Sporting KC Earns 8th Straight Home Victory with 2-1 Win
July 18, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City won the team's eighth straight home match across all competitions, tying the club record for the longest home winning streak, with a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday at Sporting Park. Benny Feilhaber opened the scoring in the fourth minute and earned the game-winning assist on Dom Dwyer's goal 30 minutes later to move Sporting KC into a tie for third place in the Western Conference.
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Feilhaber struck for the club's second earliest goal of the season when he powered a left-footed shot past Evan Bush in the game's fourth minute. Roger Espinoza started the scoring sequence by winning the ball from Marco Donadel before immediately playing a pass into the path of Krisztian Nemeth. The Hungarian slotted a first-time pass across the penalty area for Feilhaber, who brought the sell-out crowd to its feet with a finish inside the post for his sixth goal of the year.
In search of an equalizer, Calum Mallace sent a shot wide from 25 yards out in the seventh minute and then the visitors nearly leveled the score in the 31st minute. Ignacio Piatti picked out Dominic Oduro with an entry ball from the left flank that put Oduro in a one-on-one situation with Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia, who came off his line and made a fingertip save on the attempted chip.
The moment proved pivotal when Sporting KC doubled the lead less than three minutes later. Kevin Ellis tackled the ball away from Mallace in the defensive half and Feilhaber wasted no time in playing a 50-yard through ball between both Impact centerbacks with his first touch. The pinpoint pass sprung Dwyer on a breakaway and the Englishman made no mistake in sending his shot into the back of the net for his seventh career goal against Montreal - most among all MLS players - and a team-high 10 goals in all competitions this season.
Sporting Kansas City continued to create scoring chances in the final moments of the first half with Dwyer again leading the charge in the 41st minute. Bush was forced to make a pair of saves seconds apart, first diving low to his left to palm away Dwyer's initial shot then recovering to turn away the Englishman's follow-up effort with a foot save.
Feilhaber - hours after being named to the MLS All-Star gameday roster for the first time in his career - came close to moving back atop the MLS assists chart on the ensuing corner kick. His delivery found Jacob Peterson in traffic but the glancing header carried inches wide of the far post.
Montreal cut the deficit in half in the 59th minute when Piatti scored his sixth of the season - and the captain's third in the past four games - to snap Sporting KC's 355-minute home shutout streak. Nevertheless, the Impact would only have two attempts at a game-tying goal during a tense closing 30 minutes: Andres Romero's volley sailed high and wide in the 72nd minute and Maxim Tissot's header looped narrowly over the crossbar in second-half stoppage time.
Sporting KC has now won four straight in the series with Montreal and remains unbeaten at Sporting Park in 2015 (9-0-3 overall). Saturday's game was the first of three in a seven-day span as Sporting KC now turns the team's attention to Tuesday's match against the Houston Dynamo in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
Tickets and parking are included in Sporting Kansas City season ticket packages as Special Game A. Single-game tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL.
FAST FACTS
Sporting Kansas City defeated the Montreal Impact 2-1 on Saturday night.
Sporting KC is 9-0-3 at Sporting Park in 2015 and currently has an eight-game home winning streak in all competitions, tying the club record set in 2004.
With the victory, Sporting KC moves into a tie for third place in the Western Conference.
Sporting KC leads MLS with 1.83 points per game in 2015.
Peter Vermes started the same lineup in back-to-back MLS games for the second time in 2015.
Matt Besler made his 200th appearance for the club in all competitions on Saturday.
Sporting KC swept the series versus Montreal in 2014, outscoring the Impact 9-1 with two wins at Stade Saputo and one win at Sporting Park.
Saturday was the lone meeting with the Impact during the 2015 regular season.
Benny Feilhaber opened the scoring for Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Feilhaber now has six goals in 2015.
Feilhaber's goal was scored in the fourth minute, the second earliest goal for Sporting KC in 2015.
Roger Espinoza and Krisztian Nemeth earned assists on Feilhaber's goal.
Nemeth has now had a goal or an assist in three straight matches.
Dwyer doubled the lead for Sporting KC in the 34th minute.
Feilhaber tallied the assist and is now tied for ninth on the club's all-time regular season assists chart with 20.
