MLS Release Home Openers, Sporting Have Three Games Announced

MLS today announced the home openers for all 22 MLS teams, and with that we know three of Sporting KC's games to start the season.

Sporting KC will once again open the season on the road, starting against DC United at RFK Stadium on March 4th with a 6pm kick off. The game should be the last game KC ever plays in the stadium where they won MLS Cup 2000 as DC United is scheduled to open their new stadium in 2018 and KC's next road trip to DC won't come until the 2019 season. This will actually be the eighth time that KC will play DC in their season opener, KC is 5-2 in the previous seven games (1998 L, 2001 L, 2003 W, 2007 W, 2008 W, 2010 W, 2012 W) including a 2-2 record when opening the season at RFK Stadium (1998, 2001, 2007, 2012).

Sporting will have their home opener just one week later, on March 11th they'll welcome the defending Supporters' Shield winners, FC Dallas to Children's Mercy Park. Kansas City has one of the best records in home openers in all of MLS, with a 13-2-6 record in the first home game of the season. The game will hopefully be a sign of things to come for many Sporting KC fans this season, Saturday night games, as the game kicks off at 7:30 Central time. One of the big complaints I saw last season from a number of fans was the schedule that saw Kansas City have numerous different start times and a lack of Saturday games. Sporting obviously had little to do with this due to their being on national television so much. Hopefully KC will have a few more Saturday night games than the four they had in 2016.

The third game that is already on the schedule for Sporting KC is the fifth week of the season when Sporting KC will travel to BMO Field for Toronto FC's home opener. This will be the second time that KC will play Toronto in their home opener, the last time was when the stadium opened back in 2007, when Kansas City pulled out a 1-0 win on a goal by Eddie Johnson. Playing two Eastern Conference teams on the road so early in the season means that KC will have gotten two of their five or six East Coast road trips out of the way early in the season. This year Sporting is supposed to play DC, Toronto, Columbus, New York City, and Orlando on the road for sure, and could possibly play Atlanta as well, depending on how MLS breaks the schedule down. With getting two out of the way early it'll mean fewer road trips East later in the season.

The rest of the schedule is still scheduled to come out in January, when we'll see the club's first trip to Minnesota and the first time they play Atlanta.

Sporting Chasing Argentine Midfielder?

The same day as the latest rumor regarding Dom Dwyer leaving Kansas City, a new rumor about an incoming player has surfaced. Reports out of Argentina are that Sporting Kansas City is after attacking midfielder, Sebastian Blanco, who currently plays for San Lorenzo in the Argentine Primera Division. The 28 year old has been with San Lorenzo with a little over a year after spending time with West Brom in England and Metalist Kharkiv of Ukraine. While he mainly plays centrally, he also can play on the outside, two positions that Kansas City have stated that they were looking to address during this summer transfer window.

Sporting currently has an attacking midfield in MVP finalist, Benny Feilhaber, but he is out of contract at the end of this season, and at 31 the question will become whether Kansas City will give him the long term deal he likely wants. Blanco's ability to play on the outside could come in very handy for the club as well, especially if Feilhaber does stay.

Kansas City isn't the only MLS team that is reportedly interested in Blanco. Since the summer two other MLS teams have been linked with the Argentine. Back in June the reports were that the Seattle Sounders had put in a bid on Blanco after it looked like they wouldn't sign Nicolas Lodeiro, who they signed this week. Then just a few days ago it was came out that Toronto was the club that was going after the Argentine as someone to help provide service for Sebastian Giovinco. According to the article, Blanco is valued at around $3,000,000 which honestly would seem to be a turn off for Kansas City who likes to go after players who are out of contract. Seattle and Toronto are two teams that are more likely to make that sort of big splash to sign a player, not Kansas City. So in the end while it's a fun rumor to hope for, based on Kansas City's history, this sort of move would be out of character.

Sporting Continue Unbeaten Start

Sporting Kansas City continued their unbeaten start to the 2016 MLS season with a 1-0 win over the visiting Toronto FC at Children's Mercy Park. The win moves KC to 3-0 the only team with three wins through three games so far this season.

For the third straight game Kansas City started the same lineup, starting Connor Hallisey with Dom Dwyer and Graham Zusi up top while Jordi Quintilla filled in for Benny Feilhaber in midfield. The first half as a whole lacked for excitement as neither team got any real quality looks on goal. KC's best chance came from a flick by Roger Espinoza in the ninth minute off a Graham Zusi corner kick. His shot though was cleared out for another corner that came to nothing for Sporting KC. Toronto's best chance of the first half came in the 40th minute when Sebastian Giovinco got behind the KC defense, cut back inside and squared a ball to Will Johnson, but his shot was right at Tim Melia who made the save.

KC made one change at half time, bringing on Brad Davis for Hallisey, but the move didn't pay dividends immediately for KC, instead it was Toronto that created the best chance in the game up to that point as Giovinco played a nice through ball to Tsubasa Endoh who had gotten in behind Chance Myers. Endoh fired a shot on goal that Melia got a hand on and was able to push onto the cross bar to keep it out and keep Kansas City level. Davis brought some much needed fire for KC though, causing trouble for the Toronto defense and Toronto as a whole when he didn't play the ball out when a Toronto player was down hurt, instead playing until referee Baldomero Toledo blew his whistle. Less than 10 minutes after Endoh's chance KC grabbed the lead. A long ball over the top by Nuno Coelho was flicked on by Dom Dwyer into the path of Davis. Davis muscled defender Justin Morrow off the ball, and with no foul called Davis continued to play, cutting back a bit and curling a shot into the far corner to put KC on top 1-0. From that point Toronto really pushed the game and Giovinco started to find space more and more on the back shoulder of the Sporting KC defense, but Melia was up to the effort of keeping the Italian out of the net. Things got even more interesting in the 84th minute when a heavy touch by Espinoza let the ball get away from him into the path of Marco Delgado. Espinoza arrived at the play late, catching Delgado with a cleat in the ankle area and referee Baldomero Toledo did not hesitate to go to the back pocket, putting KC down a man for the next six minute plus stoppage time. KC rode out the storm though, including a late Giovinco free kick that Chance Myers blocked with his face to give Kansas City all three points.

Wizards Man of the Match - Nuno Coelho - Coelho and his center back partner, Matt Besler did a good job of shutting down Giovinco. While shutting down isn't the right term for the situation as Giovinco is going to get his chances, Coelho and Besler were able to limit his chances to opportunities away from goal and at odd angles that Melia was able to deal with.

Honorable Mention - Matt Besler, Brad Davis

Player Ratings - Melia 7, Dia 6, Besler 8, Coelho 8, Myers 7, Mustivar 6, Espinoza 6, Quintilla 5, Zusi 5, Dwyer 5, Hallisey 4. Davis 7, Olum NR.

Match Day 3: Welcoming Canada Again

Sporting Kansas City welcome another Canadian side to Kansas City this weekend as Sporting KC will play host to Toronto FC at Children's Mercy Park on national television on Sunday. Both teams come into the game unbeaten with Kansas City sitting at 2-0 while Toronto sits at 1-0-1 after a 2-2 draw against New York City FC last week. The pair will meet in Kansas City for the first time in two years, after Kansas City's move back to the Western Conference. The last time these two teams met was a 3-1 win for KC last year at BMO Field.

