Palmer-Brown Called Up for U20 World Cup

Sporting Kansas City home grown defender, Erik Palmer-Brown will be headed to New Zealand this summer. The 18 year old center back was today named to Tab Ramos' roster for this summer's U20 World Cup. The US is grouped with Myanmar, hosts New Zealand, and the Ukraine for the tournament which will kick off on May 30th for the USA against Myanmar. Second on June 2nd the US will play New Zealand before closing out the group stage on June 5th against the Ukraine. The tournament runs all the way through June 20th.

The US team will open camp in Carson, California on May 14th ahead of their departure for New Zealand. With that reporting date, Palmer-Brown will miss five games for KC (May 16th vs Colorado, May 20th vs New England, May 23rd at Seattle, May 29th vs Dallas, and June 6th vs Seattle). He also has the potential to miss KC's entrance into the US Open Cup this year with that game occurring on June 16th or 17th. Palmer-Brown has made one appearance for Kansas City this season, coming on for the last five minutes of the season opener against New York.

Palmer-Brown will become the third KC player to go to the U20 World Cup as a member of Sporting KC/KC Wizards. Francisco Gomez played for the team at the 1999 competition in Nigeria where the US fell in the round of 16 to eventual champions, Spain. More recently, Mikey Lopez was part of the team that qualified for the 2013 version of the tournament in Turkey. Grouped with Spain, France, and Ghana the US was only able to manage one point and went out in the group stage. Four other current KC players have played in the U20 World Cup as well. In 2005 Benny Feilhaber and Jacob Peterson (who even scored in the 1-0 win over Egypt) were teammates on the US team that topped their group ahead of the likes of Germany and Argentina (who won the tournament) before falling in the round of 16 to Italy. At the same tournament, Canadian, Marcel de Jong played, but the Canadians picked up only one point in a group containing Syria, Italy, and Colombia. De Jong did score in Canada's 4-1 loss to Italy. In 2009, Ike Opara was part of the US squad that went 1-2 but failed to make it out of their group after 3-0 loses to Germany and South Korea offset a 4-1 win over Cameroon.

Sapong Arrested for DUI - Former SKC Wizards Update

Former Kansas City forward, CJ Sapong is in trouble with police in Philadelphia after being arrested for DUI and reckless driving in Philadelphia after being arrested early Friday morning. Because of the arrest, Sapong cannot play for the Union until he completes the league's Substance Abuse and Behavioral Treatment. Certainly not a bright moment for Sapong who had only recently returned from a facial injury that kept him out of action for a while.

Also this week, former KC defender, Mechack Jerome has a new club, signing with USL side, the Charlotte Independence which already has another former Sporting player on the roster, Alex Martinez.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 win over Columbus.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in New England's 2-1 win over New York.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - No game this week.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in RSL's 1-1 draw with San Jose.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 1-1 draw with New York. Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 1-1 draw with LA.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 0-0 draw with Vancouver.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-0 loss to DC.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over Philadelphia.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Not eligible for Montreal's CCL game.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Suspended.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 1-1 draw with Salt Lake.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 2-0 loss to DC.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in New York's 1-1 draw with Colorado. Did not dress in New York's 2-1 loss to New England.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa Bay's 1-1 draw with Carolina.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Dressed but did not play in Fort Lauderdale's 0-0 draw with Atlanta.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 0-0 draw with Fort Lauderdale.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 0-0 draw with Fort Lauderdale.

USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in OKC's 2-2 draw with Austin.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Did not play in Austin's 2-2 draw with OKC.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Did not dress in Sacramento's 1-0 loss to Real Monarchs.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in OKC's 2-2 draw with Austin.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Did not play in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Louisville.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Louisville.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Started and played 52 minutes in Arizona's 3-2 loss to Colorado Springs.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Austin's 2-2 draw with OKC.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-2 draw with Austin.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-2 draw with Charleston.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 68 minutes in Auerbach's 2-1 win over Babelsberg.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not play in Blooming's 4-3 loss to Bolivar.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Quilmes' 2-0 Copa Argentina win over Sportivo Belgrano. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Quilmes' 1-0 win over Arsenal.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 lss to Tigres.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Saprissa's 2-1 loss to Herediano.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 72 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 3-0 win over East Bengal.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Defeated Wuhan Zall PFC 1-0.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Tied San Miguel 1-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 2-0 loss to Dong Thap.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 68 minutes in Lugo's 1-1 draw with Tenerife.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Did not dress in Cucuta's 2-1 win over aguilas Doradas.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Puebla's 2-0 win over Leon.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 3-1 to Arnett Gardens.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - No game this week.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Lost 2-1 to Simba.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Lost 1-0 to America.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated Baykonur 2-0.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Servette's 1-0 win over Biel-Bienne. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Servette's 2-1 win over Wil.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Spartak's 1-1 draw with Zenit.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - Defeated DRB-Hicom 2-1.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in Stjarnan's 1-0 win over IA.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 45 minutes in Sporting's 2-0 win over Nacional.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Defeated Bangkok U. Deffo 3-1.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Lost 3-2 to Rot-Weiss Oberhausen II.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in Blackburn's 3-2 win over Ipswich.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines -Defeated PSG 4-0. Defeated Philippine Army 2-1.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Sarajevo's 3-2 win over Slavija.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 70 minutes, scoring a goal in Saarbrucken's 2-0 win over Hessen Kassel.

S.A.S. Sunday Of Stats

The game was the 50th league game between the two teams. KC is 14-25-11 in those 50 games, scoring 59 while allowing 85. KC is now 10-8-9 at home in the series scoring 37 and allowing 38.

Tim Melia made his Sporting KC debut, he's the 186th player to play in a league game for KC, and the 192nd in all competitions.

At 32 years, 62 days, Paulo Nagamura is now the 12th oldest goal scorer in league history for KC, moving up from 16th.

He's also the 12th oldest goal scorer in all competitions, moving up from 17th.

Graham Zusi's assist on the game winning goal was his 17th game winning assist for KC in league play, breaking his tie with Chris Klein for second all time on that list.

Zusi made his 183rd appearance in all competitions for KC, tying him with Matt McKeon for 9th on that list.

Seth Sinovic made his 146th appearance in all competitions forr KC, breaking his tie with Chance Myers for 17th on that list.

Sinovic made his 144th start in all competitions for KC, tying him with Josh Wolff for 13th all time on that list.

