Dwyer had been left unmarked on the back post where he received a cross, brought it down, but his shot high to the near post was saved by Gleeson. On the ensuing corner the ball made it to Olum who headed the ball back across goal, but Gleeson was able to dive back and get a hand on it to keep it out before Portland cleared up the rebound. Minues later Gleeson again denied Dwyer after he was played in by Peterson, the rebound fell to Connor Hallisey who had a good look but Gleeson was back to his feet and knocked that shot away. KC continued the pressure but Gleeson was up to the task. Late on the Timbers had a great chance to equalize on the counter. With a five on three advantage, Diego Valeri fed the ball wide to Jack McInerney who curled a shot towards the far post, but his effort hit the cross bar and bounced away. Minutes later the final whistle blew and KC walked out the winners.
Wizards Man of the Match - Jacob Peterson - Scored the winner for Sporting and had a strong game overall. He almost set up Dwyer for a goal shortly after his effort. And he did all of this when it looked like he'd sub out early in the first half.
Player Ratings - Kann 6, Medranda 5, Olum 6, Opara 7, Abdul-Salaam 6, Mustivar 5, Espinoza 7, Feilhaber 6, Hallisey 6, Dwyer 6, Peterson 7. Subs Porter 5, Ellis NR, Myers NR.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Match Day 24: Sporting's Moment on Broadcast TV
Sporting Kansas City are back at home for another game on national television tomorrow at Children's Mercy Park, this time the club will be on broadcast television as Sporting KC will take on the Portland Timbers on Fox tomorrow. Not Fox Sports 1, not Fox Sports Midwest, but Fox itself, the first time possibly since MLS Cup 2000 that Kansas City has appeared on a major network for one of their games.
The Timbers come limping into this game in terms of health, especially in the back where the team is suffering through issues with their defense. The Timbers won't have either of their preferred starting center backs as Nat Borchers ruptured his Achilles last week against the LA Galaxy and is done for the season while his partner, Liam Ridgewell is suspended for the game because of the league's All Star game rule. Ridgewell was selected for the game but was unable to compete due to injury, after year's of players back out of the All Star game with "injuries" but then being able to play the following weekend, the league instituted a rule that if a player selected didn't play he was suspended, so Ridgewell is suspended for tomorrow's game. That will leave the Timbers short handed in the back for tomorrow, where former Kansas City midfielder, Amobi Okugo is likely to start at center back. While they have defensive issues the Timbers have plenty to worry about offensively with Fanendo Adi and Diego Valeri, the pair have combined for 19 goals for the Timbers this season and will be a handful for KC's defense.
Kansas City will have a suspension of their own, although Matt Besler wasn't going to play in the game tomorrow due to the knee injury that kept him out of the All Star game to begin with. Even if healthy, Peter Vermes was likely to stick with Lawrence Olumand Ike Opara at center back for the game. Elsewhere on the field though KC looks like they'll be lucky to be able to dress a full 18 with injuries to Brad Davis, Justin Mapp, Justin Mapp, Jacob Peterson, and a host of others. With all the injuries KC the question will be whether they can retain their current home form against a strong Timbers offense.
Number to Remember - 4 - That's the number of home losses that Kansas City has this season. Currently sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference, the five other playoff teams that this point have a combined two home losses, and both of those are by sixth place Vancouver. The other four teams in the West currently in a playoff position have yet to lose. Portland, tomorrow's opponent isn't much better than KC having lose three at home.
Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Portland defense - With Borchers and Ridgewell both out it'll be a patchwork defense for the defending MLS Cup champions. Unfortunately Kansas City has seemed to have trouble putting those undermanned teams to the sword and taking care of business in the past. Tomorrow a lot of pressure will be on Dom Dwyer to take advantage of an undermanned Portland defense, even if he's working with the end of the bench as his wingers.
PREDICTION - Kansas City has been playing very well at home over the last few games, having scored three goals in each of their last three home games. Portland isn't a great road team, having yet to win a game on the road this season although they have six draws. Still, with KC's current home form this is a game that KC not only should win, but really has to win to continue to keep themselves in a playoff position.
SKC - 2 (Dwyer x2)
PDX - 1 (Valeri)
The Timbers come limping into this game in terms of health, especially in the back where the team is suffering through issues with their defense. The Timbers won't have either of their preferred starting center backs as Nat Borchers ruptured his Achilles last week against the LA Galaxy and is done for the season while his partner, Liam Ridgewell is suspended for the game because of the league's All Star game rule. Ridgewell was selected for the game but was unable to compete due to injury, after year's of players back out of the All Star game with "injuries" but then being able to play the following weekend, the league instituted a rule that if a player selected didn't play he was suspended, so Ridgewell is suspended for tomorrow's game. That will leave the Timbers short handed in the back for tomorrow, where former Kansas City midfielder, Amobi Okugo is likely to start at center back. While they have defensive issues the Timbers have plenty to worry about offensively with Fanendo Adi and Diego Valeri, the pair have combined for 19 goals for the Timbers this season and will be a handful for KC's defense.
Kansas City will have a suspension of their own, although Matt Besler wasn't going to play in the game tomorrow due to the knee injury that kept him out of the All Star game to begin with. Even if healthy, Peter Vermes was likely to stick with Lawrence Olumand Ike Opara at center back for the game. Elsewhere on the field though KC looks like they'll be lucky to be able to dress a full 18 with injuries to Brad Davis, Justin Mapp, Justin Mapp, Jacob Peterson, and a host of others. With all the injuries KC the question will be whether they can retain their current home form against a strong Timbers offense.
Porter - Dwyer - Hallisey
Espinoza - Feilhaber
Mustivar
Medranda - Olum - Opara - Abdul-Salaam
Melia
Number to Remember - 4 - That's the number of home losses that Kansas City has this season. Currently sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference, the five other playoff teams that this point have a combined two home losses, and both of those are by sixth place Vancouver. The other four teams in the West currently in a playoff position have yet to lose. Portland, tomorrow's opponent isn't much better than KC having lose three at home.
Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Portland defense - With Borchers and Ridgewell both out it'll be a patchwork defense for the defending MLS Cup champions. Unfortunately Kansas City has seemed to have trouble putting those undermanned teams to the sword and taking care of business in the past. Tomorrow a lot of pressure will be on Dom Dwyer to take advantage of an undermanned Portland defense, even if he's working with the end of the bench as his wingers.
PREDICTION - Kansas City has been playing very well at home over the last few games, having scored three goals in each of their last three home games. Portland isn't a great road team, having yet to win a game on the road this season although they have six draws. Still, with KC's current home form this is a game that KC not only should win, but really has to win to continue to keep themselves in a playoff position.
SKC - 2 (Dwyer x2)
PDX - 1 (Valeri)
Friday, October 30, 2015
Sporting Season Ends on Penalties
Sporting Kansas City fans have gotten used to the drama of the penalty kick shootout over the past few years with the team winning all three of their titles from the penalty spot. Last night in Portland though was a new feeling for fans as KC fell for the first time in seven years in a penalty kick shootout, falling 7-6 after a 2-2 draw.
The second half saw Kansas City come out much better than they had in the first half. KC got Krisztian Nemeth more involved in the play and he was able to create chances for Sporting. Nemeth set up Dwyer in the 49th minute beating his defender on the end line before laying the ball off to Dom Dwyer who controlled and fired a shot just wide of the near post. Minutes later Dwyer almost capitalized on a giveaway by Darlington Nagbe, racing towards goal and firing a shot that went just wide of the post. While KC was the more aggressive side to start the second half it was the Timbers that finally broke their goal drought against KC. After KC only partially clearing a shot by Nagbe that Melia punched away the ball came back to Diego Valeri. In a scramble to shut him down the ball popped to Rodney Wallace who fired a shot into the far corner and in past Melia to give Portland the 1-0 lead.
The game, which had been physical for much of the night started to really get out of hand from there. In the 69th minute Melia raced off his line to grab a ball played into the box ahead of Wallace. Melia easily beat Wallace to the ball and the Portland player attempted to jump over Melia but didn't get high enough and caught the KC goalkeeper in the face. Many KC players took exception to this as Melia was checked for a concussion. Wallace received a yellow card for his efforts but that didn't appear to be the end of it. In the 76th Nemeth went into the book for another cynical play. After he'd fouled Melano and Melano was on the ground Nemeth kicked the ball into Melano's head. Nemeth was lucky to only escape with a yellow there. Melia's injury that he picked up on the incident with Wallace would eventually force him out of the game to be replaced by Jon Kempin. The physical play continued and shortly after Kempin came on, Sporting's Matt Besler had to go to the sideline and change shirts and get cleaned up after catching an elbow from Adi right in the nose. While Besler was getting cleaned up in the 87th minute though KC found the equalizer. After a corner was only cleared partially, the ball came back wide to Graham Zusi who played a perfect ball to the near post where Kevin Ellis got in front of Liam Ridgewell and flicked a header past him and into the far side netting leveling the score at 1-1.