Feilhaber has 30 assists in all competition, tying him with Josh Wolff for sixth most in club history.
Dwyer now has seven goals in his last four games against Montreal.
Dwyer's seven goals against Montreal are tied with Thierry Henry for the most in the League against Montreal all-time.
Feilhaber is one of four players in 2015 to have a combined 16 goals and assists along with Ethan Finley, Kei Kamara and Sebastian Giovinco.
Saturday marked the second time in 2015 that Feilhaber had at least one goal and one assist in an MLS match.
Feilhaber has four goals and five assists in his last eight MLS matches.
Feilhaber becomes the fourth player in Sporting KC history to record 10 assists in a season along with Preki, Josh Wolff and Graham Zusi.
Sporting KC is the only team with three different players with six goals or more this season.
Montreal's goal in the 59th minute snapped Sporting Kansas City's 355-minute home shutout streak in MLS competition.
Montreal is 0-7-1 when conceding the first goal in 2015 and 0-5-0 when trailing at half.
Sporting Kansas City used all three substitutes on Saturday. Connor Hallisey, Paulo Nagamura and Chance Myers replaced Krisztian Nemeth, Benny Feilhaber and Jacob Peterson respectively.
The appearance was Chance Myers 125th all-time.
Soni Mustivar had 11 interceptions on Saturday, most of all players.
Benny Feilhaber had three chances created, most of all players.
Saad Abdul-Salaam had seven tackles on Saturday, most of all players.
Tim Melia is now 10th in club history with 27 saves.
Sporting KC was without Graham Zusi on Saturday due to international duty during the 2015 Gold Cup. The U.S. MNT advanced with a 6-0 win over Cuba tonight and will play Jamaica in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Boulevard Brewing Company and Sporting Kansas City made Sporting Saison, a new farmhouse ale, available at Sporting Park for the first time on Saturday.
The Sporting KC Academy U15's were recognized on field during Saturday's pregame ceremonies in advance of their participation in the US Youth Soccer National Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma this week.
Sporting Park welcomed 19,070 fans on Saturday, marking the 63rd consecutive MLS sellout.
Sporting KC had four shots on goal on Saturday, which means fans can get a free breakfast biscuit sandwich with purchase at Jack in the Box on Sunday.
With two goals on Saturday, fans can get half-priced pizza at Papa Johns on Sunday with code sportingkc.
Sporting KC returns to action on Tuesday at Sporting Park when they host rivals Houston Dynamo in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
QUOTES
Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes
On Benny Feilhaber's performance...
He had a good first half. He had a good goal. I don't think it was one of his best games. He's been good this season, and he was solid in the first half. I thought he died out as the game went on, but he's been one of the most consistent guys for us on the field.
On Sporting KC's overall team performance...
We weren't great today. We weren't great in possession, but we were really good at creating chances. Where we weren't good was possession, they were better. We found a way to win by scoring two good goals. We should've scored at least two more goals in the first half. We could have scored another off a corner in the second half as well, so we should have been up three or four to nil. Again, we had great chances, but we weren't great in possession.
On Dom Dwyer's consistency against Montreal...
I think he's pretty effective against everybody. He's getting into his rhythm now. He had open break, not the one he scored on, where he took off down the left hand side, took a touch inside and hit the shot, and then got the rebound and almost finished the second one. He was a handful tonight, and it has a lot to do with his work ethic. He is not an easy player to play against.
On Chance Myers coming off the bench as a substitute...
It was a product of three games in seven days. He can go a full 90. He played 88 or 89 minutes last game and I took him off for a reason. I thought it was a good idea to take him off so he could get an ovation for making his way back. He could play 90 it's just that we have three games in seven days.
On the importance of scoring an early goal...
It obviously takes a lot of pressure off and makes the other team have to play a little bit more. When the game first started, you could see that they were going to sit back, but then we scored and they had to attack more. That's one of the reasons we had so many chances in the first half. I thought we created some really quality chances in the first half but again we didn't get it done. If we could have put a few more of those in it would have changed the game dramatically.
On concern of fatigue due to game temperature...