Melia Helps KC Secure All Three Points in His KC Debut

Before the game between Sporting KC and Chicago even kicked off there was some surprise regarding the game. Peter Vermes sat Luis Marin, who started the first eight games of the season in favor of back up Tim Melia. It was one of three changes that Vermes made from the draw in Houston, along with the forced change after Servndo Carrasco's suspension seeing Soni Mustivar start and the decision to not have Marcel de Jong in the 18 for the game seeing Seth Sinovic return to the starting 11.

Melia, making his first start since he was a member of Chivas USA was tested multiple times by the Fire in the first half. Early a cross drifted towards goal and Melia had to tip the ball away to keep it from going into the net. While KC controlled the possession early on, it was the Fire that created the better chances as Melia made a number of saves in the first half. Guly do Pardo forced another good save out of Melia as he pushed the ball wide on a shot from outside the box after do Pardo got some space on Mustivar. In the 18th minute, the Fire won a corner, Melia was able to punch the ball clear to the top of the box. The Fire picked up the rebound and it got cycled around to Chris Ritter who played a good cross to the back post for Eric Gehrig who put his header on goal, but Melia made the initial save and jumped on the rebound before Jeff Larentowicz. As the half wore on, KC started to make more of their possession and really should have taken the lead not once but twice. The first came from some fantastic work by Benny Feilhaber, who had been a threat all half. Losing his man inside the Fire box, Feilhaber was able to get a chip towards the middle of the six yard box for Dom Dwyer who had been Larentowicz, but with only Sean Johnson to beat, Dwyer put his header high and wide of the goal. Shortly after KC had another effort, this one off a set piece as Feilhaber played a nice ball into the back post for Kevin Ellis who got his head on it but couldn't direct the ball down enough to get it to go into the net. KC was able to find plenty of space to work between Chicago's back four and their defensive midfield pairing of Ritter and Matt Polster but couldn't take advantage of all that space.

The second half started with Kansas City continuing to control the play but unable to create really good chances. Krisztian Nemeth had a great chance after another great ball by Feilhaber, a little chip over the Chicago defense, but Nemeth couldn't control it. Sinovic forced a decent save out of Johnson in the 50th, but really should have done better after being payed in alone in to the box. Melia when he was called upon played well as well. Melia did well coming off his line when he needed to, quickly getting off his line to punch a ball away in the 59th minute after a chip by Harry Shipp. KC got lucky a little bit in the 62nd minute as Sinovic pulled back on the shirt of David Accam as he attempted to race away from the KC defender. Accam stopped and Sinovic let go and ran past him but referee Jose Carlos Rivero allowed play to continue and didn't come back and give Sinovic what would have been his second yellow.The two teams traded possession for much of the half with neither side really being able to capitalize on the possession. Finally in the 75th, KC found the back of the net. KC passed the ball around the back before working down the left into the middle where Graham Zusi switched he field entirely to Jalil Anibaba wide open on the right. Anibaba played the ball into the middle for substitute Paulo Nagamura who headed the ball into the far post past Johnson and into the net to make it 1-0 KC. Chicago tried to respond immediately with Accam getting a look on goal, but Melia again made the save. Chicago really struggled though to create chances after that though, and were put into an even bigger hole in the 89th minute when Accam was giving his marching orders for an arm to the face of Anibaba as he tried to hold off the KC right back. After a quick conversation with his fourth official, Rivero produced the red card sending the Chicago DP off. With a man advantage KC was able to kill the rest of the game off for their third win of the season.

Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Sporting's back up keeper came in for Luis Marin and made his claim to start a potential goalkeeping controversy. Melia was smart when coming off his line, did well to punch when he needed to and saved the shots he needed to save. Strong performance from the former Chivas goalkeeper in earning his first MLS win.

Honorable Mention: Benny Feilhaber, Paulo Nagamura

Player Ratings - Melia 7, Anibaba 5, Besler 6, Ellis 4, Sinovic 4, Mustivar 5, Espinoza 4, Feilhaber 6, Zusi 5, Dwyer 4, Nemeth 4. Subs Nagamura 7, Dia 5, Peterson NR.

Match Day 9: Two Separate Streaks

Sporting KC welcome the Chicago Fire to Sporting Park tomorrow in a match up of two teams currently in two different kinds of streaks. The Fire head into the game in Kansas City riding a three game winning streak. That three game winning streak though has bee over the course of a month, their win last week against New York City FC was their first game in 20 days due to MLS' schedule and moving games to accommodate Montreal's CONCACAF Champions League run. Meanwhile, Kansas City is in the middle of a three game winless run after last week's exciting, but disappointing 4-4 draw with Houston.

The Fire won their last game 1-0 over NYCFC thanks to a goal from David Accam, capitalizing on a mistake by goalkeeper, Ryan Meara. Accam's pace along with the likes o Quincy Amarikwa could cause a number of problems for KC on counters. Along with KC having been quite susceptible to counters, they've also been exposed numerous times on set pieces. And with the likes of Harry Shipp, Jeff Larentowicz, and Shaun Maloney, serving in set piece, Kansas City will need to up their performance from last week when Brad Davis set up two goals for the Dynamo off of set pieces.

Kansas City meanwhile had that exciting 4-4 draw, but it still exposed more of the issues that KC has to deal with defensively. As I mentioned earlier, the counter and set pieces have been the bane of KC's existence in the early going of the season, especially with Ike Opara done for the season. KC will be forced into one change tomorrow, having to replace Servando Carrasco who is suspended after the Disciplinary Committee reviewed the Houston game. The likely replacement would seem to be Soni Mustivar, the Haitian, who has come in for Carrasco in the last two games. Other than that, there aren't a lot of changes that I could see Peter Vermes making. The offense looks like it starting to click, and defensively it's really more a matter of a lack of options for Kansas City. Seth Sinovic should be back and available to play left back, but I'm not sure Vermes will sit Marcel de Jong. I also am not sure he's ready to hand over the spot next to Matt Besler to Erik Palmer-Brown.

Marin

Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - de Jong

Mustivar

Feilhaber - Espinoza

Zusi - Dwyer - Nemeth

Number to Remember - 1 - That's the number of goals that Chicago has in their last four visits to Sporting Park. That one goal came in a 1-1 draw. In that stretch KC is 2-0-2 at home.