Toronto made the playoffs for the first time in their club's history last season, but fell to Montreal in their first game. Over the offseason Toronto again worked to remake their club a bit, this time adding defense to go along with a very dynamic offense thanks to Sebastian Giovinco. Toronto acquired Drew Moor as a free agent and Steven Beitashour from the Vancouver Whitecaps to shore up the back line. The club also traded for goalkeeper, Clint Irwin from the Colorado Rapids to try to upgrade their goalkeeping position. The upgardes along with the return of Giovinco, the league's reigning MVP make Toronto a more dangerous opponent, they've stopped trying to overpay for talent and really started to try to play an MLS style that is successful. They're a more complete side than they've probably ever been before in MLS.

Kansas City has started the season 2-0 thanks to some timely goals, but probably more so due to the play of the midfield. With Benny Feilhaber out with injury, Jordi Quintilla has filled in well, although he hasn't produced the numbers that Feilhaber did for KC, but the rest of the midfield has been remarkable, Roger Espinoza and Soni Mustivar have done a great job of shutting down Seattle and Vancouver's midfield and allowing Kansas City to win both of those games. With Giovinco playing further up field though it will be interesting to see how the midfield will work with KC's center backs to shut down the Italian.

Number to Remember - 1  - KC has just one loss at home in their history against Toronto FC, a 3-2 loss on opening day of the 2009 season.

Key Match Up - KC Defense vs Sebastian Giovinco - The reigning MVP is a handful to deal with and shutting him down will be a job all on its own. KC's defense though has yet to allow a goal from the run of play this season. The match up should be fun to watch.

PREDICTION - Toronto is a much improved team over the last few years, but KC's midfield right now is the difference for this team. Sporting KC is going to need the midfield to be in top form to stop the likes of Michael Bradley and keep Giovinco from getting the ball. It won't be easy but it's something that KC can do.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Zusi)
TFC - 1 (Giovinco)

Short Handed Sporting KC Take All Three Points in Toronto

Down Dom Dwyer and Roger Espinoza heading into this weekend's game against Toronto FC, KC was already undermanned, but things got worst during warm ups when Graham Zusi went down with a calf injury that required him to be pulled from the lineup. On top of being down three regular starters was the rest of the lineup featuring Jacob Peterson lined up at center forward and Jimmy Medranda playing at left back for KC.

So from the start today it seemed like KC was ready to concede a bit in their game against Toronto FC. But as the first half started it was almost anything but. KC came out and was the much more aggressive side from the start and created some dangerous chances in front of goal with Krisztian Nemeth, Connor Hallisey, and Paulo Nagamura all having chances within 10 seconds of each other in the first half. KC's two wingbacks, Medranda and Chance Myers also almost combined for an impressive goal as Medranda juggled the ball a few times before lofting a cross to the back post where Myers volleyed it first time but just wide of the far post. Then in the 20th minute, Kansas City was awarded a penalty kick. After Hallisey failed to control Benny Feilhaber's corner played to him at the top of the box, Medranda picked it up and lofted a cross into the box for Kevin Ellis who was grabbed slightly by a TFC defender and went down. Mark Geiger pointed to the spot and Feilhaber stepped up and coolly put the ball right down the middle as Joe Bendik dove to his left putting KC up 1-0. The lead though lasted less than a minute as from the kick off TFC attacked KC's goal and some great passing between Michael Bradley, Jonathan Osorio, and Sebastian Giovinco carved KC's defense a part and was finished calmly by Bradley to level the game at 1-1. The score only remained level for seven minutes as KC regained the lead in the 29th minute off a free kick from Feilhaber. The MVP candidate drove the free kick towards the top of the box where Nemeth flicked the ball on with the back of his head towards goal. The ball looped over Bendik's head and he could only get a hand on it as it sailed into the net to give KC a 2-1 lead. KC continued to be the side that controlled the game for the rest of the first half but was unable to find another goal.

While KC dominated the first half with their high pressure and Jacob Peterson's pressure on the center backs, it was Toronto that was much more aggressive side. TFC though struggled to create clear chances on on goal, and when they did, Tim Melia was there to make the save. Their best opportunity came in the 80th minute of a corner kick as Eriq Zavaleta had a shot blocked and partially cleared to Jackson who curled a shot towards the far post but Melia came up with a good save to palm the ball away, the rebound fell to Ahmed Kantari, but Melia was quickly up from his first save and knocked the ball away from Kantari's feet for a second save in quick succession. The ball got knocked away to Giovinco who played another ball into the box for Jozy Altidore who found himself unmarked at the back post, but Altidore put his header wide of the far post with that entire side of the goal left begging. TFC kept pushing, but was unable to find a goal to level the game back up again, and they were made to pay for their wasteful chances in the 87th when KC hit on the counter. Feilhaber picked out substitute Saad Abdul-Salaam in the TFC half of the field, he played the ball to an on coming Amobi Okugo who continued the field switch to Peterson, sliding the ball into the box. Peterson took a touch and fired the ball into the far corner past Bendik to make it 3-1 to KC as they closed the door on TFC's comeback chance.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Ellis - The home grown center back did a fantastic job today shutting down Giovinco for most of the day today. His performance today against the Italian midfielder is likely to become a blue print for many teams going forward when they face off against Toronto.

Honorable Mention: Benny Feilhaber

Player Ratings: Melia 7, Myers 6, Ellis 8, Besler 7, Medranda 7, Mustivar 7, Nagamura 6, Feilhaber 7, Hallisey 5, Peterson 6, Nemeth 6. Subs Okugo 6, Abdul-Salaam 6, Dia NR.

Match Day 21: Battle of MVP Candidates

Tomorrow in Toronto MLS will see a match up between the two current front runners for this year's MVP award. For the visiting side, Sporting KC is Benny Feilhaber, KC's midfield difference maker has scored seven goals so far this season and assisted on 11 in MLS play, he's added another goal and four assists in KC's US Open Cup run this year. For the home side Toronto FC is the "Atomic Ant" Sebastian Giovinco. The Italian designated player current leads MLS in scoring with 16 goals and 10 assists. The pair along with Kei Kamara have been the class of the league in terms of single player performances and tomorrow will be interesting to see how each performs.

Toronto comes into the game after a mid-week home win 4-1 over Orlando City. Giovinco had a hattrick in the game to jump to the top of the MLS scoring list. He'll welcome back forward partner Jozy Altidore who returns from his red card suspension tomorrow. The pair will cause plenty of problems for Kansas City defensively tomorrow. Pulling the strings will be Michael Bradley who looks set to return from an injury that has kept him out since the Gold Cup finished for the US team. Toronto though will have some suspension adjustments to make though after Wednesday's game as Damien Perquis picked up his fifth yellow of the season and will have to sit while Benoit Cheyrou was suspended today by the disciplinary committee for endangering the safety of his opponent in Toronto's win against Orlando. So Toronto will have some shuffling to do before tomorrow's game.

KC has some shuffling of their own to do as well. Two of KC's regular starters are set to miss the game. Dom Dwyer picked up his fifth yellow of the season last week against Houston and will have to sit out tomorrow's game. Meanwhile, Roger Espinoza was suspended by the disciplinary committee for his actions in KC's 1-1 draw with the Dynamo. Not that it really matters as Espinoza's broken bone in his foot would have kept him out of this game anyway. The easy thing to do in both of these situations for KC would be to slide Krisztian Nemeth to the center forward position and bring in either Jacob Peterson or Connor Hallisey to play the wing opposite Graham Zusi. The change for Espinoza is more straight forward as Paulo Nagamura is a straight replacement for Espinoza in the box-to-box role for Kansas City.

