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Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC suffers third straight defeat and fourth in five games

April 24, 2016 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City suffered a third straight defeat on Sunday after falling 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium. Chris Wondolowski's 59th-minute penalty kick separated the sides as San Jose extended its home unbeaten streak against Sporting KC to 18 MLS matches dating back to 2000.

Wondolowski's spot kick came just four minutes after Sporting Kansas City were denied a penalty of their own when Dom Dwyer fell under Andres Imperiale's sliding challenge. The result drops Sporting Kansas City (4-4-0, 12 points) to sixth in the Western Conference table, two points behind fifth-place San Jose (4-2-2, 14 points).

Manager Peter Vermes made one change to the starting lineup from last Sunday's 2-1 setback at FC Dallas, with Graham Zusi recovering from illness to replace Jimmy Medranda. The visitors started brightly and created multiple chances within the first half-hour. Benny Feilhaber nearly caught goalkeeper David Bingham off his line in the eighth minute, only to see his 25-yard chip palmed narrowly over the woodwork.

Zusi and Feilhaber were at the heart of the attack three minutes later, combining to find Dwyer in the penalty area, but the Englishman was crowded out by a host of defenders and was unable to pull the trigger.

Both clubs exchanged scoring threats in the 25th minute. San Jose's Alberto Quintero exploited space down the right wing and tried squaring for an open Quincy Amarikwa, but Nuno Andre Coelho stuck out his right boot to make the pivotal intervention. Less than 30 seconds later, Roger Espinoza's long diagonal ball eluded Simon Dawkins and was scooped up by Saad Abdul-Salaam, who fired wide of the near post and into the side-netting.

Abdul-Salaam spearheaded another thrust forward on 29 minutes, surging down the right sideline and squaring to Feilhaber in a central area. The team's reigning MVP lobbed a ball to the far post for Dwyer, whose snapping header was touched away by Bingham. Shortly thereafter, Brad Davis curled a free kick over San Jose's four-man wall that barely missed the target.

San Jose carved out a clear opportunity just before the break. Quintero had space to cross from the left flank, and his low delivery buzzed across the face of goal to Fatai Alashe, who lashed wide from 12 yards.

The game's most controversial moment came 10 minutes after the restart. Feilhaber's long ball over the San Jose back line was chested down by Dwyer, who appeared to be tripped from behind by Imperiale inside the box. Referee Jair Marufo waved play to resume, and not long later awarded the Earthquakes a penalty kick.

Alashe's incisive through ball in the 58th minute found Wondolowski, who was cleanly dispossessed by the sliding Matt Besler. The loose ball fell to Dawkins, who was toppled after attempting to round goalkeeper Tim Melia near the six-yard area. Wondolowski buried the ensuing penalty kick, scoring his MLS-leading seventh goal of the season and his eighth goal in 11 regular season appearances against Sporting Kansas City.

Davis went agonizingly close again in the 66th minute, as his bending free kick beat the wall but would not dip enough to sneak under the crossbar. Neither team conjured a dangerous chance in the final quarter-hour, condemning Sporting Kansas City to its fourth loss in five games while San Jose moved to 4-0-1 at Avaya Stadium in 2016.

Sporting Kansas City will stay on the West Coast for the final leg of a three-game road swing, facing seventh-place Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3-4-1, 10 points) at 9:30 p.m. CT Wednesday. KMCI 38 The Spot and SKCTV will provide three hours of live television coverage from BC Place beginning at 9 p.m. CT. History in the matchup favors Sporting KC, who are unbeaten in five straight regular season visits to Cascadia clubs (Vancouver, Portland and Seattle) and own a 5-1-2 all-time record against Whitecaps FC.

FAST FACTS

Sporting KC Facts

Sporting KC fell 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.

Sporting KC made one change to the starting lineup as Graham Zusi recovered from illness to replace Jimmy Medranda.

Since 2004, the home team in the #SJvSKC series is 18-1-2 in all competitions, with the lone road win coming last August when San Jose won at Children's Mercy Park.

Seven of the last eight #SJvSKC fixtures have been decided by a goal or less, and during Sporting KC's 16-game regular season winless streak in San Jose, the last 13 games have decided by a goal or less.

Sporting KC outshot the Earthquakes 13-9 on Sunday and maintained 52 percent of the possession.

Matt Besler, Benny Feilhaber and Amadou Dia all received yellow cards on Sunday.

San Jose Facts

Sporting KC has not won in San Jose since Aug. 16, 2000. The Earthquakes have gone 13-0-5 in home meetings ever since (including playoffs).

With the win, San Jose (14 points) jumps past Sporting Kansas City (12 points) in the Western Conference standings.

Chris Wondolowski converted the game-winner in the 59th minute on Sunday from the penalty spot.

Wondolowski now has eight goals in 11 regular season games versus Sporting KC.

The goal was Wondolowski's MLS-leading seventh goal in 2016.

Less than a minute into the game, Anibal Godoy received a yellow card for a reckless tackle on Dom Dwyer.

General Facts

Sporting KC returns to the pitch on Wednesday when they face the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at 9:30 p.m. CT on 38 The Spot.

Sporting KC is 5-1-2 all-time against Vancouver and is unbeaten in 10 straight regular season games (6-0-4) against Cascadia clubs (Vancouver, Portland and Seattle). QUOTES

Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes

On the missed call on Dom Dwyer...

I don't need a replay. I saw the thing live. It's a very poor mistake, and more importantly, there was a level of arrogance after that from the referee that it wasn't a mistake, and that's probably what I was most disappointed about. I understand guys are going to make mistakes, but just the level of arrogance in the game after that was just ridiculous. For our guys not to get some of the calls, there's something wrong there. It was just unfortunate. It truly was a change in the game.

On the level of play from Sporting KC players...

We played very well. Our intensity was good. I thought that we controlled a lot of the game. I thought we had great transition moments, especially in the first half. I really don't think that we gave too much away. But unfortunately that missed red card is a big change in the game. That's the unfortunate thing.

On taking Matt Besler out in the second half...

I knew there were going to be a lot of headers, and I just didn't want to put him in harm's way in regards to some of the things that transpired, especially since he had a concussion a few weeks ago.

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