Key Match Up - Soni Mustivar vs Harry Shipp - The Chicago home grown player has continued his strong development this year for the Fire and has really become a focal point of the Fire offense. With Mustivar seeming to be the prime candidate to come in for Carrasco, it'll likely fall on him to make sure that Shipp doesn't run amok on Sporting's back line.

PREDICTION - This is really a hard game to predict, normally the Fire come in to KC and bunker and try to counter KC's high pressure. And that's certainly possible, but this Fire team is fairly well rested after playing just twice in the month of April. They could attempt to come out and play a bit more. For me though I expect Chicago to play in KC they've played for the last few years, they're going to rely on the countering of Amarikwa and Accam to try to get behind KC when they high press. Unfortunately for KC that's been one area that the team has struggled.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
CHI - 1 (Shipp)

#TBT The Last Home Game I Missed

I'm going to be a little selfish tonight with my Throw Back Thursday. This weekend I'll be coaching my son's soccer team at 5:25pm on Sunday. What that means is that for the first time in almost 10 years I'll be missing a Sporting KC/KC Wizards home game. Come Sunday, it will be 3,600 days since I last missed a KC home game, a 3-0 win over the expansion (and now defunct) Chivas USA on June 25th, 2005.

KC scored all three of their goals in the second half, with Jimmy Conrad starting things off with a goal just after half time. Davy Arnaud doubled the lead in the 70th minute, before Sasha Victorine finished things off in the 85th minute in front of over 13,000 people, many of them Chivas Guadalajara fans who attended Chivas USA games in away cities over the team's first few years. Sadly  there don't appear to be any highlights online that I can find now to share about the game.

I missed that game because at the time I was on my honeymoon after getting married. Since then, my wife has put up with me being gone to Wizards and Sporting games whenever the team is at home, and many times when they were away and I traveled as well.

Over these almost 10 years, I've seen KC go from being on the selling block to seeing the team be one of the envies of the league. I've gone from seeing games played in front of announced crowds four to five thousand at Arrowhead to sold out crowds of over 20,000 at Sporting Park. I've seen the team struggle at the beginning of seasons (2011) and end of seasons (2005). I've seen greats like Preki and Jimmy Nielsen retire from the game, I've seen the beginning of great careers like Roger Espinoza, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi start in KC.

During this string of games I've seen 156 league games, and 186 games in all competitions since the middle of the 2005 season. KC has gone 71-39-46 at home over that time frame in league play, averaging 1.66 points per game, scoring 239 goals while conceding 173. In all competitions I've seen KC play 186 games going 88-46-52 scoring 293 goals and allowing 202.

Well here's to starting another 10 year run, and go Orange Smash on Sunday!

Juliao Loaned Again - Former SKC Wizards Update

Former Sporting KC defender, Igor Juliao is going on loan from parent club Fluminense again. But this time he will not be leaving Brazil. Juliao has been loaned to Brazilian club ABC, which plays in the Brazilian Serie B. Since returning to Fluminense after the 2014 MLS season, he'd been unable to beak into the team at Fluminense, just making the bench a couple times.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Did not dress in DC's 2-1 win over Vancouver.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 68 minutes in New England's 4-0 win over Salt Lake.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 2-0 loss to Toronto.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in RSL's 4-0 loss to New England.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 1-1 draw with Dallas.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Seattle.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 77 minutes, getting a goal and an assist in Columbus' 4-1 win over Philadelphia.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Dressed but did not play in Toronto's 2-0 win over Orlando.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Not eligible for Montreal's CCL game.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Philadelphia's 4-1 loss to Columbus.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - No game this week.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Came off the bench and played 34 minutes in Columbus' 4-1 win over Philadelphia.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 75 minutes in New York's 1-1 draw with LA.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa Bay's 3-2 win over Jacksonville.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 3-1 win over Ottawa.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 0-0 draw with New York.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 0-0 draw with New York.

USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in OKC's 2-1 loss to St. Louis.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Came off the bench and played 31 minutes in Austin's 1-0 win over Colorado Springs.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - No game this week.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 81 minutes in OKC's 2-1 loss to St. Louis.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal (loan) - Started and played 90 minutes in Montreal's 1-0 loss to Richmond.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-1 draw with Harrisburg.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Did not play in Arizona's 2-0 loss to Portland.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Austin's 1-0 win over Colorado Springs.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-1 loss to St. Louis.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over New York. Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Montreal.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 1-0 loss to BFC Dynamo. Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 4-2 win over Neustrelitz.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - No game until 5-2.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not play in either of Blooming's games.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - No game this week.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-1 draw with America.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Saprissa's 2-1 win over UCF.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 win over Bharat FC. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Bengaluru's 2-1 win over Maziya.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Defeated Beijing Enterprises 2-1.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Tied Deportivo Laferrere 0-0.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 4-3 win over Hoang Anh Gia Lai.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 90 minutes in Lugo's 0-0 draw with Alcorcon.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Did not dress in Cucuta's 3-1 loss to La Equidad.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Puebla's 2-1 loss to Pachuca.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Defeated Tioli Gardens 1-0.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Did not dress in either of Boavista's games.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Defeated Stand United 4-0.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Loaned to ABC.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated CSKA Almaty 3-0.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Dressed but did not play in Servette's 4-2 win over Lausanne Sport.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes, recording an assist in Spartak's 1-0 win over Rubin Kazan.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - Won 2-1 over Sabah.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Defeated KR 1-0 in the Iceland Super Cup.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Did not dress in Sporting's 4-1 win over Moreirense.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Defeated Army FC 2-1.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Defeated Nievenheim 4-0.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in Blackburn's 2-2 draw with Hudderfield Town.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 70 minutes in Sarajevo's 1-0 win over Olimpic Sarajevo. Started and played 65 minutes in Sarajevo's 1-0 win over Siroki Brijeg.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Saarbrucken's 2-0 loss to Kickers Offenbach.

Carrasco Supended by Disciplinary Committee

The MLS Disciplinary Committee came out with a number of decisions from this past weekend's games today. Two of those announcements will affect this weekend's game between Sporting Kansas City and the Chicago Fire.

The first decision will affect Sporting KC, as midfielder Servando Carrasco was handed a one game suspension and a fine for violent conduct in the 52nd minute of the 4-4 draw with Houston. After Matt Besler and Kevin Ellis combined to foul Dynamo forward, Giles Barnes. Brad Davis took exception to the situation and some of the players came together. Carrasco, a former Dynamo player struck Davis in the head as the two had a headed argument. Davis had to be pulled away from the situation by his teammates. Also KC was warned for mass confrontation in the game.