The score stayed level and the two teams headed to extra time. Once again KC came out the more aggressive side and it paid off in the 96th. After receiving the ball down near the end line, Nemeth cut inside his defender and fired a shot from a tight angle into the net to put KC up 2-1, a superb individual effort from Nemeth to put KC in front. From there KC was looking to absorb pressure from the Timbers. Just before the end of the first period of extra time Jack Jewsbury fired a header from a corner just over the bar to keep the score at 2-1 KC. Sporting continued to hold out in the second period and created some chances of their own with Dwyer almost setting up Jacob Peterson before just missing another chance himself. Those missed chances would hurt in the 118th when Dairon Asprilla collected a throw in with Soni Mustivar on his back. Asprilla was able to turn and get a cross into the box where Maximiliano Urruti had gotten some space against Ellis and volleyed the ball past Kempin and into the net to level the game again.
In penalties Portland shot first and Kempin made a bit save on Valeri on the first kick guessing right and getting a strong arm on the shot to keep it out. Benny Feilhaber put KC in front with his effort. Penalties were level after the second round as Nat Borchers scored and Dom Dwyer had his effort saved by Adam Kwarasey. The third round saw Ridgewell and Zusi both put their efforts away before Jewsbury and Besler both put their penalties over the bar in the fourth round. In the fifth Urruti scored followed by Paulo Nagamura to send the penalties to sudden death. In the sixth round Kempin again came up big making a save on Jorge Villafana but KC couldn't capitalize as Ellis hit the base of the post. The seventh and eighth rounds saw both teams make their PKs as Asprilla, Mustivar, Nagbe, and Peterson all scored. In the ninth round Kempin made his third save of the shootout to give KC another chance to win, but in KC's half of the ninth round Saad Abdul-Salaam hit the base of one post, the ball rolled along the goal line, hit the other post and bounced back out of the goal sending the penalties into a tenth round. George Fochive and Amadou Dia rounded out the field players by making their penalties to send it to the goalkeepers. Kwarasey powered his past Kempin but Sporting's goalkeeper couldn't beat his counterpart and the Timbers advanced.
Wizards Man of the Match - Jon Kempin - Coming in cold off the bench in a playoff game is far from an ideal situation for a goalkeeper, but to come in and then come up with three saves in the shootout, Kempin played fantastic. There is nothing more that could have been asked of him during the shootout; it was crushing to see him be the one that missed the final penalty after he'd given KC multiple opportunities to win it before hand with some very good saves on Portland penalty kicks.
Honorable mention - Matt Besler
Player Ratings - Melia 6, Abdul-Salaam 6, Ellis 6, Besler 7, Dia 6, Mustivar 6, Nagamura 5, Feilhaber 4, Nemeth 5, Dwyer 4, Zusi 4. Subs Kempin 7, Peterson NR.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Match Day Playoffs: Second Season Begins
Sporting Kansas City is into the playoffs, now the second season begins as they'll take on the Portland Timbers tomorrow night in Portland. The match up will be the fourth time that these two teams have met this season. In the prior three matches this season between the two teams, there has been just a single goal, Krisztian Nemeth's solo effort in their last meeting earlier this month. It's certainly not a match up that will fill neutral fans with much joy over seeing these two teams play again.
While KC has shut the Timbers down this season, Portland has been almost unstoppable the last two weeks, scoring nine goals in their last two MLS games, a 5-2 win on the road in LA was followed by a 4-1 win over Colorado on the final day of the season. If the Portland offense is really starting to click this is a much scarier team to face. With the likes of Darlington Nagbe, who scored twice against Colorado, and Fanendo Adi, who scored twice against LA, leading the front line it is certainly a scary proposition. That offense hasn't been producing at this level all season though so heading into tomorrow the question is whether Portland has hit their stride or the last two games being outside the norm.
For Kansas City the big question is probably the health of Benny Feilhaber. KC's MVP started the season finale against the LA Galaxy on the bench, coming on as a half time substitute. Then news earlier this week came out that Feilhaber may not start Thursday either. The article made it seem like it was a fitness issue and too many minutes for the KC playmaker. At the same time we've seen Peter Vermes play coy before with player fitness and then start that player in the upcoming game. For the rest of KC's lineup I don't think you change anything about it. Roger Espinoza and Ike Opara remain unavailable and at this point I think that Saad Abdul-Salaam has earned the start at left back over Seth Sinovic with better performances in the last few games. That said it wouldn't surprise me to see Sinovic return for the playoff game.
Number to Remember - 2 - That's the number of wins that KC has on the road in playoff history. A shootout win over the Dallas Burn in 1996 after a 2-2 draw in regulation, and a 2-0 road win over Colorado in KC's 2011 playoff run are the only two times that KC has won a playoff game on the road. Two is also the number of goals scored in the last four league games between these two teams. Both those goals have been scored by KC (Nemeth and Lawrence Olum).
Key Match Up - Tim Melia vs Portland attack - Over the last two trips to Portland Tim Melia has made a habit of coming up with some of his best performances of the season. With the way that Portland's attack has played the last two games KC is going to need another big performance for KC to advance.
PREDICTION - KC has the experience factor on their side, but they've been a poor team on the road in the playoffs throughout their history and have been below average on the road this year among playoff teams, only LA has won fewer games on the road this year than KC among playoff teams. On the other side of things KC has only lost three times to playoff teams this season so they know how to beat those teams. I'm just not sure that KC pulls this one out on the road. Unfortunately I see another early end to KC's season.
SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
PDX - 2 (Adi, Nagbe)
While KC has shut the Timbers down this season, Portland has been almost unstoppable the last two weeks, scoring nine goals in their last two MLS games, a 5-2 win on the road in LA was followed by a 4-1 win over Colorado on the final day of the season. If the Portland offense is really starting to click this is a much scarier team to face. With the likes of Darlington Nagbe, who scored twice against Colorado, and Fanendo Adi, who scored twice against LA, leading the front line it is certainly a scary proposition. That offense hasn't been producing at this level all season though so heading into tomorrow the question is whether Portland has hit their stride or the last two games being outside the norm.
For Kansas City the big question is probably the health of Benny Feilhaber. KC's MVP started the season finale against the LA Galaxy on the bench, coming on as a half time substitute. Then news earlier this week came out that Feilhaber may not start Thursday either. The article made it seem like it was a fitness issue and too many minutes for the KC playmaker. At the same time we've seen Peter Vermes play coy before with player fitness and then start that player in the upcoming game. For the rest of KC's lineup I don't think you change anything about it. Roger Espinoza and Ike Opara remain unavailable and at this point I think that Saad Abdul-Salaam has earned the start at left back over Seth Sinovic with better performances in the last few games. That said it wouldn't surprise me to see Sinovic return for the playoff game.
Nemeth - Dwyer - Zusi
Feilhaber - Nagamura
Mustivar
Abdul-Salaam - Besler - Ellis - Myers
Melia
Number to Remember - 2 - That's the number of wins that KC has on the road in playoff history. A shootout win over the Dallas Burn in 1996 after a 2-2 draw in regulation, and a 2-0 road win over Colorado in KC's 2011 playoff run are the only two times that KC has won a playoff game on the road. Two is also the number of goals scored in the last four league games between these two teams. Both those goals have been scored by KC (Nemeth and Lawrence Olum).
Key Match Up - Tim Melia vs Portland attack - Over the last two trips to Portland Tim Melia has made a habit of coming up with some of his best performances of the season. With the way that Portland's attack has played the last two games KC is going to need another big performance for KC to advance.
PREDICTION - KC has the experience factor on their side, but they've been a poor team on the road in the playoffs throughout their history and have been below average on the road this year among playoff teams, only LA has won fewer games on the road this year than KC among playoff teams. On the other side of things KC has only lost three times to playoff teams this season so they know how to beat those teams. I'm just not sure that KC pulls this one out on the road. Unfortunately I see another early end to KC's season.
SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
PDX - 2 (Adi, Nagbe)
Sunday, October 04, 2015
Moment of Magic Gives KC All Three Points in Portland
Resting a number of players who started in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday, Sporting KC was able to grab all three points on the road in Portland against the Timbers. With Peter Vermes making seven changes to the team that started against the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday the expectation had to be that KC would sit back and attempt to deal with Portland's pressure and try to counter.
That's how the game started to play out with Portland keeping KC pinned back a lot holding the possession. Similar to last week against Seattle KC's front line of Jacob Peterson, Bernardo Anor, and Connor Hallisey really struggled to create chances when KC was able to get forward. This meant that Matt Besler, Kevin Ellis, and Tim Melia needed to step up for KC. And the trio did, all having a solid performance in back for KC. Melia picked up right where he left off on his last trip to Portland when he made seven saves. In the 27th after a good give and go Melia had to beat away a shot from Diego Valeri to keep Portland off the board. He was again called into action on Darlington Nagbe in the 37th after some good hold up play by Fanendo Adi. KC was able to hold off the pressure from the Timbers and the two teams had their fifth straight scoreless half this season.
KC made one change at half time bringing in Graham Zusi for Connor Hallisey who had a rough first half with his touch and control. Zusi's insertion gave KC a little bit more going forward, and KC started to look dangerous. In the 54th Zusi almost set up Anor. After some work down the right the ball got played in to Zusi who chipped a cross into the middle of the box but Anor got under the ball too much and headed it over the goal. While Zusi helped the offense, Portland still had the majority of the chances. In the 65th Nagbe almost create another chance. After picking off a pass in KC's half Nagbe dribbled at the KC defense before sliding a ball through to Lucas Melano. Melia though came up with a nice save to keep the game scoreless. Nagbe again was involved as the Timbers countered after a KC free kick was grabbed by Portland goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey. Kwarasey quickly got the ball forward and then got it to Nagbe. He dribbled at the KC defense before firing a shot just outside the box. Melia though was again in position, knocking the ball away. KC though came right back and Mikey Lopez forced a good save out of Kwarasey. Continuing to work through Zusi down their right a cross by the US national team player was knocked to Lopez at the top of the box. Lopez settled the ball on his chest turned and volleyed his shot on goal but Kwarasey knocked the ball over the goal. Finally in the 83rd minute, just went it looked like we'd get a third straight 0-0 draw between the two teams, Krisztian Nemeth pulled out a moment of magic. Receiving the ball in KC's half Nemeth dribbled forward, cut around Diego Chara and continued up the field. Chara recovered but Nemeth cut inside causing Chara to by pass him and fall over. That cut also caused Nat Borchers to slip and that slip allowed Nemeth to cut back outside leaving Borchers behind him. Nemeth got into the box and fired a shot that went through Liam Ridgewell's legs, past Kwarasey and into the net to give KC a 1-0 lead. KC was able to hold out the rest of the way and pick of a valuable three points and also move them up in the table to third place in the Western Conference.
Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - It wasn't his seven save performance the last time that KC made the trip to Portland. But once again Melia kept Kansas City in the game. He made the big saves that KC needed him to make.
Honorable mention: Matt Besler, Krisztian Nemeth
Player Ratings - Melia 8, Dia 7, Besler 8, Ellis 7, Abdul-Salaam 7, Feilhaber 6, Lopez 6, Quintila 6, Anor 5, Peterson 5, Hallisey 5. Subs Zusi 6, Nemeth 7, Palmer-Brown 6.
That's how the game started to play out with Portland keeping KC pinned back a lot holding the possession. Similar to last week against Seattle KC's front line of Jacob Peterson, Bernardo Anor, and Connor Hallisey really struggled to create chances when KC was able to get forward. This meant that Matt Besler, Kevin Ellis, and Tim Melia needed to step up for KC. And the trio did, all having a solid performance in back for KC. Melia picked up right where he left off on his last trip to Portland when he made seven saves. In the 27th after a good give and go Melia had to beat away a shot from Diego Valeri to keep Portland off the board. He was again called into action on Darlington Nagbe in the 37th after some good hold up play by Fanendo Adi. KC was able to hold off the pressure from the Timbers and the two teams had their fifth straight scoreless half this season.
KC made one change at half time bringing in Graham Zusi for Connor Hallisey who had a rough first half with his touch and control. Zusi's insertion gave KC a little bit more going forward, and KC started to look dangerous. In the 54th Zusi almost set up Anor. After some work down the right the ball got played in to Zusi who chipped a cross into the middle of the box but Anor got under the ball too much and headed it over the goal. While Zusi helped the offense, Portland still had the majority of the chances. In the 65th Nagbe almost create another chance. After picking off a pass in KC's half Nagbe dribbled at the KC defense before sliding a ball through to Lucas Melano. Melia though came up with a nice save to keep the game scoreless. Nagbe again was involved as the Timbers countered after a KC free kick was grabbed by Portland goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey. Kwarasey quickly got the ball forward and then got it to Nagbe. He dribbled at the KC defense before firing a shot just outside the box. Melia though was again in position, knocking the ball away. KC though came right back and Mikey Lopez forced a good save out of Kwarasey. Continuing to work through Zusi down their right a cross by the US national team player was knocked to Lopez at the top of the box. Lopez settled the ball on his chest turned and volleyed his shot on goal but Kwarasey knocked the ball over the goal. Finally in the 83rd minute, just went it looked like we'd get a third straight 0-0 draw between the two teams, Krisztian Nemeth pulled out a moment of magic. Receiving the ball in KC's half Nemeth dribbled forward, cut around Diego Chara and continued up the field. Chara recovered but Nemeth cut inside causing Chara to by pass him and fall over. That cut also caused Nat Borchers to slip and that slip allowed Nemeth to cut back outside leaving Borchers behind him. Nemeth got into the box and fired a shot that went through Liam Ridgewell's legs, past Kwarasey and into the net to give KC a 1-0 lead. KC was able to hold out the rest of the way and pick of a valuable three points and also move them up in the table to third place in the Western Conference.
Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - It wasn't his seven save performance the last time that KC made the trip to Portland. But once again Melia kept Kansas City in the game. He made the big saves that KC needed him to make.
Honorable mention: Matt Besler, Krisztian Nemeth
Player Ratings - Melia 8, Dia 7, Besler 8, Ellis 7, Abdul-Salaam 7, Feilhaber 6, Lopez 6, Quintila 6, Anor 5, Peterson 5, Hallisey 5. Subs Zusi 6, Nemeth 7, Palmer-Brown 6.
Friday, October 02, 2015
Match Day 31: Quick Hangover Recovery
Sporting KC will be looking for a good hangover cure tomorrow night in Portland when they take on the Portland Timbers. Just three days after lifting the US Open Cup, KC have an extremely important game on the road against a team they're just one point ahead of in the Western Conference. KC currently sits in fifth on 45 points while Portland is in the final playoff spot at 44. Tomorrow's an important game because a loss by either one and a San Jose win would see the loser below the red playoff line with just three games left to play.
Portland comes into the game after an impressive 2-1 win on the road in Columbus thanks to two goals by Fanendo Adi. The Timbers head into the game relatively healthy with the only notable absence being the club's captain, Will Johnson who is having surgery is potentially out for the rest of the season. Other than him the Timbers will have pretty much the full compliment of players. Including the likes of Darlington Nagbe. The new American citizen caused KC all kinds of trouble in their last meeting at Providence Park. This time Portland will again be looking to exploit their speed against a tired KC side.
The big question for Kansas City is what type of lineup the team will put out. The majority of KC's "Best XI" went 120 minutes on Wednesday night, and two of the ones that didn't left with injuries that would likely keep them out of tomorrow's game. Knocks will likely keep Soni Mustivar and Seth Sinovic out, while Krisztian Nemeth's ankle seemed to be giving him trouble late on in the game. The team will also be without Paulo Nagamura who is suspended due to yellow card accumulation. The Swope Park Rangers could get another run out for KC with some of KC's starters coming in off the bench.
Number to Remember - 1 - That's the number of goals that have been scored in the last three match ups between these two teams. And that was last year by Lawrence Olum off a long throw in by Seth Sinovic. The two teams have played to a pair of 0-0 draws this year.
Key Match Up - KC outside backs vs Portland wide attackers - In the last match up between these two teams in September, Tim Melia was forced to stand on his head to preserve a 0-0 draw for Kansas City. In the game Portland was able to get forward plenty down KC's wings and really caused KC problems. With some KC players likely with some heavy legs tomorrow, Portland will run at KC.