Melia

Myers - Ellis - Besler - Dia

Mustivar

Nagamura - Feilhaber

Zusi - Nemeth - Peterson

Number to Remember - 1 - That's the number of wins that Toronto FC has in their last 13 games against Kansas City. Since the 2010 season, KC is 9-1-3 in their last 13 games against Toronto FC during this stretch.

Key Match Up - Kevin Ellis vs Jozy Altidore - While it'd be easy to do the match up between Giovinco and whoever will be covering him, I'll focus on a match up that each week seems to be a mismatch for the opposing team. It seems on every set piece or any time the opposing team attacks, Ellis is the one that is covering the opposing team's target striker, not the bigger Matt Besler. Ellis has done admirable in this position so far this season, we'll see how he matches up against the US international.

PREDICTION - Without Dwyer at the forward position for KC, the scoring loses a bit of punch because KC doesn't have their best front four on the field. If KC want to get the win tomorrow, Nemeth is going to have to have a big game for KC. Toronto's defense has allowed 35 goals so far this year while KC has allowed a league low 21. For KC to win, the offense is going to have to take advantage of the weaker Toronto defense. Feilhaber is going to be relied on a lot as he has been much of the season so far. Toronto's offense will get their chances, against a Toronto's defense though, it'll be up to KC's attack to match TFC blow for blow tomorrow. I'm just not sure how much they will with the US Open Cup semifinal match coming up on Wednesday.

SKC - 1 (Nemeth)
TFC - 2 (Altidore, Osorio)

Sporting KC Acquire Allocation Money for Herculez Gomez's MLS Rights and International Spot

One of the great case studies of players' rights in MLS has finally reached a conclusion. Today, Sporting KC and Toronto FC announced that they'd reached a trade yesterday before the window closed that saw Kansas City send the rights of first refusal of Herculez Gomez to Toronto FC for allocation money.

Gomez, the 33 year old former US national team forward also signed with Toronto after the trade. Kansas City had held Gomez's MLS rights because they had made him a qualifying offer after his contract was up after the 2009 MLS season. Under the league's collective bargaining agreement at the time, because KC made a qualifying offer, they held onto Gomez's rights in MLS, meaning he could not play anywhere in MLS without Kansas City being compensated.

Instead, Gomez went to Mexico, where he had a successful career that saw him get back into the national team picture and earn a trip to the 2010 World Cup. He scored 37 goals over the course of 5 years with seven teams.

Gomez was never going to return to Kansas City after his departure in 2009 because of his feelings regarding Peter Vermes, Kansas City, their offer to him in 2009, and the team holding onto his MLS rights even though he was never going to return. The rights issue caused a lot of issues for Gomez, who spoke out about that fact on numerous occasions during his time in Mexico.  It seems in the end though that the league stepped in to help broker a deal between TFC and KC to get Gomez back to MLS.

Toronto and Gomez meet Kansas City tomorrow at BMO Field in league action, and while it'd certainly add to the story line if Gomez is able to play, and even more so if he were to score, I'm not sure he'd play just a day after the deal was done, but stranger things have happened.

UPDATE: Sporting KC picked up more allocation money today through a second trade. Kansas City sent one of their international spots that they were not currently using to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for allocation money. The international spot is only for this season and will return to Kansas City on 12/31/15.

Another good bit of business for KC as they weren't going to use all their international spots this season.

Sporting Move to Top of Supporters' Shield Race

Sporting Kansas City got back on the winning track, and jumped to the top of the Supporters' Shield standings as they topped Toronto FC 4-1. A pair of penalty kicks by Dom Dwyer and goals by Sonny Saad and CJ Sapong helped push KC past Toronto FC and win the season series against TFC. Dywer upped his goal total for the season to 16, the second most goals in a single season in team history. He's now just two goals behind Preki's club record of 18 in 1996.

KC came out and pressured the game early on. The early pressured paid off as in the 16th minute. A Graham Zusi corner was cleared only to Benny Feilhaber at the top of the box. He cut past Michael Bradley and made his way into the box. He touched the ball past Jackson and the Brazilian brought Feilhaber down. Referee, Drew Fischer, pointed to the spot as TFC protested the Feilhaber was not going to get to the ball. After everything was cleared up, Dwyer stepped up and fired his PK into the roof of the net to make it 1-0 KC. KC kept up the pressure and in the 32nd won another PK. After Seth Sinovic brought the ball up the field, he laid it back to Feilhaber. The midfielder played a cross that looked like it was meant to go to the back post, but took a deflection off the referee Fischer right into the path of Dwyer. The Englishman took a touch and turned into the box. As he passed Doneil Henry stuck out a leg trying to get the ball, but only got Dwyer, bringing him down. Fischer again pointed to the spot. Dwyer stepped up again, sent Joe Bendik the wrong direction as he slotted the shot to the keeper's left to double KC's advantage. Toronto was having trouble getting through and really testing Jon Kempin in his first MLS start. But in first half stoppage time TFC got a chance and made it count. After a turnover in midfield, the ball got played wide to Dominic Oduro who had space down KC's left. He played a ball into the middle for Gilberto who had made a cutting run into the middle. Gilberto flicked the ball with his right heel as he wrong footed Kempin and slid the ball under him to cut the lead in half.

For the most part though, KC was able to contain Oduro throughout the night, unlike their meeting a few weeks ago. KC was more physical with Oduro, throwing him off his game and not allowing him to get as free as he did in Toronto. Early in the second half, Toronto should have leveled. In the 51st minute, a Matt Besler long throw was cleared to Gilberto who raced down the field. He blew past Igor Juliao who reached out and grabbed Gilberto but the TFC forward stayed on his feet. On on one with Kempin though, KC's home grown keeper came up with a big save knocking the ball away for a corner. KC went back to pressuring the game, keeping TFC pinned in their end. In the 64th, they added a third goal. Again off a Zusi corner, the ball was cleared only to the top of the box, where Saad took a touch, let the ball bounce and then fired a shot that beat Bendik inside his near post to make it 3-1. Toronto again had a great opportunity in the 71st minute, after some good passing, TFC had a great 3v1 break on Kempin. Instead of laying the ball off to one of his teammates, Jackson rounded Kempin and was ready to tap the ball home, but Aurelien Collin did fantastic to recover and tackle the ball away from Jackson before he shot. KC capped off their scoring in the 77th minute, again off the corner. This one though didn't need to be cleared first, Zusi's corner was flicked on by Saad to the back post where Dwyer, Lawrence Olum, and CJ Sapong were all crashing. Sapong got the touch that turned the ball into the goal making it 4-1. Toronto did find the back of the net again in the 84th, but unfortunately for them it wasn't the ball. Toronto substitute, Bright Dike fired a shot that Kempin covered easily, but Dike's shoe came flying off on the play and landed in the back of he net. It was a nice way to end the night with a laugh.

Wizards Man of the Match - Dom Dwyer - Scored the pair of PKs, creating one himself, but as a whole was a menace throughout the game for the TFC back line as he now has four goals on the year against Toronto, and 10 against the Canadian teams.

Honorable Mention - Lawrence Olum

Player Ratings - Kempin 7, Juliao 4, Collin 7, Besler 6, Sinovic 5, Olum 7, Feilhaber 6, Zusi 6, Saad 6, Dwyer 8, Zizzo 6. Subs Sapong 6, Claros 6, Bieler 5.