The suspension means that Haitian Soni Mustivar could very well earn his first start of the weekend on Sunday against the visiting Fire.



Meanwhile, Chicago will be without midfielder, Matt Watson. The Fire midfielder was suspended for a 27th minute tackle on NYCFC forward Adam Nemec. The tackle at the time had only earned Watson a yellow card, but the Disciplinary Committee saw it differently. He'll also miss this weekend's game.

Sunday After Stats

Roger Espinoza made his 100th league start for KC, he's the 22nd player to hit that mark.

Espinoza made his 120th league appearance for KC, breaking his tie with Diego Gutierrez and Uche Okafor for 18th on that list.

Graham Zusi's assist last night was his 50th in all competitions for KC, he's the third player to hit that mark.

Dom Dwyer's goal was his 30th in all competitions for KC, tying him with Scott Sealy for 8th on that list.

Dwyer's goal was his 11th in league play away from home, tying him with Teal Bunbury and Kei Kamara for 6th on that list.

The goal was his 13th in all competitions away from home, tying him with Bunbury for 6th on that list.

Benny Feilhaber's two goals gave him 6 on the road in his career with KC, tying him with Francisco Gomez and Aurelien Collin for 17th place on that list.

It was his 7th in all competitions away from home, tying him with Collin and Eddie Johnson for 18th on that list.

Connor Hallisey made his debut for KC. He's the 185th player to play a league game for KC, 191st in all competitions.

A Roller Coaster Ride to Secure a Point

I don't know if I have the words to accurately describe the way I went through the game between Sporting KC and the Houston Dynamo as they played to the highest scoring draw in KC's history, drawing 4-4. It was a roller coaster throughout, from the highs of an early lead through Krisztian Nemeth, to giving up three straight, to KC clawing their way back only to fall back behind, to finally ending up level thanks to an amazing strike by Benny Feilhaber. It wasn't the best game that KC played, marred by defensive mistakes, goalkeeper mistakes, and missed chances, but for the neutral, it would have been a fun game to watch.

KC was able to jump out to an early lead against the Dynamo thanks to Nemeth. A give away at midfield led to Nemeth leading a counter the other direction. Nemeth dribbled in on Raul Rodriguez, causing the Dynamo defender to back pedal. Near the top of the box Nemeth fired a shot into the far corner that beat Tyler Deric and gave KC the 1-0 lead early. The lead didn't last too long though as the Dynamo equalized in the 11th minute. A throw-in by Brad Davis wasn't handled by Will Bruin, the ball fell to Matt Besler whose attempted clearance went off of Servando Carrasco into the path of Giles Barnes who made no mistake firing the ball past Luis Marin and into the net tying the game at 1-1. From there, KC continued to have the better of the early going, but could not retake the lead. Dom Dwyer had two fantastic chances, once being set up by Jalil Anibaba, and the second coming from a fantastic ball from Feilhaber who played a call that was just out of reach of Deric, but Dwyer couldn't turn the effort on goal and it went wide. The earlier misses came back to haunt KC as the Dynamo came back and for the final 25 minutes of the half controlled play. They were helped by some very poor distribution by Luis Marin in KC's goal as he gave up a number of throw ins by kicking the ball directly out of bounds. Late in the half some more poor distribution by Marin led to another goal. After Marin misplayed a goal kick and it ended up leading to a Dynamo corner, Brad Davis played a great ball into the box that Will Bruin flicked on and into the net past Marin to give the Dynamo a 2-1 lead as they headed into the half time break.

Things got worse for KC less than a minute into the second half. Barnes picked up a pass near midfield with no one around him and turned and raced up field. No one stepped up to shut down his run and from about 30 yards out he let fly with a shot that went inside the near corner for a goal to put the Dynamo up 3-1. Like with the distribution earlier, questions have to be asked of Marin's positioning and his dive, as it immediately brought back memories of the goal Jermaine Jones scored on Eric Kronberg at Sporting Park last year. After the goal, the Dynamo started to sit back more, looking to focus on their strong defense, the Dynamo looked to just contain KC's attack. KC still had their chances though and should have pulled a goal back when Nemeth was played through on goal by Roger Espinoza. One on one with Deric though, Nemeth couldn't round the Houston goalkeeper and put the shot wide of the goal. The Dynamo's defense did it's job until the 74th minute when a mistake by Barnes gave KC a way back into the game. Being chased backward by Espinoza, Barnes tried to play a ball across the back towards Deric, but Dwyer read the pass and got to the ball first, touching it by Deric. The Houston keeper brought Dwyer down in the process, but Dwyer quickly got back to his feet and tapped the ball into the empty net to make it 3-2. Now within a goal, KC threw numbers forward looking for the equalizer. And within a couple minutes of the goal, they had two penalty shouts, both courtesy of Nemeth. First, Nemeth was brought down in the box by a Dynamo defender, but referee Kevin Stott didn't even look twice. Then less than a minute later in the 77th, KC again came forward and again just outside the box the ball ended up at the feet of Nemeth. The Hungarian cut inside his defender and around another before trying to put a shot past Deric. Dynamo defender Jermaine Taylor got back though and knocked the ball away with his chest, although there were immediately shouts of a hand ball. Stott put his whistle in his mouth, but allowed play to continue as the ball fell to Dwyer who tried to back heel the ball into the net, eventually Deric collected the loose ball in the box, at which point Stott called the play back and gave the penalty kick for a hand ball on Taylor. The Dynamo defender also was given a red card for the hand ball. Replays showed that the ball had in fact hit Taylor's chest and no call should have been made. Feilhaber though stepped up to take the PK and slotted it into the corner to tie the game at 3-3 and with a man advantage, thoughts turned from the poor performance and stopping the bleeding to thoughts of actually taking all three points from the game.

Unfortunately those thoughts were dashed minutes later when the Dynamo won a free kick in KC's half. Brad Davis played the ball into the box where Raul Rodriguez beat Matt Besler to the ball and headed it past Marin and into the net to put the Dynamo back on top. Down a man, the Dynamo again sat back as Sporting KC attacked looking for another equalizer. In the 5th minute of stoppage time they again found it, and again Feilhaber was the hero. The ball got played wide to Dwyer who tried to cross the ball into the middle of the box, but his cross was deflected on it's way through and floated towards the top of the box where Graham Zusi was, Zusi played a cushioned header right into the path of Feilhaber who let the ball bounce a couple times before firing a laser of a shot right into the post at Deric's left side, tying the game at 4-4 as both teams took a point from the game.