PREDICTION - This may not be considered a "must win" in terms of if KC lose they are out of the playoffs, but it's pretty close. This is an extremely important game for KC and Portland. Unfortunately for KC it comes shortly after a very taxing game in Philadelphia on Wednesday. I expect Sporting to play this one very conservative for a Peter Vermes team. That doesn't mean they'll sit back, but they'll be a lot more selective in when they pull out the high press that KC is known for. Unfortunately for KC I'm just not sure that they're going to have the legs to run with a very fast Portland team.
SKC - 0
PDX - 2 (Adi, Valeri)
Portland comes into the game after an impressive 2-1 win on the road in Columbus thanks to two goals by Fanendo Adi. The Timbers head into the game relatively healthy with the only notable absence being the club's captain, Will Johnson who is having surgery is potentially out for the rest of the season. Other than him the Timbers will have pretty much the full compliment of players. Including the likes of Darlington Nagbe. The new American citizen caused KC all kinds of trouble in their last meeting at Providence Park. This time Portland will again be looking to exploit their speed against a tired KC side.
The big question for Kansas City is what type of lineup the team will put out. The majority of KC's "Best XI" went 120 minutes on Wednesday night, and two of the ones that didn't left with injuries that would likely keep them out of tomorrow's game. Knocks will likely keep Soni Mustivar and Seth Sinovic out, while Krisztian Nemeth's ankle seemed to be giving him trouble late on in the game. The team will also be without Paulo Nagamura who is suspended due to yellow card accumulation. The Swope Park Rangers could get another run out for KC with some of KC's starters coming in off the bench.
Anor - Peterson - Hallisey
Quintilla - Lopez
Okugo
Dia - Besler - Palmer-Brown - Anibaba
Melia
Number to Remember - 1 - That's the number of goals that have been scored in the last three match ups between these two teams. And that was last year by Lawrence Olum off a long throw in by Seth Sinovic. The two teams have played to a pair of 0-0 draws this year.
Key Match Up - KC outside backs vs Portland wide attackers - In the last match up between these two teams in September, Tim Melia was forced to stand on his head to preserve a 0-0 draw for Kansas City. In the game Portland was able to get forward plenty down KC's wings and really caused KC problems. With some KC players likely with some heavy legs tomorrow, Portland will run at KC.
PREDICTION - This may not be considered a "must win" in terms of if KC lose they are out of the playoffs, but it's pretty close. This is an extremely important game for KC and Portland. Unfortunately for KC it comes shortly after a very taxing game in Philadelphia on Wednesday. I expect Sporting to play this one very conservative for a Peter Vermes team. That doesn't mean they'll sit back, but they'll be a lot more selective in when they pull out the high press that KC is known for. Unfortunately for KC I'm just not sure that they're going to have the legs to run with a very fast Portland team.
SKC - 0
PDX - 2 (Adi, Valeri)
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Melia Shows Why He Deserved First Rose in Rose City Draw
Earlier this week, Sporting KC did a spoof on the Bachelor where Peter Vermes handed out roses to players that would be making the trip to the Rose City to take on the Portland Timbers. During that it was said that Tim Melia had already received his rose and would be going to the Rose City. Last night against the Timbers, Melia proved why he'd been the first rose recipient as the KC goalkeeper came up with seven saves as KC ended their three game losing streak with a 0-0 draw in Portland.
The first half saw both teams really struggle to create much in the way of offense. Jacob Peterson had an early chance when goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey and defender Norberto Paparatto didn't communicate well enough, but Kwarasey recovered to knock the ball out. The best chance in the first half came in the 29th when Fanendo Adi was played through on goal. Out racing Matt Besler, Adi got a shot off but Melia made a nice kick save to knock the ball away. KC's best first half chance came in the 33rd off a Besler long throw. Saad Abdul-Salaam got his head on it and tried to flick it on goal but it ended up being easily collected by Kwarasey.
The second half though things really opened up, especially for the Timbers who really started to fly forward countering Kc's possession. In the 49th Adi had another really good opportunity down KC's right a cross came into Adi in the box and he got a free header on net but Melia made a nice diving save stopping the ball on the line and not allowing a rebound. Portland continued to keep Melia busy in the second half with Melia forced to make a diving save on Lucas Melano after he was played in on goal in front of Abdul-Salaam. KC for having possession really struggled to create many chances, their best chances were coming off of Besler long throws and it almost saw KC grab the lead in the 64th when a ball sailed through the box and bounced in front of Graham Zusi. The midfielder brought it down and fired a low shot that beat Kwarasey but not the post as the ball bounced into play and eventually away. That chance led to a counter at the other end as KC got caught forward, but again Melia came to the rescue taking the ball off of Melano's foot as he received a pass into KC's box. Two minutes later, in the 66th, Melano was again played into the box, this time he touched it around an oncoming Melia and tried to play a ball across the face of goal, but Kevin Ellis had recovered at the near post and knocked the ball out for a corner. Portland continued to come forward, mainly on the counter or from set pieces but Melia and the KC defense was able to hold them off. KC had some half chances with Abdul-Salaam playing a cross that went through the entire box with a KC player not able to get their foot on the ball. Meanwhile Melia was denying Diego Valeri and Maximiliano Urruti to keep the shut out. It certainly wasn't pretty from KC, but it was a vast improvement from the KC defense with Soni Mustivar slotted back in front of them, as they were able to keep their first shutout since early July.
Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Really it's not even a contest, Melia with his seven saves was immense for Kansas City last night. He made a number of strong saves and was good coming off his line as well to stop other chances throughout the night.
Player Ratings - Melia 9, Abdul-Salaam 6, Ellis 6, Beslser 7, Sinovic 6, Mustivar 7, Nagamura 6, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 6, Dwyer 4, Peterson 4. Subs Anibaba 6, Anor 5, Quintilla NR.
Tuesday, September 08, 2015
Match Day 26: Needing to Right the Ship
Sporting KC are back in action after 10 days off after the club's 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids. Sporting now faces a 5 day cross country trip for back to back games. That starts tomorrow in Portland when KC takes on the Timbers at Providence Park. The two teams are currently tied for fifth place in the Western Conference only two points above the playoff line (but KC still has their games in hand). That said there will be something missing from this game due to suspensions, injuries and call ups.
For Portland it's a matter of international call ups and suspensions. They'll be missing two of their starters due to the current international call ups with midfielder Will Johnson with the Canadian team and outside back, Alvas Powell away with Jamaica. Defensively, Portland takes more of a hit with suspensions as well. Defensive midfielder, Diego Chara will serve the second of a two game suspension for a red card he received for an elbow against Houston. They'll also be missing center back, Liam Ridgewell, who is suspended for tomorrow's game due to yellow card accumulation. Those four absences will leave big holes for Portland to fill with KC coming to town.
KC's absences have some of the same issues. They'll be missing three players due to international call ups, with Marcel de Jong with Canada, Krisztian Nemeth with Hungary, and Erik Palmer-Brown with the US U20 team. Nemeth is the biggest miss of the three as the other two were likely to be reserves for the game tomorrow. The good news is the return of Matt Besler who was released from the US camp after the Peru game to return to KC for this game against Portland. The other issue that will keep KC players out is the injury bug. While it seems that Jalil Anibaba and Soni Mustivar are set to return, and both would be a huge boost to the team, the obvious long term injury to Roger Espinoza is probably KC's biggest absence heading into tomorrow.
Number to Remember - 367 - A little over a year ago, KC lost their fourth straight game in league play to the New York Red Bulls 2-1. That stretch was one of the big parts of KC's fall from grace last year that saw them finish 5th in the Eastern Conference and lose in the Wildcard round of the playoffs.
Key Match Up - Kevin Ellis vs Fanendo Adi - Once again the shortest center back in the league will likely be matched up against the opponents tall center forward. Ellis has done a good job much of the time against opponents, but against Colorado a little over a week ago his size was exposed on Colorado's game winning goal. Hopefully the time off will allow Ellis to step up again.
PREDICTION - The Timbers are extremely difficult to beat at home, especially this season where they haven't lost since April. While the return of Mustivar to KC's midfield should help correct some of KC's problems, especially Feilhaber's sitting in the deep lying playmaker role he has played when Mustivar hasn't been in. I'm just not sure that's going to be enough for KC to get a win on the road. A draw tomorrow is certainly a possibility with all of Portland's defensive absences that Feilhaber and Dom Dwyer can take advantage of, but will the defense be able to stand up and pick up the play that saw them allow 14 goals in the last five games.
SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
PDX - 1 (Nagbe)
For Portland it's a matter of international call ups and suspensions. They'll be missing two of their starters due to the current international call ups with midfielder Will Johnson with the Canadian team and outside back, Alvas Powell away with Jamaica. Defensively, Portland takes more of a hit with suspensions as well. Defensive midfielder, Diego Chara will serve the second of a two game suspension for a red card he received for an elbow against Houston. They'll also be missing center back, Liam Ridgewell, who is suspended for tomorrow's game due to yellow card accumulation. Those four absences will leave big holes for Portland to fill with KC coming to town.
KC's absences have some of the same issues. They'll be missing three players due to international call ups, with Marcel de Jong with Canada, Krisztian Nemeth with Hungary, and Erik Palmer-Brown with the US U20 team. Nemeth is the biggest miss of the three as the other two were likely to be reserves for the game tomorrow. The good news is the return of Matt Besler who was released from the US camp after the Peru game to return to KC for this game against Portland. The other issue that will keep KC players out is the injury bug. While it seems that Jalil Anibaba and Soni Mustivar are set to return, and both would be a huge boost to the team, the obvious long term injury to Roger Espinoza is probably KC's biggest absence heading into tomorrow.
Peterson - Dwyer - Zusi
Nagamura - Feilhaber
Mustivar
Sinovic - Besler - Ellis - Myers
Melia
Number to Remember - 367 - A little over a year ago, KC lost their fourth straight game in league play to the New York Red Bulls 2-1. That stretch was one of the big parts of KC's fall from grace last year that saw them finish 5th in the Eastern Conference and lose in the Wildcard round of the playoffs.
Key Match Up - Kevin Ellis vs Fanendo Adi - Once again the shortest center back in the league will likely be matched up against the opponents tall center forward. Ellis has done a good job much of the time against opponents, but against Colorado a little over a week ago his size was exposed on Colorado's game winning goal. Hopefully the time off will allow Ellis to step up again.
PREDICTION - The Timbers are extremely difficult to beat at home, especially this season where they haven't lost since April. While the return of Mustivar to KC's midfield should help correct some of KC's problems, especially Feilhaber's sitting in the deep lying playmaker role he has played when Mustivar hasn't been in. I'm just not sure that's going to be enough for KC to get a win on the road. A draw tomorrow is certainly a possibility with all of Portland's defensive absences that Feilhaber and Dom Dwyer can take advantage of, but will the defense be able to stand up and pick up the play that saw them allow 14 goals in the last five games.
SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
PDX - 1 (Nagbe)
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Sporting's Defense Cleans Up, but Offense Still Lacks in 0-0 Draw
Sporting Kansas City is off to their worst start to the season since 1999. Last night at Sporting Park made it three straight to start the season without a win as they played the Portland Timbers to a 0-0 draw. The defense stepped up against a Portland team that has shown to cause Kansas City trouble on the counter in the past, shutting out the Timbers offense while Luis Marin came up with saves when he was called upon.
Kansas City had much of the early pressure and created probably their best chances of the game in the early going. Ike Opara had two good chances early on off a pair of Marcel de Jong corner. The best of those two being the second when Opara got himself some space against Nat Borchers but flashed his open header wide of the net. In the 15th minute, Jimmy Medranda did a good job of breaking down Portland's defense, going between a couple defenders. From there Medranda played the ball to Dom Dwyer who fired a shot but it was imediately deflected. The immediate deflection though almost worked to Dwyer's advantage as it carried his shot over goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey, but it carried it just over the cross bar and out as well. KC's early pressure led to no goals for the team though as Portland's defense held firm and kept KC out of the net. As the half went on, Portland started to get more of the play, but KC's defense and Luis Marin both held firm keeping Portland off the board.
The second half saw both teams trade possession without much in the way of chances. In the 60th minute, Fanendo Adi broke past Jalil Anibaba and raced in on goal, but his shot from a tight angle was right at Marin. It had enough pace on it that Marin could only knock it away, but Marin kept it out of the net. KC's best chance of the second half came in the 77th minute when a cross by de Jong was put right on the head of Opara, but Opara put this effort just over the bar. Minutes later, Anibaba had a glancing header go just wide of the goal. In the end though Kansas City really lacked in terms of creating chances last night, and creating dangerous chances. KC recorded 16 shots, but only placed two of those on goal. For the most part Dwyer was marked out of the game by Portland's back line, and Benny Feilhaber's role last night left him so far away from goal that he wasn't able to really be involved in KC's attack, something that leaves KC without a lot of dynamic play when it comes to their attack.
Wizards Man of the Match - Luis Marin - Not a lot on the field to be really impressed with overall, but Marin had himself a very good game, making some good saves and his distribution was on point more of the night.
Player Ratings - Marin 7, de Jong 6, Besler 6, Opara 6, Anibaba 6, Feilhaber 5, Nagamura 4, Espinoza 4, Zusi 4, Dwyer 4, Medranda 5. Subs Anor 4, Carrasco NR, Mustivar NR.
Kansas City had much of the early pressure and created probably their best chances of the game in the early going. Ike Opara had two good chances early on off a pair of Marcel de Jong corner. The best of those two being the second when Opara got himself some space against Nat Borchers but flashed his open header wide of the net. In the 15th minute, Jimmy Medranda did a good job of breaking down Portland's defense, going between a couple defenders. From there Medranda played the ball to Dom Dwyer who fired a shot but it was imediately deflected. The immediate deflection though almost worked to Dwyer's advantage as it carried his shot over goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey, but it carried it just over the cross bar and out as well. KC's early pressure led to no goals for the team though as Portland's defense held firm and kept KC out of the net. As the half went on, Portland started to get more of the play, but KC's defense and Luis Marin both held firm keeping Portland off the board.
The second half saw both teams trade possession without much in the way of chances. In the 60th minute, Fanendo Adi broke past Jalil Anibaba and raced in on goal, but his shot from a tight angle was right at Marin. It had enough pace on it that Marin could only knock it away, but Marin kept it out of the net. KC's best chance of the second half came in the 77th minute when a cross by de Jong was put right on the head of Opara, but Opara put this effort just over the bar. Minutes later, Anibaba had a glancing header go just wide of the goal. In the end though Kansas City really lacked in terms of creating chances last night, and creating dangerous chances. KC recorded 16 shots, but only placed two of those on goal. For the most part Dwyer was marked out of the game by Portland's back line, and Benny Feilhaber's role last night left him so far away from goal that he wasn't able to really be involved in KC's attack, something that leaves KC without a lot of dynamic play when it comes to their attack.
Wizards Man of the Match - Luis Marin - Not a lot on the field to be really impressed with overall, but Marin had himself a very good game, making some good saves and his distribution was on point more of the night.
Player Ratings - Marin 7, de Jong 6, Besler 6, Opara 6, Anibaba 6, Feilhaber 5, Nagamura 4, Espinoza 4, Zusi 4, Dwyer 4, Medranda 5. Subs Anor 4, Carrasco NR, Mustivar NR.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Match Day 3 - Still Searching for the First Win
Sporting KC return home for their third game of the season,welcoming the Portland Timbers to Sporting Park. Both teams are looking for their first win of the season, Sporting sitting 0-1-1 with one point after drawing with New York and losing to Dallas. Portland sits 0-0-2 after home draws against Salt Lake and LA.
Portland comes into this game with a midfield that is still beaten up. The team has three long term injuries in their midfield with Diego Valeri, Will Johnson, and Ben Zemanski all out with long term injuries. The three being out have changed Portland tactics a bit this year. Without any of those three in the midfield, Portland has taken a more direct approach, bypassing their midfield and getting the likes of Darlington Nagbe and Rodney Wallace involved in the play much faster. Against LA, Nagbe and Wallace both caused the Galaxy a number of problems with their pace as each had an assist on one of Fanendo Adi's goals last week.
Not exactly like Portland, but KC has a midfield problem of their own after the first two games of the season. With KC's inverted triangle this year in midfield that has seen Benny Feilhaber play a more withdrawn playmaker role, KC has struggled defensively in the midfield. At times both Feilhaber and Roger Espinoza have been going forward, leaving KC's back four exposed without the safety net in front of them to break up plays. Peter Vermes tried to negate that a bit against Dallas by inserting Paulo Nagamura into the midfield, but KC still struggled with gaps between the midfield and defense. With Portland's direct style that they're playing right now, leaving gaps like that will cause KC a lot of problems.