Match Day 24 - Injury Issues Continue for Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City will put out their 24th different starting lineup in 24 MLS games tomorrow when KC welcomes Toronto FC to Sporting Park. The injury issues for KC has continued throughout much of the season and has now hit the goalkeeping position hard. After losing Eric Kronberg for two months with a broken bone in his hand, KC lost back up Andy Gruenebaum for at least tomorrow's game and Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League game with a shoulder injury. That means that KC's first home grown player, Jon Kempin will start his first MLS game tomorrow. He'll become the 29th player to start a league game for KC this year, and the 30th in all competitions.

Toronto heads into KC on the back of two straight wins away from home, beating Montreal and Columbus on the second and third of a four game road trip. They've done it without leading goalscorer, Jermain Defoe who has missed the last few games with a groin injury. Defoe's status for tomorrow's game is up in the air. Originally it was thought his injury would keep him out, but late this week, it was reported that Defoe may play a part in tomorrow's game. If he can go, that definitely changes the approach that Sporting will take defensively to this game. Even without Defoe, Toronto's other strikers are starting to find some form through Gilberto and Luke Moore.

With Kempin in goal for his first MLS start, a lot more pressure is going to be on KC's starting center backs Matt Besler and Aurelien Collin. Through their partnership, they've usually had an experienced or veteran keeper in goal. From Jimmy Nielsen and Andy Gruenebaum's experience to Eric Kronberg's veteran presence, Collin and Besler have had an experienced goalkeeper to help organize behind them. While I have faith that Kempin will do fine, his lack of experience will require Besler and Collin to really step up their defensive work. KC has other things to question heading into tomorrow. Seth Sinovic's troubles lately. In his last two games, at Toronto and at Vancouver, Sinovic has had probably his two worst games in a KC uniform, getting beat for speed regularly. With Toronto likely to come at Sinvoic through Dominic Oduro again hopefully Sinovic is fully healthy and ready to go. The other question is Dom Dwyer's form. KC's leading scorer hasn't scored a goal in the last five games for KC, since the team's 2-1 win over Montreal. While the rest of the team has picked up the slack some, Dwyer needs to start finding the net again for KC to continue to be successful.

Kempin

Juliao - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Olum - Claros

Feilhaber

Dovale - Dwyer - Zusi

Number to Remember - 7 - That's the number of games in a row that KC has gone without a shutout. For a team like KC that has been solid defensively.

Key Match Up - Seth Sinovic vs Dominic Oduro - In KC's last game against Toronto at BMO Field, Oduro owned this match up. Of all the attacks that Toronto made in that game, pretty much all the successful ones game through Oduro going at or past Sinovic or down the left side. Sinovic is going to need to be much better for KC tomorrow or Oduro will have a field day again against him.

PREDICTION - The last match up between these two teams was won by KC, but Toronto was most certainly the better team. KC will need to improve their performance not just from last week, but from the last three. KC really hasn't looked good since the 2-1 win over LA. While they've gone 1-1-1 in the three games since they easily could have lost both of those road games and didn't deserve to get the win in their one home game against the Union. KC really needs to step up with a dominating performance, if not on the scoreboard, on the field. The team needs to show that they are still the class of the East. Getting a win against Toronto, will help to establish this point, and create some more space between them and the rest of the East.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Zusi)
TFC - 1 (Moore)

Ten Man Sporting Top Toronto

Sporting extended their team record winning streak on the road last night to five games with a 2-1 win over Toronto at BMO Field. Kansas City did it after going down a man, losing Matt Besler to a red card after he picked up two yellows. In reality though it was not one of KC's best performances, Toronto easily could have been up a couple goals in the first half.

Early on KC had a good chance to take the lead, but Joe Bendik made a good save. After a weak punch by the TFC keeper fell to Igor Juliao, the Brazilian took a touch and fired a shot on goal but Bendik made a good save knocking the ball away. Toronto's Dominic Oduro caused Kansas City troubles all night down KC's left. In the 16th minute Oduro set up the opener. After Seth Sinovic went forward to win a header, he ended up flicking the ball into the path of Oduro. He got past Besler and then slotted a ball into the box for Jackson who had gotten past Juliao. Jackson rounded the Andy Gruenebaum and fired the ball into the net to give Toronto the lead. Things could have gotten worse in the 23rd minute. A through ball for Gilberto looked like he'd be 1v1 with Gruenebaum. Aurelien Collin came into a tackle with the Brazilian knocking him over. No foul was called but an argument could easily be made for a denial of a goal scoring opportunity. While the game continued, Toronto almost scored a second anyway. Oduro found space again down TFC's right and crossed a ball into the middle for Nick Hagglund. The defender's header beat Gruenebaum, but hit the near post and was knocked away. Toronto continued to pressure down KC's left with Oduro causing Sinovic all kinds of issues. In the 33rd Oduro again turned him and raced towards goal. He fired a shot at Gruenebaum's near post, but that shot hit the post and was eventually cleared away by Lawrence Olum. KC escaped the first half only having conceded the one goal, and were honestly lucky in that regard.

The second half though started great for Kansas City. After Benny Feilhaber got the ball into the box, the ball pinged around as Toronto tried to clear it away. Eventually the ball fell to Graham Zusi at the top of the box. Zusi took a touch and curled the ball into the far corner of the goal past a couple TFC defenders on the line after Bendik came out. But the same issues from the first half cropped up again as Oduro continued to cause Sinovic tons of trouble. In the 53rd he got past him again and played a cross that Besler cut out. The ball went right back to Oduro who was fouled just outside the box and Besler picked up his first yellow of the night. Sinovic on the play looked to have pulled up lame and was replaced shortly after by Kevin Ellis. KC did find some opportunities going forward in the second, Feilhaber had a shot well saved by Bendik after CJ Sapong chested a cross down into his path. Even with the change at left back, Oduro was still finding space and in the 65th should have been up again as Oduro found Jackson at the back post but he put his shot over the goal.

Toronto fans wanted another red card for a denial of a goal scoring opportunity in the 69th. Oduro again was at the center of the situation as he led a counter attack down KC's left. Juliao, who was covering pulled back on Oduro's jersey earning a yellow card on the play. The reason it wasn't a red card probably had to do with Oduro's position on the field, he was still wide of the sides of the goal box and there were three Sporting KC players that would have likely been able to cut off the play, which is what likely had referee Ted Unkel pull only a yellow on Juliao. In the 75th KC did finally go down a man. Again it came from an attack through Oduro. The TFC player received the ball out wide. As Besler stepped to him, Oduro touched the ball past him and ended up getting fouled as he went over Besler's foot. Sporting's captain picked up his second yellow of the night and was off. The red card led to KC needing to adjust, Olum dropped back to partner Collin with Jacob Peterson entering the game for Mikey Lopez. It was Peterson that stepped up to be the hero with KC down a man. A cross by Ellis was deflected towards Peterson. Like against the Crew, Peterson tried to spin with the ball, but only got a slit touch. The ball went to Dom Dwyer who back heeled the ball back into the path of Peterson who slotted the ball into the corner to make it 2-1 KC. Toronto threw numbers forward trying to find an equalizer but were struggling to create good chances as KC sat back. Their best chance actually came from attacking down the right this time as Jackson played a very nice ball to the back post but Oduro could not get a touch on it. KC was able to hold on and take all three points again on the road.