Wizards Man of the Match - Benny Feilhaber - Him and Ike Opara had been the best players on KC since the start of the season. With Opara out, Feilhaber has continued to play strong and was fantastic for KC last night. Better finishing by Dwyer would have seen him get an assist in the first half, tied the game once from the penalty spot, and his blast in second half stoppage time secured a point.

Player Ratings: Marin 2, de Jong 3, Besler 4, Ellis 3, Anibaba 4, Carrasco 4, Espinoza 5, Feilhaber 8, Zusi 6, Dwyer 5, Nemeth 6. Subs Mustivar 5, Dia 5, Hallisey NR.

Match Day 8: Renewing Another Rivalry

Sporting KC will renew another of their rivalries tomorrow night against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium. Since Houston moved to the Eastern Conference in 2011, these two teams have met in the playoffs three of the last four seasons. Including a US Open Cup qualifier back in 2011, tomorrow's meeting will be the 17th meeting between the two teams since that time. Making it one of the most played rivalries of the last five years.

Houston comes into the game with the exact same 2-2-3 record that KC has, the only difference is the goals each team has scored an conceded. While KC has scored seven and conceded eight, the Dynamo have scored six, but given up a league low of four. Their defense has been very good, as Tyler Deric has recorded three shutouts for the Dynamo. In the other seven games, Houston has yet to allow more than a single goal. Not great news for a KC offense that continues to struggle to create chances in the run of play. Offensively though the Dynamo have struggled more than KC has. The Dynamo have six goals, but three of those came in one game against a Montreal Impact side that was focused on the Champions League. So while the defense is playing extremely well, outside of one game, the Dynamo haven't been lighting things up offensively.

That might be exactly what the Kansas City defense needs to get their feet back under them after the loss of Ike Opara. The defense was shaky at the start of last week's game against LA, but settled down and bent but didn't break until second half stoppage time when Omar Gonzalez scored the winner. The defense will still need to account for the likes of Giles Barnes, who has caused KC issues in the past. Offensively though this is going to be another game that I have a feeling will really frustrate the KC offense.

Marin

Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - de Jong

Carrasco

Feilhaber - Espinoza

Nemeth - Dyer - Zusi

Number to Remember - 0 - That's the number of goals that Houston has scored the last two years in all competitions at BBVA against KC. In the three games, KC is 2-0-1, winning the two regular season games 1-0 and 2-0, while drawing 0-0 in the 2013 Conference Finals.

Key Match Up - Benny Feilhaber vs Ricardo Clark - The MLS leader in assists will have a difficult match up against the former US international Clark, who has been having himself a very good season for the Dynamo, including scoring two goals to be tied for the team lead. Feilhaber has arguably been KC's best player (easier to argue for it now with Opara out). For KC to be successful tomorrow, Feilhaber is gonna need to win this battle.

PREDICTION - The way both teams are playing right now, this is going to be a low scoring, fairly unattractive game. Neither team has been able to have much success on the offensive side of the ball. And while KC's defense hasn't been playing great, their offense, especially without Oscar Boniek Garcia. If there is any scoring, I expect the game to be decided by just one goal. But I'm not sure we see it.

SKC - 0
HOU - 0

#TBT Best Comeback Ever

A couple weeks ago, Sporting Kansas City scored two goals in stoppage against the Philadelphia Union to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win at Sporting Park. At the time the question was asked whether or not that was the greatest comeback for Kansas City all time. At the time I said it wasn't, and I still believe that. Instead, the greatest comeback in the team's history came against this weekend's opponent, the Houston Dynamo back in 2010.

At the time, Kansas City had never defeated the Dynamo in Kansas City since Houston had moved from San Jose ahead of the 2006 season. When the Dynamo came to Kansas City in late September in 2010, KC was trying to get back to the playoffs for the third straight year, having fired head coach Curt Onalfo two months earlier. To keep their hopes alive, KC desperately needed the win over the Dynamo, who were set to miss the playoffs for the first time since moving.

The Dynamo though grabbed the early lead as in the 13th minute, Cam Weaver was able to get in front of Roger Espinoza and slide a shot past Jimmy Nielsen and into the net giving Houston the lead. Shortly after that, Kei Kamara should have equalized as he got played in alone with Pat Onstad in the box, but Kamara hit the post keeping the score at 1-0. That miss came back to haunt KC in the 33rd. On a clearance into the middle of the field, Jimmy Conrad stepped up to challenge Weaver for the ball. Conrad left Dominic Oduro to do that, but Weaver won the header. Conrad's center back partner, Shavar Thomas didn't slide over to cover Oduro who was able to race in on goal and put the ball past Nielsen and into the net to make it 2-0. Kansas City responded immediately to going down 2-0 though as Craig Rocastle picked out Kamara and this time he made no mistake burying his effort past Onstad to make it 2-1. Unfortunately, Houston did the same to KC. After a foul in KC's end that appeared to be actually on Houston was called on KC, the ball was played into the box where Thomas' attempted clearance when right into the path of Adrian Serioux who knocked the ball into the net. The Dynamo went into the half with the 3-1 lead.

At half time, KC brought on rookie Teal Bunbury in place of Birahim Diop, and a new effort saw KC have the better of the start of the second half. In the 60th minute, Bunbury took advantage of a mistake by Onstad. The Dynamo goalkeeper slipped on a goal kick playing it directly toward Bunbury who reacted first and raced in on Onstad and slotted the ball between Onstad's legs to get KC within a goal again. KC continued to pressure, looking for the equalizer and in the 71st minute found it. The ball got played wide to Michael Harrington who beat his man 1v1 before crossing into the box towards Ryan Smith, who one timed it with his right foot. The ball deflected off Serioux and into the net tying the game at 3-3. As the minutes ticked off, it looked like KC would come all the way back, but in second half stoppage time, Nielsen cleared a ball well up field into the path of Harrington who had raced into the offensive end. Harrington one timed a ball into the box where Josh Wolff met it and flicked the header into the far post to give Kansas City the 4-3 lead and the win over the Dynamo.