The big question for the team may be who starts at left back, Canadian international Marcel de Jong, or last year's starter, Seth Sinovic. Whoever gets the call will be the one called upon to mainly deal with Nagbe for Portland, not an easy ask at all.
Number to Remember - 1999 - If KC fails to get a win tomorrow, it'll be the first time since 1999 that the team has gone through the first three games of the season without recording one win. The last time the team went two games into the season without a win was 2009 when the team won their third game 2-0 over San Jose. KC has traditionally been fast starters.
Key Match Up - KC outside backs vs Darlington Nagbe and Rodney Wallace - As I previously mentioned, Portland has been playing a more direct style this year because of their midfield injuries. That, and with KC's style of high pressure means that KC's outside backs are going to have to be on their toes tomorrow because the combination of the two styles could leave Sporting very exposed in the back for the likes of Nagbe and Wallace to have a field day. Whether it's Sinovic or de Jong on the left, and whether it's Dia or someone else on the right, they're going to have to be on top of their game defensively to deal with Portland's wingers. Last weekend against Dallas the team struggled to cope with another pacey winger, Fabian Castillo, hopefully they've learned their lesson.
PREDICTION - This isn't a must win game for KC at this point, but a win would certainly be a big boost here. KC hasn't won a game since a 2-0 win over Chicago on October 10th. That's four straight league games without a win, and six straight in all competitions with the CCL loss in Costa Rica and playoff loss to New York. It's not something that Sporting has had to deal with in a long time. Shutting down Portland's wing play will be key. Unfortunately that's really not something that KC has been successful with over the last year or so. The team's high pressure leaves them exposed, especially on the wings. If KC is going to continue the high pressure, KC's forward and wide midfielders are going to have to be really tight with their pressure, giving a lot of space will get Nagbe and Wallace the time to get open against KC's outside backs and we've seen how well that's gone for KC. Both teams are really needing a win to get their season going. While I'm not overly confident that KC can get all three points, I think KC does get things done tomorrow night against Portland.
SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Nemeth)
PTFC - 1 (Wallace)
Portland comes into this game with a midfield that is still beaten up. The team has three long term injuries in their midfield with Diego Valeri, Will Johnson, and Ben Zemanski all out with long term injuries. The three being out have changed Portland tactics a bit this year. Without any of those three in the midfield, Portland has taken a more direct approach, bypassing their midfield and getting the likes of Darlington Nagbe and Rodney Wallace involved in the play much faster. Against LA, Nagbe and Wallace both caused the Galaxy a number of problems with their pace as each had an assist on one of Fanendo Adi's goals last week.
Not exactly like Portland, but KC has a midfield problem of their own after the first two games of the season. With KC's inverted triangle this year in midfield that has seen Benny Feilhaber play a more withdrawn playmaker role, KC has struggled defensively in the midfield. At times both Feilhaber and Roger Espinoza have been going forward, leaving KC's back four exposed without the safety net in front of them to break up plays. Peter Vermes tried to negate that a bit against Dallas by inserting Paulo Nagamura into the midfield, but KC still struggled with gaps between the midfield and defense. With Portland's direct style that they're playing right now, leaving gaps like that will cause KC a lot of problems.
The big question for the team may be who starts at left back, Canadian international Marcel de Jong, or last year's starter, Seth Sinovic. Whoever gets the call will be the one called upon to mainly deal with Nagbe for Portland, not an easy ask at all.
Marin
Dia - Opara - Besler - Sinovic
Feilhaber - Espinoza
Zusi - Nemeth - Anor
Dwyer
Number to Remember - 1999 - If KC fails to get a win tomorrow, it'll be the first time since 1999 that the team has gone through the first three games of the season without recording one win. The last time the team went two games into the season without a win was 2009 when the team won their third game 2-0 over San Jose. KC has traditionally been fast starters.
Key Match Up - KC outside backs vs Darlington Nagbe and Rodney Wallace - As I previously mentioned, Portland has been playing a more direct style this year because of their midfield injuries. That, and with KC's style of high pressure means that KC's outside backs are going to have to be on their toes tomorrow because the combination of the two styles could leave Sporting very exposed in the back for the likes of Nagbe and Wallace to have a field day. Whether it's Sinovic or de Jong on the left, and whether it's Dia or someone else on the right, they're going to have to be on top of their game defensively to deal with Portland's wingers. Last weekend against Dallas the team struggled to cope with another pacey winger, Fabian Castillo, hopefully they've learned their lesson.
PREDICTION - This isn't a must win game for KC at this point, but a win would certainly be a big boost here. KC hasn't won a game since a 2-0 win over Chicago on October 10th. That's four straight league games without a win, and six straight in all competitions with the CCL loss in Costa Rica and playoff loss to New York. It's not something that Sporting has had to deal with in a long time. Shutting down Portland's wing play will be key. Unfortunately that's really not something that KC has been successful with over the last year or so. The team's high pressure leaves them exposed, especially on the wings. If KC is going to continue the high pressure, KC's forward and wide midfielders are going to have to be really tight with their pressure, giving a lot of space will get Nagbe and Wallace the time to get open against KC's outside backs and we've seen how well that's gone for KC. Both teams are really needing a win to get their season going. While I'm not overly confident that KC can get all three points, I think KC does get things done tomorrow night against Portland.
SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Nemeth)
PTFC - 1 (Wallace)
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Sporting KC Open Preseason with Loss to Portland
Sporting Kansas City opened the 2015 season with a loss in their first preseason game, 2-0 to the Portland Timbers.
Sporting kicked off without a number of players, beside Matt Besler and Jon Kempin who are still with the US national team, Roger Espinoza, Chance Myers, Ike Opara, Saad Abdul-Salaam, and Graham Zusi all sat out the game for Kansas City. While the game was the standard two 45 minute halves, Kansas City made numerous changes at both the 30 minute and 60 minute mark giving pretty much everyone 30 minutes.
KC suffered an injury blow in just the 15th minute as Seth Sinovic caught an elbow from Fanendo Adi. Sinovic went down and was subbed out for Amadou Dia, and ended up having to get stitches for a cut he received. Portland opened the scoring from the spot in the 30th minute through Gaston Fernandez. After a block and a good save by goalkeeper Luis Marin, a handball in the box led to a Portland penalty. Fernandez fired the penalty right up the middle giving Portland the lead. Immediately after KC made their first set of changes.
Portland didn't make any changes at the 30 minute mark, instead waiting until half time. Sporting's second set of players didn't concede. Early in the second half though it was the Timbers that doubled their lead as Michael Nanchoff hit a nice free kick from just outside the box that beat Tim Melia, hit off the post and in. Throughout the game, Sporting really didn't create much in the way of dangerous chances on goal. But other than those two goals, Portland also struggled to create chances. Overall, it looked like two teams playing their first preseason game.
There were also four new trialists in the game for Kansas City. Along with the unsigned draft picks, Dia, James Rogers, and Tony Rocha, Sporting academy product, Felipe Hernandez, and former Sporting player, Christian Duke, Kansas Cit also had Brent Griffiths, who started the game at center back and played 60 minutes for Kansas City, Alex Dixon, Santiago Otero, and Daniel Rodriguez. Griffiths has spent his entire career in the A-League in Australia, playing with a number of teams there. Dixon is a former Houston Dynamo home grown player, Otero is an Argentine who last played with Godoy Cruz, and Rodriguez, I'm unable to find anything to confirm where he'd previously played.
Sporting kicked off without a number of players, beside Matt Besler and Jon Kempin who are still with the US national team, Roger Espinoza, Chance Myers, Ike Opara, Saad Abdul-Salaam, and Graham Zusi all sat out the game for Kansas City. While the game was the standard two 45 minute halves, Kansas City made numerous changes at both the 30 minute and 60 minute mark giving pretty much everyone 30 minutes.
KC suffered an injury blow in just the 15th minute as Seth Sinovic caught an elbow from Fanendo Adi. Sinovic went down and was subbed out for Amadou Dia, and ended up having to get stitches for a cut he received. Portland opened the scoring from the spot in the 30th minute through Gaston Fernandez. After a block and a good save by goalkeeper Luis Marin, a handball in the box led to a Portland penalty. Fernandez fired the penalty right up the middle giving Portland the lead. Immediately after KC made their first set of changes.