Wizards Man of the Match - Aurelien Collin - While the left side had plenty of trouble, Collin had a very solid game. He could have been sent off for the challenge on Gilberto, but was strong overall in the back. He kept KC's back line organized, especially after Besler's sending off.

Player Ratings - Gruenebaum - 5, Juliao 5, Collin 7, Besler 4, Sinovic 3, Olum 5, Lopez 4, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 6, Dwyer 4, Sapong 4. Subs Ellis 4, Saad 4, Peterson 6.

Match Day 21 - Looking for Five Straight on the Road

Sporting KC are back on the road and looking to continue their club record run on the road. Tomorrow night in Toronto, Sporting will be looking to grab their fifth straight win on the road. The four straight is already a club record, so they'll be looking to extend that tomorrow. The team is also on a six game unbeaten run, dating back to a 1-0 loss to DC United.

Toronto is coming into this game with a bit of a gap offensively. The Reds will be without their leading scorer, Jermain Defoe. The Englishman picked up his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend and is now suspended for tomorrow's game due to accumulation. That will leave a hole offensively up top for TFC tomorrow to fill with the likes of Luke Moore and Gilberto. They will still have American midfielder, Michael Bradley, who did not play in the clubs midweek friendly against Spurs. That should have him rested and ready to go for the game.

Kansas City meanwhile rested one of their two World Cup veterans for Wednesday's friendly against Manchester City. Graham Zusi did not play a part in the game. Zusi should be rested for tomorrow's game. Slotting him back into the midfield would seem to be the way to go for tomorrow's game. The rest of the team should be fairly similar to the one that took the field against the BPL Champions. Paulo Nagamura is still out with an ankle injury, and Eric Kronberg is out with the break in his hand. Potential changes could see Toni Dovale back with the first team, or Jacob Peterson up top to provide the defensive cover that Peter Vermes enjoys when on the road. Jorge Claros could also make his competitive debut for the club.

Gruenebaum

Juliao - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Olum

Zusi - Feilhaber

Peterson - Dwyer - Saad

Number to Remember - 15 - That's the number of goals that number of goals scored by both teams outside their leading scorer. Kansas City has scored 29 goals this year, 14 of which have been from Dwyer. Defoe meanwhile has scored 11 of Toronto's 26 goals this year.

Key Match Up - Graham Zusi vs Michael Bradley - The two World Cup veterans are likely to see a lot of time together in the midfield. Although Benny Feilhaber will see just as much action with Bradley, the two World Cup veterans will be the one to watch.

PREDICTION - Toronto without Defoe is still a much improved side from last year. Bradley is going to be a handful for Kansas City in the middle of the field. KC's defense should be able to hand a Defoeless Toronto attack, the question will be whether KC can find the net at the other end. And while it's not something you'd expect people to say, a win by KC on the road against Toronto would be a good statement win for KC. Toronto is currently 3rd place in the Eastern Conference and has three games in hand on the East leading KC. I'm not sure that KC will get the full three tomorrow, but I do think they'll walk out with a point on the road.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
TFC - 1 (Moore)

When a Draw Feels Like a Loss

Before last night's game, if you'd have told me that Sporting KC would finish the game with their eighth and ninth string center backs on the field and still pick up a draw against Toronto, I'd probably take it. But the way that it went down last night, the 2-2 draw with Toronto felt more like a loss. Sporting twice blew a one goal lead, both times after they'd gone up a man due to a Steven Caldwell picked up a red card.

The first half of the game lacked for chances for either side. Sporting kept the majority of the possession throughout the half as they controlled the game and attempted to shield the center back pairing of Chance Myers and Kevin Ellis from dealing more with Jermain Defoe and Gilberto. The possession worked as Defoe was denied service. The one big thing of note in the first half was in the 33rd minute when Myers went down with an injury after fighting with Defoe for the ball and drew a foul. Myers though stayed down clutching his left ankle. Reports after the game were not good as Myers is scheduled to have an MRI and worries are that his season is over.

In the second half though Sporting came out and quickly took advantage of their possession. Dwyer got the ball wide to Sal  Zizzo who collected the ball in the box before squaring the ball back into the middle for Dwyer who one timed a shot into the far corner past Joe Bendik and into the net giving KC the lead. Things got worse for Toronto in the 63rd minute when Caldwell picked up his red card. On a bouncing ball around midfield, Caldwell went up against Toni Dovale trying to reach it first. Caldwell missed he ball, catching Dovale squarely in the thigh. Referee Baldomero Toledo did not hesitate going to his back pocket and producing a red card. It was TFC though that responded first to being down a man. A turnover in midfield allowed TFC to break through Defoe. Defoe had acres of space as Benny Feilhaber couldn't close him down fast enough and Ellis shielded him towards the middle. Defoe ate up the space and then played a ball to Luke Moore who made a cutting run away from Jacob Peterson. Moore beat Eric Kronberg inside his right hand post and TFC was level. With the man advantage still KC continued to keep possession but really couldn't really test Bendik in the TFC net. In the 82nd they finally tested him. After working the ball from one side of the field to the other, Peterson played a cross into the middle that was cut out, knocking the ball into the air. Dwyer beat his man to the ball knocking the ball back to Paulo Nagamura who one times his effort, but it's right at Bendik. A couple minutes later though, Sporting won themselves a penalty kick. Again after a lot of possession around the top of the box the ball was cleared wide to Igor Juliao. The Brazilian touched it back into the box and looked to touch it past Doneil Henry. The ball went past but Juliao was knocked over by the Canadian defender. Toledo pointed right to the spot giving KC a PK. Dwyer stepped up and put the ball in the corner past Bendik to give KC a 2-1 lead. Once again KC couldn't hold on late as in stoppage time TFC again found an equalizer. Off a long free kick, Dwyer won the ball but didn't get it cleared far enough. The ball got knocked right back into the middle of the box where Bradley Orr had lost his man and beat Kronberg to the ball knocking it into the net to level the game at 2-2. KC went back on the attack with possession, but couldn't find another goal as KC settled for the draw.

Wizards Man of the Match - Benny Feilhaber - When I saw Feilhaber sitting in the deep lying midfield position for KC I was disappointed, it negated his offensive abilities. But Feilhaber sitting deep actually helped KC's attack more. He was able to help get the ball out of the back quicker, distributing all over the field in Oriol Rosell's role.

Honorable mention - Dom Dwyer

Player Ratings - Kronberg 4, Sinovic 5, Ellis 5, Myers 5, Juliao 6, Feilhaber 7, Nagamura 6, Martinez 6, Dovale 6, Dwyer 7, Jacob Peterson 6. Subs Zizzo 6, Medranda NR, Sapong NR.

Match Day 12: Who Needs Center Backs Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

Sporting Kansas City is back at it in league play tomorrow night when they'll take on Toronto FC at Sporting Park. Like Sunday against Chicago, Kansas City continues to have issues with the center back position, and they've been multiplied now by the red card that Erik Palmer-Brown picked up against the Chicago Fire. KC heads into the game without a single true center back available for the game.

Sporting KC's opponent, Toronto comes into the game having picked up their first win since April 5th last week when they beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0. While they'll be without midfielder, Michael Bradley who is with the US national team, and Julio Cesar who has left to join the Brazilian national team, they still have Jermain Defoe up top and his four goals. Toronto has improved their roster from last year when they once again missed the playoffs, but there is still improvement that is needed in their squad.