For me it's the greater comeback because of the situation that KC was in at the time needing a win really to keep their playoff hopes alive (even if they didn't make it). Also because of the futility I felt at half time after watching the team down 3-1. Against the Union, while KC was down, Philadelphia wasn't playing well at all and goals were certainly there for KC, against Houston at the time I just didn't feel it.

Gomez and Puebla Win Copa MX - Former SKC Wizards Update

Mexican club, Puebla may be relegated this year, but they'll go down as Copa MX champions. This week, Herculez Gomez and his club Puebla won the cup competition in Mexico with a 4-2 win over Chivas. Gomez was an unused sub for Puebla in the game as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Chivas came back to tie at 2-2 before Puebla scored two more to win 4-2.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-1 draw with Houston.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Came off the bench and played 29 minutes, getting a goal and an assist in New England's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 3-0 loss to Columbus.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in RSL's 1-0 loss to Vancouver.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 3-1 loss to Seattle.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and playd 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over NYCFC.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal and getting an assist in Columbus' 3-0 win over Orlando.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Dressed but did not play in Toronto's 3-2 loss to Toronto.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - No game this week.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 32 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelphi's 1-1 draw with NYCFC. Started and played 63 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-1 loss to New England.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 2-0 loss to New York.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 3-0 win over Orlando.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in New York's 2-0 win over San Jose.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 2-0 loss to New York.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 3-2 loss to Edmonton.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Stared and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Carolina.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Carolina.

USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not play in OKC's 2-1 win over Seattle.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Did not play in Austin's 2-1 loss to LA.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Sacramento's 2-0 win over Vancouver. Did not dress in Sacramento's 3-0 win over Portland.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-1 win over Seattle.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 3-0 loss to Richmond.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Did not play in Arizona's 3-0 loss to Orange County.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-1 loss to LA.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-1 win over Seattle.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-0 win over Charlotte.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 1-0 win over Germania Halberstadt.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - No game until 5-2.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Lost 3-0 to Petrolero Yacuiba.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Quilems' 3-1 loss to Union Santa Fe.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Tijuana. Dressed but did not play in Chivas' 4-2 loss to Puebla.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Dressed but did not play in Saprissa's 4-1 win over Uruguay. Dressed but did not play in Saprissa's 1-1 draw with Cartagines.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Came off the bench and played 36 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 win over Pune.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Tied Dalian Aerbin 0-0.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Lost 1-0 to Dock Sud.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 1-0 loss to Sanna Khanh Hoa.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 65 minutes in Lugo's 1-0 loss to Racing Santander.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Did not play in either of Cucuta's games.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Came of the bench and played 37 minutes in Puebla's 1-0 loss to Atlas. Dressed but did not play in Puebla's 4-2 win over Chivas.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - No game this week.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Tied JKT Mgambo 0-0. Defeated Kagera Sugar 2-1.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Did not dress in Fluminense's 2-1 loss to Botafogo.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Tied Kyran 1-1.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Dressed but did not play in Servette's 1-1 draw wtih Chiasso.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Came off the bench, played 17 minutes, scoring a goal in Spartak's 3-1 win over Mordovia Saransk.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - Defeated Negeri Sembilan.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - No game this week.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Started and played 33 minutes in Sporting's 2-1 win over Boavista.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - No game this week.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Defeated Homberg 3-1.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Lost 2-0 to Global. Defeated Socceroo 4-0.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 74 minutes in Sarajevo's 1-1 draw wtih Celik.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Saarbrucken's 2-1 los to Eintracht Trier.

Sporting KC Loan Update - Kempin Gives Up Golazo

After a weekend off for both teams with Sporting KC players on loan, they both came back to play this past weekend.

For Jon Kempin and Saad Abdul-Salaam, it was a big let down of a game. Like Sporting KC, the San Antonio Scorpions gave up a late winner to Indy Eleven to lose 2-1. The Indy winner, scored in the 89th minute was a 40 yard strike after a long free kick was headed back into the path of Sergio Pena, who brought the ball down and fired a shot that looped over Jon Kempin and into the net. Kempin probably got caught a little too far off his line, but it was still a good strike by the Indy Eleven player. KC's other loaned player, Abdul-Salaam started and played the full game for San Antonio in defense. This next week, the Scorpions travel to play Minnesota United.



In the USL, Mikey Lopez and the Oklahoma City Energy continued their unbeaten start to the 2015 season with another late win, this time over the Seattle Sounders 2 to win 2-1 thanks to a Danni Konig. Lopez started and played 90 minutes for the Energy in their win. The Energy this week will remain at home to take on St. Louis FC.

Sunday After Stats

Benny Feilhaber's assist was his 15th in league play for KC, tying him with Claudio Lopez and Chris Henderson for 15th on that list.

The assist was his 21st in all competitions for KC, tying him with Jack Jewsbury and Kei Kamara for 9th all time on that list.

Roger Espinoza made his 119th league appearance for KC, tying him with Diego Gutierrez and Uche Okafor for 18th on that list.

KC Lose Late a Game They Did Not Deserve

For 45 minutes last night, Sporting KC looked like they'd be able to walk out of the Stub Hub Center with one or three points. For most of the second 45 it looked like they'd just be able to hang on to that one point, but in stoppage time, KC was crushed by a late goal by substitute Omar Gonzalez as Sporting KC fell 2-1 to the defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy.

KC's defense look out of sorts from the start last night struggling to deal with the Galaxy's attack early on. KC paid for it in the 9th minute. A cross field ball by Juninho found Stefan Ishizaki on KC's left side. Ishizaki brought the ball down and dribbled at Marcel de Jong 1v1. Ishizaki turned de Jong and fired a shot on goal. Luis Marin got down and made the save, but only pushed the rebound into the path of the unmarked Baggio Husidic, who knocked the ball into the empty net giving LA the lead. Teenager, Bradford Jamieson caused all sorts of problems for KC with his speed. Twice he was going 1v1 with KC's center backs, but both times Matt Besler and Kevin Ellis were eventually able to stand up the U20 international.

KC found a way back into the game in the 22nd minute, completely against the run of play. Dom Dwyer collected a long ball deep in the Galaxy's end. Dwyer dribbled inside to the top of the box before sliding a ball through to Benny Feilhaber. Feilhaber immediately touched the ball to Krisztian Nemeth who had made a run into the box, Nemeth took a touch and then chipped the ball over Jaime Penedo and into the net to tie the game at 1-1. After the goal Kansas City started to look a lot more dangerous offensive, getting more of the ball and putting more pressure on the Galaxy back line. Marcel de Jong created two of KC's better chances, first in the 35th with a long run and firing a shot from near the corner of the box. The ball took a deflection on the way through, but Penedo adjusted well and was able to get a hand to it and the rebound was cleared. Minutes later, de Jong had another opportunity in a similar situation, but his shot skimmed the outside of the post and went out.