Portland didn't make any changes at the 30 minute mark, instead waiting until half time. Sporting's second set of players didn't concede. Early in the second half though it was the Timbers that doubled their lead as Michael Nanchoff hit a nice free kick from just outside the box that beat Tim Melia, hit off the post and in. Throughout the game, Sporting really didn't create much in the way of dangerous chances on goal. But other than those two goals, Portland also struggled to create chances. Overall, it looked like two teams playing their first preseason game.
There were also four new trialists in the game for Kansas City. Along with the unsigned draft picks, Dia, James Rogers, and Tony Rocha, Sporting academy product, Felipe Hernandez, and former Sporting player, Christian Duke, Kansas Cit also had Brent Griffiths, who started the game at center back and played 60 minutes for Kansas City, Alex Dixon, Santiago Otero, and Daniel Rodriguez. Griffiths has spent his entire career in the A-League in Australia, playing with a number of teams there. Dixon is a former Houston Dynamo home grown player, Otero is an Argentine who last played with Godoy Cruz, and Rodriguez, I'm unable to find anything to confirm where he'd previously played.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Smash and Grab
It wasn't a pretty game, not even close. Sporting KC, dressing only 16 players for the game, was able to take all three points on the road at Providence Park beating the Portland Timbers 1-0 in a classic smash and grab operation.
Portland had the better of play throughout most of the game. Early on Portland's chances didn't amount to good shots for the Timbers. Eric Kronberg was up to the early task making a save on a deflected shot by Will Johnson. The Timbers thought they'd scored in the 14th minute when Fanendo Adi headed home a cross by Darlinton Nabe, but the Timbers DP was offside. KC got little going when they they got forward, not really testing Donovan Ricketts in the early part of the game. In the 24th minute though KC got a deep throw-in in the Timbers end. Seth Sinovic launched the ball into the box. It went over the head of Aurelein Collin into the path of Kevin Ellis who got his foot on the ball knocking it into the path of Lawrence Olum. Olum one timed his shot past Ricketts and into the net to give KC the 1-0 lead. Portland continued to push forward, now trying to find an equalizer. Nagbe put a header just wide of Kronberg's post. The Timbers continued to press the game, but couldn't find an equalizer in the first half as KC went in with the lead.
The second half saw the Timbers continue to be the more aggressive side, pushing numbers forward and trying to break down KC's defense. KC though found space the other way on the counter. In the 63rd they almost punished the Timbers for it. After clearing a free kick, Dom Dwyer got sent free the other way, getting in behind the Portland defense. Diego Chara did a good job recovering and winning the ball away from Dwyer. His clearance though was blocked inside the box by Soony Saad. Saad pushed the ball past Chara and tried to fire a shot past Ricketts, but the Jamaican made the save. The Timbers continued to push, with Diego Valeri finding space after turning Collin but Kronberg was again there to make the save. KC's defense played fantastically in front of Kronberg, keeping Adi in check and not giving the Timbers many open looks on goal. Adi looked to win a penalty kick late on, but Collin appeared to win position on him before he went to ground looking for the foul. KC continued to be strong defensively and closed the game out, winning 1-0.
Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Ellis - Was a beast in the center of defense, cutting out chances and playing extremely well for KC. The home grown player has probably been the biggest revelation with KC's current injury issues. He's been given the opportunity and he's realy ran with it.
Honorable Mention: Aurelien Collin, Eric Kronberg
Player Ratings - Kronberg 7, Juliao 5, Collin 7, Ellis 8, Sinovic 7, Olum 6, Nagamura 6, Saad 5, Zizzo 5, Dwyer 4, Peterson 5. Subs Sapong 5, Martinez 5.
Portland had the better of play throughout most of the game. Early on Portland's chances didn't amount to good shots for the Timbers. Eric Kronberg was up to the early task making a save on a deflected shot by Will Johnson. The Timbers thought they'd scored in the 14th minute when Fanendo Adi headed home a cross by Darlinton Nabe, but the Timbers DP was offside. KC got little going when they they got forward, not really testing Donovan Ricketts in the early part of the game. In the 24th minute though KC got a deep throw-in in the Timbers end. Seth Sinovic launched the ball into the box. It went over the head of Aurelein Collin into the path of Kevin Ellis who got his foot on the ball knocking it into the path of Lawrence Olum. Olum one timed his shot past Ricketts and into the net to give KC the 1-0 lead. Portland continued to push forward, now trying to find an equalizer. Nagbe put a header just wide of Kronberg's post. The Timbers continued to press the game, but couldn't find an equalizer in the first half as KC went in with the lead.
The second half saw the Timbers continue to be the more aggressive side, pushing numbers forward and trying to break down KC's defense. KC though found space the other way on the counter. In the 63rd they almost punished the Timbers for it. After clearing a free kick, Dom Dwyer got sent free the other way, getting in behind the Portland defense. Diego Chara did a good job recovering and winning the ball away from Dwyer. His clearance though was blocked inside the box by Soony Saad. Saad pushed the ball past Chara and tried to fire a shot past Ricketts, but the Jamaican made the save. The Timbers continued to push, with Diego Valeri finding space after turning Collin but Kronberg was again there to make the save. KC's defense played fantastically in front of Kronberg, keeping Adi in check and not giving the Timbers many open looks on goal. Adi looked to win a penalty kick late on, but Collin appeared to win position on him before he went to ground looking for the foul. KC continued to be strong defensively and closed the game out, winning 1-0.
Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Ellis - Was a beast in the center of defense, cutting out chances and playing extremely well for KC. The home grown player has probably been the biggest revelation with KC's current injury issues. He's been given the opportunity and he's realy ran with it.
Honorable Mention: Aurelien Collin, Eric Kronberg
Player Ratings - Kronberg 7, Juliao 5, Collin 7, Ellis 8, Sinovic 7, Olum 6, Nagamura 6, Saad 5, Zizzo 5, Dwyer 4, Peterson 5. Subs Sapong 5, Martinez 5.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Game Day 16: Sporting Take on Portland: Take 2
Tuesday is a night that Sporting KC would really rather forget. They lost 3-1 to the Portland Timbers and bowed out of the US Open Cup. KC though will have to relive that tomorrow when they'll take on the Timbers in Portland. On the other hand they'll get an immediate opportunity for payback against the Timbers.
Portland played only a few starters in their game on Tuesday night in Kansas City, meaning those player will be well rested for tomorrow's game in Portland. The likes of Diego Chara and Darlington Nagbe played no roll in the Timbers win in KC. They're likely to have a role to play come tomorrow though. The Timbers have had trouble picking up wins at home this year though and that's something KC will need to take advantage of.
While Portland rested players on Tuesday, with all of KC's issues with injuries, the lineup that appeared in the Open Cup is likely to be the same one that plays against Portland save a few changes. The one that is forced on KC is Toni Doavle, who is suspended for this game after his red card against Houston in the final game before the World Cup break. Another change is extremely likely, Eric Kronberg returning to the starting 11 in place of Andy Gruenebaum. Really the only other question is whether Igor Juliao returns to the starting 11, and who he returns for (Kevin Ellis or Erik Palmer-Brown, and pushing Ellis into the center back position). There really aren't many other options for KC at this point with their roster.
Number to remember - 7 - That's how many draws the Timbers have at home this season. They only have one win and one draw in league play to go with the seven ties.
Key Match Up - Igor Juliao vs Darlington Nagbe - Nagbe is a special talent and a handful for any defender. He's going to spend a lot of time matched up against KC's right back. And whether that's Juliao or Ellis, they're going to have their hands full. I'd say they'd need more help from Aurelien Collin but I think he's really going to have to be the one that attempts to contain Fanendo Adi, who is going to be a handful.
PREDICTION - A team mainly made up of reserves took care of business against Sporting's current first team on Tuesday night. I have faith in Peter Vermes to make corrections to the way the team plays to help to offset that play. The question is whether that change will be enough to allow KC to get a point or three Friday. Right now I'm just now sure after the way the team played Tuesday.
SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
POR - 2 (Johnson, Adi)
Portland played only a few starters in their game on Tuesday night in Kansas City, meaning those player will be well rested for tomorrow's game in Portland. The likes of Diego Chara and Darlington Nagbe played no roll in the Timbers win in KC. They're likely to have a role to play come tomorrow though. The Timbers have had trouble picking up wins at home this year though and that's something KC will need to take advantage of.