Sporting's defensive issues look like they'll once again leave KC playing a 3-5-2 on Friday. With Aurelien Collin and Oriol Rosell set to miss out again KC will likely be playing three outside backs in the defensive positions. Chance Myers and Seth Sinovic are two of the three most likely. The third will probably be either Kevin Ellis or Igor Juliao. Ellis was recalled from his loan to Oklahoma City ahead of KC's game in Chicago, and with the Energy not playing until Sunday, Ellis staying with KC through tomorrow's game at least seems likely. And with Juliao seeming more comfortable on the wing Ellis in the middle seems likely. I'd expect the rest of the team to look similar to the team that took the field against Chicago.

Kronberg

Myers - Ellis - Sinovic

Juliao - Nagamura - Peterson

Feilhaber - Dovale

Dwyer - Bieler

Number to Remember - 0 - That's the number of available players for tomorrow that won't dress. Looking through KC's roster, of the 29 players currently listed, four are out injured, three are with their national team, three are currently on loan, and one is suspended.

Key Match Up - Sporting KC defense vs Jermain Defoe - Defoe has to be licking his chops ahead of tomorrow's game against a depleted, makeshift back line. Defoe will punish the mistakes that the back line makes and really hurt KC much worse than Chicago did on Sunday.

PREDICTION - I wasn't expecting much out of last weekend's game in Chicago with the way the back line was. Tomorrow I'm not sure I feel much better. Defoe is a much better forward than Quincy Amarikwa. He won't blow a 1v1 the way that Mike Magee and Dilly Duka did on Sunday. While I think KC's offense can score against the TFC defense, I feel it's going to be one of those games where they're going to have to score multiple goals to win the game cause the defense is going to give up some.

On the other hand Peter Vermes has had more than two days of preparations with the team to get them ready for this game. Including training with the formation that they'll be using and the players in those positions. I'm just not sure KC break their winless streak tomorrow.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
TFC - 1 (Defoe)

Winning in the Rain

Sporting KC put themselves back on top of the Eastern Conference today as they took out Toronto FC at BMO Field in less than ideal conditions. Throughout the game periods of very heavy rain caused plenty of trouble for players keeping their feet. In the end the weather didn't appear to directly lead to any goals.

KC made a number of changes to their lineup with Matt Besler and Soony Saad on the bench while Claudio Bieler and Oriol Rosell didn't even make the 18. KC though came out and dominated play at the beginning of the game. In the 5th minute they almost found the first goal as a Chance Myers cross was flicked on by Dom Dwyer, but his header was wide of the post. Early on, Allen Chapman tried to maintain control and handed out three early yellows, two to Toronto, one to Sporting KC. KC made the early pressure pay off in the 18th minute. KC struck on the counter off a Toronto free kick. The attack actually looked to have died early on as Dwyer played the ball a little too wide for Graham Zusi. Zusi recovered well and played a nice long ball over the top to Dwyer who had continued his run. Dwyer smartly headed the ball back into the middle to a completely unmarked CJ Sapong who headed the ball in to give KC the lead.

After the goal though, Toronto really started to come into the game and they controlled possession. TFC really kept KC pinned in deep and didn't allow KC to get much over the half way line the rest of the half. Alavaro Rey should have leveled the scoring shortly after. Rey coasted into the box at the back post alone, but on the incoming cross he didn't make enough contact and the ball went wide. Aurelin Collin was lucky to stay on the field during this stretch as he easily could have picked up a second yellow or straight red for a foul on Alvaro Rey. As Collin was trying to shield the ball out he threw his elbow up on Rey and appeared to catch Rey in the face with his arm. No yellow as produced though. In the 38th though Toronto pulled level and it was KC's own undoing. Some poor play in the bak saw Jimmy Nielsen attempt to play the ball to Collin. The Frenchman though had to stretch to make the trap and gave the ball away to Rey. Rey squared it into the middle for Darel Russell who made no mistake, beating Nielsen and leveling the score. Just before the half KC was lucky to not fall behind. Off a Toronto corner the ball was headed on goal and had beaten Nielsen, but Jacob Peterson was on the line to clear the ball away.

KC came out in the second and looked to reestablish the lead. It took only seven minutes for them to do it. A quick throw in by Zusi was collected by Myers who played a cross into the box for Sapong. The forward had lost his defender and easily headed a ball past Joe Bendik and into the net, putting KC back on top. Unlike when they scored in the first half though, KC didn't allow Toronto to really control the game. KC didn't really create much in the way of chances but they kept Toronto from doing the same which was key. In the 67th KC probably should have had a PK. On a cross into the box by Set Sinovic, Sapong was barreled over from behind by Steven Caldwell. No call was made though. In the 77th again KC's defense at the back post was called into question, and again the TFC player did poorly with the finish. Doneil Henry was the culprit this time not getting the shot off and the ball went wide. Toronto had more of the play from there, but didn't get much in the way of shots. Then in the 86th Caldwell got himself sent off. On a poor back pass by Kyle Bekker, Josh Gardner tried to beat Caldwell to the ball, he did and in the challenge, Caldwell came in studs up and caught Garnder. Chapman went to his back pocket and produced a red card. Down a man Toronto continued to look for an equalizer and they also had a penalty shout. A long free kick in to the box was flicked on. At the back post Collin went up for the ball with Justin Braun. Collin though was not looking at the ball and knocked Braun over, but as with Sapong no call was made. KC held on and walked out with all three points.

Wizards Man of the Match - CJ Sapong - A brace from Sapong makes three in the last two games. Yes it was against a poor Toronto side, but hopefully this is Sapong rounding into form. KC will need it.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 5, Myers 6, Collin 4, Opara 6, Sinovic 6, Olum 6, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 6, Sapong 7, Dwyer 5, Peterson 5. Subs Joseph 4, Gardner 5, Bunbury NR.

Sporting Head to Toronto

After the disappointing draw on Tuesday against Real Esteli, Sporting KC head back to league play and back on the road to face Toronto FC tomorrow afternoon. With six games left in the season, Sporting needs to quickly put the Esteli game behind them and get back to the league form that has seen them win their last two.  With the Champions League, Sporting is now unbeaten in four in all competitions.

Toronto comes into tomorrow's game officially eliminated from the playoffs this year. They were officially eliminated last week with their loss to New York and other results going against them. It's been another year of turmoil for Toronto as just today they hired their second GM of the season after firing Kevin Payne a few weeks ago. Toronto will be without a few players, included designated player, Matias Laba with a broken toe and Jonathan Osorio who was suspended for two games. Against New York after Kosuke Kimura was fouled and fell to the ground Osorio went to clear the ball right after the whistle went. It appeared Osorio kicked Kimura in the head if only slightly. That will leave Toronto without tow young players who have been contributors for TFC.

Sporting comes into the game in relatively good shape. They will be without Paulo Nagamura again, who injured his ankle, he'd only just returned from an ankle injury. Chance Myers is no where on the injury report, which is a good thing. KC though does have three players that are in yellow card trouble, Claudio Bieler, Oriol Rosell, and Seth Sinovic are all one yellow away from suspension. Only Bieler has the ability to still get good behavior. While many starters got time on Tuesday against Esteli, I'd expect them all to be ready to go tomorrow against TFC. After having last week off, no reason to expect them not to.

Nielsen
Myers - Collin - Besler - Sinovic
Rosell - Joseph
Feilhaber
Zusi - Bieler -Saad

Number to Remember - 11 - That's currently Kansas City's magic number to clinch a playoff spot. Eleven points gained by KC or lost by 6th place Philadelphia and KC is in the playoffs.