After the way the first half ended with KC on the front foot, there was a level of confidence heading into the second half that KC could come out and possibly steal all three points in the game. Unfortunately things didn't work out that way in the second half. LA came out and started taking the game to Kansas City again, keeping KC's offense from really getting involved in the play. KC's best chance of the second half came in the 68th minute after some good work down the week the ball was played into the middle for Dwyer near the penalty spot. Dwyer's shot though was well over the bar. Much of the half though LA controlled, Juninho forced a save out of Marin on a shot from distance in the 72nd. KC's defense was bending but not breaking as the game came to a conclusion, even with an injury forcing Vermes to substitute de Jong for Amadou Dia. Late in stoppage time though LA found their deserved winner as a corner from Juninho was sent towards Gonzalez at the back post where he'd beaten Anibaba to the ball, getting a leg on it. His shot was headed towards goal, but deflected off Bernardo Anor as Marin dove; the deflection sent the ball the opposite direction and into the net as Marin dove the other way giving the Galaxy a late win.

Wizards Man of the Match - Krisztian Nemeth - A well taken finish by Nemeth after some good interchange, between Dwyer and Feilhaber. Overall though there really wasn't anyone that stood out as deserving the award that much over anyone else.

Player Ratings - Marin 4, de Jong 4, Besler 4, Ellis 4, Anibaba 4, Carrasco 4, Espinoza 3, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 4, Dwyer 3, Nemeth 5. Subs Dia 4, Anor 3, Peterson NR.

Match Day 7: Sporting Head to the West Coast

For the first time this season, Sporting KC is headed to the West Coast as a member of the Western Conference as they take on the LA Galaxy. The two teams will meet for the 54th time in regular season play, the most games that KC has played against any team in league play.

The Galaxy come into the game having ended their two game losing streak last week against the Seattle Sounders. They ended a scoreless run of over 200 minutes in the 1-0 win over the Sounders, doing so without captain Robbie Keane in the lineup for the game. Keane is still questionable for the game tomorrow and his absence would be a bonus for a KC back line that is in a bit of flux right now. They'll also have two of their starters returning from San Antonio where Omar Gonzalez and Gyasi Zardes both started and played 90 minutes for the US in the 2-0 win over Mexico. With them playing 90 minutes and flying back to LA, the two may be a little fatigued for this weekend's game.

Meanwhile, the question on KC's national team call up, Matt Besler, is his health. Kansas City's captain sat out the friendly against Mexico with an illness. With KC's other issues in defense, I'd expect Besler to be in the lineup tomorrow night. The rest of KC's defense is limited at the moment as Erik Palmer-Brown was called up by the US U20 team and will not be available, Seth Sinovic is questionable with a groin injury that kept him out of last week's game, and then there's the long term injury to Ike Opara. With all of that, KC will only have five defenders available for tomorrow's game with Besler being joined by Marcel de Jong, Kevin Ellis, Jalil Anibaba, and Amadou Dia. The big question is who replaces Opara in the middle of defense. My feeling is that Peter Vermes will change as little as possible about the team that played against Salt Lake last week. That means inserting Ellis into the center of defense with Besler while Anibaba stays out wide right. The only other change that I could see from the lineup against RSL is if Graham Zusi is ready to return from his hamstring injury. If he's ready to go he slots right back into the lineup in place of Jacob Peterson on the wing.

Marin
Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - de Jong
Carrasco
Feilhaber - Espinoza
Zusi - Dwyer - Nemeth

Number to Remember - 25 - That's how many games in a row that the Galaxy are unbeaten at the Stub Hub Center. They have not lost there since the season opener of last season across all competitions. Twenty-three of those 25 games have come as the "home" team, the other two were as the visitors when playing Chivas USA. So KC winning tomorrow, they'll have to do something that hasn't been done in over a year.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Omar Gonzalez and AJ de la Garza - Kansas City has been getting Dwyer more involved in the games lately than he was earlier in the season. Over the last two games, Dwyer has been much more involved, scoring one and having three others ruled out either due to an offside call or foul. But the key is that he's getting the ball in dangerous positions. Earlier in the season Dwyer was left all alone up top against center backs who usually had a couple inches on him. With that, Dwyer was starved of service. Tomorrow KC will need to keep him involved against one of the better central defensive pairings in the league.

PREDICTION - Sporting's offense, while looking more dangerous than the 1 shot on goal suggests, the team has still scored just one goal from the run of play this season in six games. That's really just not good enough, especially with Opara out, this team can't rely solely on set pieces. Against a Galaxy defense that could have a fatigued Gonzalez in the lineup, KC should really try to run at him more tomorrow. But I just don't think that KC is clicking well enough right now in the offensive third of the field to win this game. With or without Keane, I think that the Galaxy are just better than KC is right now.

SKC - 1 (Nemeth)
LA - 2 (Gordon, Husidic)

Palmer-Brown Called into US U20 Camp

US Soccer today announced Tab Ramos' roster that had been called in for a US U20 camp in Linz, Austria ahead of this summer's U20 World Cup in New Zealand. Sporting Kansas City center back, Erik Palmer-Brown was named to the 20 man roster that will train in the central European country from April 18th through the 26th. During that time the US team will face off against the U20 teams from Qatar and Croatia at Red Bull Arena in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria.

Palmer-Brown will miss the next two Kansas City games, both on the road, against LA this weekend and Houston next weekend. The call up does leave KC even more shorthanded defensively heading into this weekend's game though. Along with Palmer-Brown missing out, the team will be with Ike Opara and likely Seth Sinovic due to injury. This along with the loan of Saad Abdul-Salaam to San Antonio will leave KC with just five healthy defenders for tomorrow's game, and that's assuming that Matt Besler has fully recovered from the stomach bug that caused him to his the mid-week friendly against Mexico. Along with Besler the only other defenders available for KC are left back Marcel de Jong, center backs/right backs, Kevin Ellis and Jalil Anibaba, and outside back Amadou Dia. The team could get help from further up the field defensively, specifically in the form of Jacob Peterson who spent time at outside back for KC last season during their injury crisis. In a pinch, Bernardo Anor could also sit deeper on the wing. But this weekend will certainly be a test of KC's depth.