While Portland rested players on Tuesday, with all of KC's issues with injuries, the lineup that appeared in the Open Cup is likely to be the same one that plays against Portland save a few changes. The one that is forced on KC is Toni Doavle, who is suspended for this game after his red card against Houston in the final game before the World Cup break. Another change is extremely likely, Eric Kronberg returning to the starting 11 in place of Andy Gruenebaum. Really the only other question is whether Igor Juliao returns to the starting 11, and who he returns for (Kevin Ellis or Erik Palmer-Brown, and pushing Ellis into the center back position). There really aren't many other options for KC at this point with their roster.
Kronberg
Juliao - Collin - EPB - Sinovic
Olum - Nagamura
Martinez
Peterson - Dwyer - Saad
Number to remember - 7 - That's how many draws the Timbers have at home this season. They only have one win and one draw in league play to go with the seven ties.
Key Match Up - Igor Juliao vs Darlington Nagbe - Nagbe is a special talent and a handful for any defender. He's going to spend a lot of time matched up against KC's right back. And whether that's Juliao or Ellis, they're going to have their hands full. I'd say they'd need more help from Aurelien Collin but I think he's really going to have to be the one that attempts to contain Fanendo Adi, who is going to be a handful.
PREDICTION - A team mainly made up of reserves took care of business against Sporting's current first team on Tuesday night. I have faith in Peter Vermes to make corrections to the way the team plays to help to offset that play. The question is whether that change will be enough to allow KC to get a point or three Friday. Right now I'm just now sure after the way the team played Tuesday.
SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
POR - 2 (Johnson, Adi)
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
KC Bow Out of the Open Cup
For the fourth time in five seasons, Kansas City bowed out of the US Open Cup at home, falling 3-1 to the Portland Timbers at Sporting Park. The Timbers jumped out to a 3-0 lead before a Soony Saad PK pulled Kansas City closer to make the final few minutes a little more interesting, but it ended up not being enough in the first of two matches this week.
KC came out early and was looking decent, keeping the Timbers pinned back in their own end. They almost grabbed the lead early on as Sal Zizzo flicked on a corner kick to the near post towards goal, but it was tipped over by Portland goalkeeper, Andrew Weber. Toni Dovale looked dangerous at the attacking midfield position almost springing KC twice with nice through balls through the middle that ended up getting cut out. Dom Dwyer forced another save from Weber off a free kick that the Timbers goalkeeper had to push away. Dovale and Dwyer almost combined to set up another goal off a quick restart, but Dwyer's cross into the box was cut out. KC continued to keep numbers forward, but then almost got got on the break as Kalif Alhassan countered after a KC set piece and ended up being fouled by Saad just outside the box setting up a dangerous set piece opportunity. It came to nothing, but from that point forward for the next five minutes or so, Portland kept KC pinned in their own end. A mistake by Erik Palmer-Brown almost gifted Portland a goal but the shot by Maximiliano Urriti went just wide of Andy Gruenebaum's post. Shortly after that though, in the 30th minute, Portland grabbed the lead. Alhassan created the chance getting space on KC's left before sending a cross into the box. The cross was cleared only as far as Gaston Fernandez, who slotted the ball into the corner to make it 1-0 Portland. Saad did a great job trying to create something out of nothing, collecting a long cross and beating a couple defenders into the box, but had his effort blocked by Weber. The rebound fell to Dovale who had his shot blocked by Dwyer. KC was unable to get much going the rest of the half to really test Weber in Portland's net and the two teams went into half time with the Timbers up the one goal.
Portland came out again in the second half and pressured KC in their own end. In the 57th minute the Timbers won a penalty kick as Aurelien Collin fouled Steve Zakuani just inside the box. Referee Ricardo Salazar pointed to the spot and Will Johnson put the PK away, as Gruenebaum guessed right but couldn't get his hands on it. The Timbers started to sit back a little bit, let KC come forward and try to hit on the counter. Portland did lead their own attacks though as well and in the 68th made it 3-0. Urriti collected a ball outside the box, cut inside and outside Collin, getting into the box and firing a shot that Gruenebaum saved but didn't hold. Fernandez was there at the back post to walk the ball home and put the game away. Five minutes later KC did get a bit of a life line though. Saad received a long ball and got into the box. He tried to cross the ball into the middle, but it was knocked away by Danny O'Rourke's hand. Salazar pointed to the spot and Saad stepped up, sent Weber the wrong way and made it 3-1. From there KC continued to pressure the Timbers and created a number of opportunities that with better finishing would have seen KC pull another goal back. CJ Sapong had a shot off a corner kick saved off the line, Paulo Nagamura had opportunities before being subbed out, Saad forced another save out of Weber with a curling effort. In stoppage time, Dovale even hit the cross bar on a free kick. Right after though Salazar blew the whistle and KC's Open Cup run came to an end after two rounds in the tournament.
Wizards Man of the Match - Soony Saad - Was the most impressive player on the night, he's improved his defensive abilities on the wing, which is a major thing that Vermes wants in his system. He was also the most consistently dangerous player offensively for KC.
Player Ratings - Gruenebaum 4, Sinovic 3, Palmer-Brown 4, Collin 4, Ellis 4, Olum 3, Nagamura 4, Dovale 5, Saad 6, Dwyer 4, Zizzo 3. Subs Peterson 5, Sapong 5, Martinez NR.
KC came out early and was looking decent, keeping the Timbers pinned back in their own end. They almost grabbed the lead early on as Sal Zizzo flicked on a corner kick to the near post towards goal, but it was tipped over by Portland goalkeeper, Andrew Weber. Toni Dovale looked dangerous at the attacking midfield position almost springing KC twice with nice through balls through the middle that ended up getting cut out. Dom Dwyer forced another save from Weber off a free kick that the Timbers goalkeeper had to push away. Dovale and Dwyer almost combined to set up another goal off a quick restart, but Dwyer's cross into the box was cut out. KC continued to keep numbers forward, but then almost got got on the break as Kalif Alhassan countered after a KC set piece and ended up being fouled by Saad just outside the box setting up a dangerous set piece opportunity. It came to nothing, but from that point forward for the next five minutes or so, Portland kept KC pinned in their own end. A mistake by Erik Palmer-Brown almost gifted Portland a goal but the shot by Maximiliano Urriti went just wide of Andy Gruenebaum's post. Shortly after that though, in the 30th minute, Portland grabbed the lead. Alhassan created the chance getting space on KC's left before sending a cross into the box. The cross was cleared only as far as Gaston Fernandez, who slotted the ball into the corner to make it 1-0 Portland. Saad did a great job trying to create something out of nothing, collecting a long cross and beating a couple defenders into the box, but had his effort blocked by Weber. The rebound fell to Dovale who had his shot blocked by Dwyer. KC was unable to get much going the rest of the half to really test Weber in Portland's net and the two teams went into half time with the Timbers up the one goal.
Portland came out again in the second half and pressured KC in their own end. In the 57th minute the Timbers won a penalty kick as Aurelien Collin fouled Steve Zakuani just inside the box. Referee Ricardo Salazar pointed to the spot and Will Johnson put the PK away, as Gruenebaum guessed right but couldn't get his hands on it. The Timbers started to sit back a little bit, let KC come forward and try to hit on the counter. Portland did lead their own attacks though as well and in the 68th made it 3-0. Urriti collected a ball outside the box, cut inside and outside Collin, getting into the box and firing a shot that Gruenebaum saved but didn't hold. Fernandez was there at the back post to walk the ball home and put the game away. Five minutes later KC did get a bit of a life line though. Saad received a long ball and got into the box. He tried to cross the ball into the middle, but it was knocked away by Danny O'Rourke's hand. Salazar pointed to the spot and Saad stepped up, sent Weber the wrong way and made it 3-1. From there KC continued to pressure the Timbers and created a number of opportunities that with better finishing would have seen KC pull another goal back. CJ Sapong had a shot off a corner kick saved off the line, Paulo Nagamura had opportunities before being subbed out, Saad forced another save out of Weber with a curling effort. In stoppage time, Dovale even hit the cross bar on a free kick. Right after though Salazar blew the whistle and KC's Open Cup run came to an end after two rounds in the tournament.
Wizards Man of the Match - Soony Saad - Was the most impressive player on the night, he's improved his defensive abilities on the wing, which is a major thing that Vermes wants in his system. He was also the most consistently dangerous player offensively for KC.
Player Ratings - Gruenebaum 4, Sinovic 3, Palmer-Brown 4, Collin 4, Ellis 4, Olum 3, Nagamura 4, Dovale 5, Saad 6, Dwyer 4, Zizzo 3. Subs Peterson 5, Sapong 5, Martinez NR.
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