Key Match Up - Claudio Bieler vs Steven Caldwell - Bieler got back on the scoring sheet in KC's last league game against Columbus. It was Bieler's first goal since he scored against Toronto back in July. With Kei Kamara gone, more pressure is back on Bieler to be the goal scorer that KC wanted him to be when they signed him.

PREDICTION - Kansas City really needs to take maximum points tomorrow. If they want to end up one of the top two seeds in the East, taking out an opponent at the opposite end of the table is a must. Toronto isn't that good of a team. The Reds are winless in their last 7 MLS games. Their last win was a month and a half ago against New England on the road. Toronto has won just two home games this season, one of which was their 2-1 win over KC in their home opener back in March. I don't think KC falters in Toronto this time.

SKC - 2 (Bieler, Zusi)
TFC - 0

Sporting Climb into First Place

Sporting Kansas City continued their current unbeaten run with an impressive performance against an undermanned and underwhelming Toronto FC side. Kansas City got two goals from forward Soony Saad and another from Claudio Bieler to help them win 3-0, but it could have been much worse.

From the opening whistle, Sporting KC pressured Toronto and tried to take the game to them. They created a number of chances in the early going but couldn't beat Joe Bendik. While KC was controlling play, it was actually Toronto that had the best chance early on.  In the 18th minute, on a counter, Robert Earnshaw picked out former KC midfielder, Bobby Convey on the right.  He cut into the middle and then played a ball to the left side for Jeremy Brockie.  With a bunch of space and no defenders in between him and Jimmy Nielsen. Brockie's first shot was right at Nielsen, Nielsen knocked it away but right back at Brockie.  On the second attempt Brockie almost put it between Nielsen's legs, but the Dane grabbed it on it's way through keeping the game scoreless. Only 3 minutes after that chance KC grabbed the lead.  Seth Sinovic brought the ball down the left before playing a ball into the middle about 25 yards out from goal to Saad.  Saad turned and fired a shot on net.  The low shot beat Bendik to his near post give Sporting the 1-0 lead. KC should have doubled the lead in the 32nd minute.  Toronto was passing the ball around in their half of the field. Sporting was pressuring their defenders and Bieler forced a turnover.  Saad played the ball over the top to Benny Feilhaber who was in on goal against Bendik.  Bendik though made a nice save with his foot to keep the score 1-0.

Early in the second half, Sporting had another 1v1 opportunity.  This one fell to the guy Sporting wants those opportunities to fall to.  A long clearance by Nielsen was flicked on by Kei Kamara into the path of Bieler who was in behind Toronto's defense.  Bendik though again came up with a bit save deflecting his shot wide with his foot. A nice save, but an opportunity you expect Bieler to finish. It wasn't long after that opportunity that Saad made it 2-0 though. Saad started the play on the left, cutting inside and picking out Graham Zusi in the middle of the field.  Zusi turned and fired a shot on goal that Bendik pushed away.  The rebound though fell right into the path of Saad who made no mistake doubling KC's lead. Not long after Saad's goal, in the 56th minute Toronto's problems got worse. Toronto gave the ball away around midfield. Saad looked to play the ball back to Aurelien Collin.  Right as Saad was getting ride of the ball, Toronto midfielder, Reggie Lambe slid in late on the KC forward, catching the back of Saad's heal.  Kevin Stott had no hesitation reaching into his pocked and pulling out the red card putting Toronto down to 10. KC too advantage of the man advantage in the 63rd minute. Again it was Saad that started the play.  After receiving the the ball on the wing, Saad beat a guy on the line before racing towards goal.  He then laid the ball off the Kamara.  Kamara one touched a pass into the middle for Feilhaber who also one touched it to the back post for Bieler who was all alone. And with no one in front of him, Bieler made no mistake making it 3-0 and immediately turned to Feilhaber to thank him for the ball. KC continued to control being up a man, and they thought they'd made it 4-0 in the 76th.  Off a corner kick Bieler had a header blocked. The ball fell back to his feet and his second shot was knocked away by Bendik and then partially cleared.  Collin though headed the ball into the net.  Unfortunately on Bieler's second shot, Kamara was right by Bendik and tried to knock the ball in after he saved it.  Kamara was in an offside position causing the referee to raise his flag and rule out Collin's 4th of the season. Right before the final whistle KC had one other good opportunity to make it four.  Dom Dwyer raced into the box and got some space on his defender.  He fired a shot that beat Bendik, but didn't beat the post.  Seconds later the final whistle blew.

Wizards Man of the Match - Soony Saad - Saad had the brace and helped to set up the third goal.  He also could have had an assist if Feilhaber had finished off the 1v1 opportunity in the first half.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Myers 7, Collin 6, Besler 6, Sinovic 7, Rosell 7, Feilhaber 7, Zusi 7, Saad 9, Bieler 7, Kamara 7. Subs Dwyer 7, Peterson NR, Bunbury NR.

A Chance for a Bit of Payback

Sporting KC welcome Toronto FC to Kansas City for the only time this season tomorrow night when the two teams meet at Sporting Park. It's a chance for Sporting to get a bit of payback, and exorcise a demon from earlier this season. When the two teams met earlier this season in Toronto, the two teams played at the Rodgers Centre.  Two poor defensive plays by Kansas City gifted TFC two goals and TFC held on for a 2-1 win, a surprising result at the time. Since that time, Kansas City has established itself as a playoff contender, while Toronto has fallen to a position that has become standard for them, near the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference.

There was no big addition for Toronto this week.  Rumors last weekend were that Toronto FC was on the verge of announcing the signing Uruguayan international Diego Forlan. That signing hasn't come yet, if it even is coming at all. Toronto will be bringing Robert Earnshaw, who scored both goals in Toronto's 2-1 win earlier this year, which is Toronto's only league win at home in the last year. They will be without four players for the game though due to the Gold Cup. Defenders Ashtone Morgan and Doneil Henry and midfielders Kyle Bekker and Jonathan Osorio are all away representing Canada in the Gold Cup and will not be in Kansas City tomorrow. That leaves Toronto a little depleted, although only Osorio had been a consistent contributor this season.

Sporting comes into the game on a 4 game unbeaten run, and last week picked up 7 of 9 points that were available to them.  Can KC finally be turning around their form a little bit? The defense has still struggled at times, conceding 6 over this 4 game unbeaten run. The team hasn't recorded a league shutout since the team's 1-0 win in Houston 2 months ago. In their last win against Chicago, Peter Vermes switched up the recent lineup, moving Graham Zusi back up top and inserting Benny Feilhaber. After subbing out Feilhaber and Zusi back to midfield KC controlled the game more. With the way the team possessed after Soony Saad came into the game for Feilhaber I would think that Saad has earned a place in the starting eleven again with Zusi again dropping into the midfield. One question heading into the weekend is what if any role the recalling of Kevin Ellis would play.  The worry is that there was an injury to one of KC's other wingbacks that required the recall, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out for sure.

Nielsen
Myers - Collin - Besler - Sinovic
Rosell - Olum
Zusi
Kamara - Bieler - Saad

Number to Remember - 1 - Since Toronto came into the league, Sporting have lost just once at home against the original Canadian squad.  That loss was opening day 2009.  Other than that game, KC has won six and draw one against Toronto.

Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin vs Robert Earnshaw - Collin hasn't been playing his best the last few games.  And while Earnshaw hasn't scored in a while, he'll still punish KC if they give him the chance. With the way that KC's defense has played at times, the opportunities could be there for Earnshaw, it'll be up to Collin and Matt Besler to shut down the Welsh striker.

PREDICTION - On the surface this game would appear to be a trap game. Toronto sits currently in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, on 13 points.  Three points ahead of bottom of the table DC United, and eight points behind 8th place Chicago. So while on the surface this appears like it could be a trap game, I think Vermes has the team up for this game.  I think he'll have the team out to prove that Toronto's win in Toronto earlier this year was a fluke. In that regard I think KC will come out ready to play. And with Zusi in the midfield, KC should be able to cut through Toronto's defense like Ian Ziering through a shark (yes the analogy was forced so I could post this Sharknado GIF).

SKC - 3 (Bieler, Kamara, Zusi)
TFC - 1 (O'Dea)

Sporting Trade Thomas to Toronto

Sporting KC look like they're starting to angle themselves into a busy summer transfer window.  Today the team announced the trade of midfielder, Michael Thomas to Toronto FC in exchange for a second round pick in the 2015 MLS Superdraft.

Thomas, a local product, had been acquired before the 2012 season from the San Jose Earthquakes for a 4th round supplemental draft pick. He'd been drafted by the Earthquakes in the 2nd round of the 2010 MLS Superdraft, but did not sign with the Quakes.  Instead he went to Sweden and spent a few years there before coming back to KC for the 2012 season. He appeared in 7 games for KC last season in league play.  His only appearance this year had been in the Open Cup against Des Moines.

Thomas was at or near the end of the depth chart when it came to central midfielders for KC.  And with Mikey Lopez returning from the U20 World Cup there was going to be even more competition for playing time. So this deal makes sense from KC's perspective as it frees up a roster spot.  I can't see KC leaving all these roster spots open, especially with the Champions' League coming up to congest the schedule more.

Besler, Zusi Not on Gold Cup Roster and a Look at Who Opponents Lose

Yesterday, Jurgen Klinsmann came out with his roster for the USA for this summer's Gold Cup.  Sporting Kansas City will not be represented on the team, at least in the group stage.  KC's three players on the preliminary roster, Matt Besler, Benny Feilhaber, and Graham Zusi were all left off the final 23 man roster.

That doesn't mean though that they can't be called up later.  In this year's Gold Cup, CONCACAF is allowing team's the ability to replace up to four players on their squad after the group stage.  Those potential four players have to come from the preliminary roster.  So any of KC's 3 players could be called up for the knock out rounds.

So KC will only be down two players during the group stage of the Gold Cup, their two Haitians, Mechack Jerome and Peterson Joseph.

On the other hand, some of the teams that KC will be playing during the Gold Cup stretch will be undermanned. 

While Jairo Arrieta has been called up to the Costa Rican national team for the Gold Cup, he will not be missing this weekend's game against Kansas City.  He'll report after the game at Sporting Park Saturday.

In KC's match on July 3rd vs Vancouver though, the Whitecaps will be missing two players, Simon Thomas and Russell Teibert.  Both have been called up to the Canadian national team.  Thomas isn't one KC would have had to worry about anyway, he is Vancouver's 3rd keeper and wouldn't have played against KC anyway.  Teibert though is a bit of a loss, the 20 year old has played in 10 games, starting nine of them.  He's also scored two goals this season.

KC's next opponent, Chicago could be missing one player for the Gold Cup, Sean Johnson.  Johnson was named to the US roster for the tournament.  As the likely third keeper though I'm not sure if Johnson will miss time.  In the past, Klinsmann has let the team's third keeper remain with his club unless he was needed.  So Johnson may be available.

After Chicago, KC play host to Toronto.  TFC will be missing four players for the match, all of whom were called up by Canada for the tournament.  Defenders Ashtone Morgan and Doneil Henry have both been called in, along with midfielders Kyle Bekker and Jonathan Osorio. Only Osorio though has played the majority of TFC's games so far this season, playing in 14 games, and scoring three goals.  The other three combined have appeared in just 16 games this season for TFC.

Should the US advance to the knock out round (which it'd be shocking if they didn't), KC's opponent on July 20th, Real Salt Lake will be undermanned as well.  Salt Lake could be missing four starters for the match against Sporting. Salt Lake had three players called into the US team.  Goalkeeper Nick Rimando, team captain Kyle Beckerman, and wingback, Tony Beltran.  Those three will be a tough loss to make up for in Salt Lake. The fourth player that will be missing is forward Alvaro Saborio who was called up for Costa Rica for the tournament.

The only opponent KC play during the entire length of the Gold Cup that won't be missing players due to the Gold Cup is their final opponent in the stretch, Montreal.

Besler and Zusi Called Up, Convey Traded

Jurgen Klinsmann today announced his camp roster ahead of a 5 game stretch for the US Men's national team that includes 3 World Cup qualifiers.  Sporting KC will be represented in camp by two players, defender Matt Besler and midfielder/forward Graham Zusi.  The camp kicks off on Sunday the 26th, but both Besler and Zusi will be a day late.  The two will leave for camp after Sporting KC's game against Houston that day in Kansas City. 

As part of the camp, the US have two friendlies scheduled.  They'll take on Belgium in Cleveland on May 29th and then Germany in Washington DC on June 2nd.  From there the US will jump back into World Cup qualifying with a match in Jamaica on June 7th.  The US will then return home for 2 more qualifiers.  They'll take on Panama on June 11th in Seattle and then play Honduras on the 18th in Salt Lake City.  A busy stretch for the US.  Last year they did a similar 5 game stretch although only 2 were World Cup qualifiers in that cycle.  Unfortunately for the US by the last game the players were exhausted and certainly looked it in a loss to Jamaica.  Hopefully a better performance over the 5 game stretch this year.

The good news for Sporting KC is that during this stretch they are in a light cycle in their schedule.  Besler and Zusi will only miss one game over the stretch, a June 1st match against the Montreal Impact.  They could also miss 2 US Open Cup games.  They will definitely miss the 3rd round match up against either Minnesota United or the Des Moines Menace.  And should KC win, they'll also miss the June 12th 4th round match up.

Convey Traded

Before the announcement by US Soccer, KC made an announcement of their own.  The team announced today that they had traded midfielder Bobby Convey to Toronto FC for a 3rd round SuperDraft pick (will be 1st round Supplemental draft pick as SuperDraft has been only 2 rounds the last few years) in 2014. 
Convey started the first two games of the season for KC but lost his starting spot after that and only played 112 minutes for KC so far this season.  The former US international has struggled to stay healthy after the team's stellar start to the 2012 season that saw them start 7-0. He'd fallen further down the depth chart for Kansas City with the healthy return of Jacob Peterson and the return of Kei Kamara.  With young forward Soony Saad also competing for time moving Convey makes a lot of sense for KC.

On the other hand it is a little disappointing considering how well Convey had looked in preseason this year.
At it's base, this looks to just be a salary dump and a move to create an open roster spot with the trade from KC's perspective.  Convey was making $200,000 this year.  And while I can't see Toronto taking on all of his salary, that should still create some wiggle room for KC if they wanted to try to add talent come the summer window.  With his salary currently I have no complaints about "only" getting a 1st round Supplemental Draft pick, unless Sporting is cover the majority of Convey's salary while he's in Toronto.