Along with Palmer-Brown, KC had two academy players called up to US youth national teams as Cameron Duke was called into U14 camp and Jaylin Lindsey was called into the U15 team for a tournament in Europe in late April/early May.

#TBT The Last Time KC and LA Were Conference Rivals

For the first time since 2004, Sporting KC will be playing the LA Galaxy this weekend as a conference rival. With the additions of Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA back in 2005, KC has played the Galaxy in cross conference match ups. KC has played the Galaxy more than any other team in the league, 53 times in league play going 19-23-11 (across all competitions they've played 62 times, four fewer than the 66 KC has played against Colorado).

The last time these two teams met as conference rivals was in the 2004 MLS Cup playoffs. Having won the regular season Western Conference, the Wizards earn the right to host the Conference Finals after turning around a 2-0 deficit in the conference semifinals to win 3-2 on aggregate over the San Jose Earthquakes. Meanwhile, the Galaxy had qualified after a 2-1 aggregate win over the Colorado Rapids, losing the first leg 1-0 in Colorado.

At Arrowhead a day before Pitt State and Northwest Missouri State met at Arrowhead, the Wizards and Galaxy took the field to decide the Western Conference representative at MLS Cup. KC scored the opening goal just 24 minutes into the game as a ball was played up top to Josh Wolff who beat Tyrone Marshall to the ball, touching it inside and played it into the path of Davy Arnaud who was racing into the box. Arnaud put the ball between Kevin Hartman's legs and into the net giving KC a 1-0 lead. Shortly after that, tempers started to boil over after a Peter Vagenas foul on Jimmy Conrad. Arnaud came up and got in the face of Vagenas, who was also on the ground after the foul. Galaxy forward, Carlos Ruiz came up from behind Arnaud and grabbed him by the back of the neck pulling him away. This led to a larger scuffle between the two teams, with Nick Garcia surprisingly enough playing peacemaker trying to pull his players away from Ruiz.

KC continued to dominate the play for most of the game, looking like a team that had already won the US Open Cup and had lost out on the Supporters' Shield on a tiebreaker, the Galaxy were over matched on the night. It wasn't until the 69th minute though when KC doubled their lead, with Arnaud again being the scorer as he continued his break out season that saw him score 14 goals over the course of the season across all competitions. Alex Zotinca played a nice ball into the box that Arnaud ran on to. As Hartman came sliding out to try to grab it, Arnaud touched it past him towards the end line. Arnaud turned and fired a shot from a tight angle that squeezed into the net, possibly with a little help, but either way it doubled KC's lead.

At the time it was one of the best parties I've enjoyed with the Cauldron, or at a game period (probably only topped by the win over LA in the 2000 MLS Cup playoffs). The season ended disappointingly in LA a little over a week later when KC lost 3-2 to DC United in MLS Cup.

Saturday though KC and LA will meet up as conference rivals again.

Johnson's Career Appears to be Over - Former SKC Wizards Update

Eddie Johnson hasn't played for DC United this year, he's been on an excused leave from the team because of an issue with his heart that was found last year during the playoffs. It now appears that the heart condition will force the one time Wizard and US international to retire from the game. While Johnson scored the third most goals in a single season for Kansas City, he's probably best remembered for his miss in the 2012 US Open Cup final when he was a member of the Seattle Sounders.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-2 draw with New York.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 0-0 draw with Columbus.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 2-0 win over Portland.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 65 minutes in RSL's 0-0 draw with KC.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 4-0 win over Dallas.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Portland's 2-0 loss to Orlando.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring two goals in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Vancouver. Started and played 84 minutes in Columbus' 0-0 draw with New England.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - No game this week.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-0 loss to Houston.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-1 win over NYCFC.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 1-0 win over Vancouver.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Vancouver. Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 0-0 draw with New England.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in New York's 2-2 draw with DC.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa Bay's 0-0 draw with Minnesota.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 win over Jacksonville.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 1-1 draw with Ottawa.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 1-1 draw with Ottawa.

USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - No game this week.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Did not play in Austin's 1-0 loss to Arizona.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Dressed but did not play in Sacramento's 3-1 win over LA.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - No game this week.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - No game this week.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Did not play in Arizona's 1-0 win over Austin.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Came off the bench and played 38 minutes in Austin's 1-0 loss to Arizona.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - No game this week.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-0 win over Wilmington.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Stated and played 90 minutes in Auerbach's 3-0 loss to Magdeburg.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Lost 3-1 to Oulu in the Finnish Cup.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not dress in Blooming's 2-2 draw with San Jose.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Dressed but did not play in Quilmes' 2-1 loss to Belgrano.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 win over Leon.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Saprissa's 1-1 draw with Alajuelense.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Defeated Atletico Chiapas 2-1.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 1-0 win over Warriors.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao Jonoon's 1-1 draw with Tianjin Songjiang.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - 2-0 loss to San Martin Burzaco.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 1-1 draw with Hai Phong.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Lugo's 2-1 loss to Sabadell.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Did not play in either of Cucuta's games.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Puebla's 1-1 draw with Universidad Guadalajara.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Did not dress in Boavista's 1-1 draw with Friburguense.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Tied Mbeya City and Mtibwa Sugar, both 1-1.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Did not dress in Fluminense's 2-1 win over Botafogo.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Lost 1-0 to Spartak Semey.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 3-1 win over Wohlen.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Spartak's 1-0 loss to Arsenal Tula. Started and played 78 minutes in Spartak's 2-1 loss to Rostov.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - Defeated Johor Darul Ta'zim II 2-1.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - No game this week.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Did not dress in Sporting's 1-0 win over Nacional. Started and played 83 minutes in Spoting's 2-1 win over Vitoria Setubal.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - No game this week.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Defeated Honnepel-Niedermormter 3-2.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Dressed but did not play in Blackburn's 1-0 loss to Liverpool. Dressed but did not play in Blackburn's 0-0 draw with Reading. Did not dress in Blackburn's 2-2 draw with Birmingham City.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Defeated Loyola 5-2.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Sarajevo's 0-0 draw with Drina Zvornik. Started and played 86 minutes in Sarajevo's 2-0 win over Travnik.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Saarbrucken's 0-0 draw with Kaiserslautern II.