Yeah, it is a concern. We are going to get the guys hydrated, and get them massages cold baths and food in everybody quickly and then hopefully get everybody enough energy for Tuesday night.
On Sporting KC's scoring balance this season...
It's very good when you can spread it around. However, I love the progression that Dom is going through right now. He's got this hunger that is really coming from game to game and you can see it. Every time he is facing the goal he is on the verge of putting it in the back of the net or getting a good chance off. He's starting to feel it again.
On where Benny Feilhaber ranks in MLS...
He's been one of our most consistent players this year. I think for him personally it has so much to do with the fact that he is playing on both sides of the ball very consistently. I think that has changed his game and I also think people start to see the differences. It's one thing if you're only alive when you have the ball, it's another thing when you don't and you're doing the other things as well. It's one of the things that Roger [Espinoza] is notorious for. He trucks across the field, the Honduran train, and he wins the ball and then runs another thirty yards down the field. I think people can appreciate when a player does that. Benny did it in the first half where he ran across the field, won the ball back for us and kept possession. I value that a lot. The great thing about that is Benny is starting to value it as well and that is one of the reasons why the perception of him has changed so much.
Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber
On his through ball to Dom Dwyer for Sporting KC's second goal...
It was pretty wide open. Kevin (Ellis) won that ball for us, he stepped really well on my man and won that. They were really knocking the ball around so their two centerbacks were very wide and Dom was just down the middle. I just wanted to put it with enough pace that he could go in alone and kick it toward the left side. I just wanted to kick it hard, kick it forward so he could do his thing.
On Dwyer's confidence...
I think forwards go through momentum swings. Dom is riding a hot streak right now. He's playing well. I've always said that everything he does besides score goals is very, very good for us and very, very necessary for how we play. When he's able to start scoring like he is now and how he has for a year and half now - maybe a little bit longer, since our MLS Cup run - then we have a very good and important player for us playing up there.
On a possible difference between Dwyer earlier in the season and now...
To be honest, not really because he does so many things besides scoring for us. He's being doing that kind of stuff since the beginning of the season and obviously last year. Obviously he was missing some chances in the beginning of the season, and that's to be expected from forwards. You get three or four chances a game, you're not going to score them all. Maybe on one night, like the U.S. Open Cup night the other night, he is but that's not going to be every night. If he can get three or four chances and put one or two into the back of the net, that's what we ask of him. He just goes through his thing, he's got tons of confidence. I think he's doing a great job for us right now.
On playing three games in seven days in scorching temperatures...
We have to be smart. Obviously today was pretty hot. I don't think we necessarily played the way we wanted to, which didn't help our legs. I think a lot of guys got tired - I got pretty tired in the second half and had to come off - but we fought through it. Mentally we were strong and got three points.
It's going to be tough the next two games. Obviously we have a tough team coming in with Houston who always plays us very tough. Thankfully we get that game at home for the U.S. Open Cup. We're going to give it our all to get to the semifinals. I think everybody knows how much importance we're putting on that tournament, and then obviously an away game against Real Salt Lake. We'll be ready. We don't know what the weather will be like or how tired we will be, but we're going to do everything we can do to rest our legs and be prepared for our next game.
On producing chances early on...
We did do some really good things early on until that first goal. We were pressing them. I think that goal came off of a turnover by pressing. We were finding some spaces and making it difficult for them to play out of the back and create opportunities. We did some good things in the beginning of the game. I think after that first goal we were comfortable letting them kind of dictate the pace. We were playing on the counter, which is fine, but obviously with the weather, it takes its toll. When you're defending for long periods of time, you're going to get tired, and that's a little bit what happened to us. We need to do a little bit better of job kind of letting them come to us sometimes and other times press higher up and not let them have easy outlets, so that's something to look forward to in this week of training.
Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer
On joining Thierry Henry as the only players to score seven goals against Montreal all-time...
That's a pretty cool stat. It's good company to have, I think, the legend Thierry Henry. But we're very pleased with the win tonight - that's the main thing.
On his recent success against Montreal...
I don't really know (what it is). I guess I like playing Canadian teams. I really don't know. It was a fantastic ball by Benny (Feilhaber) tonight. I mean, it was a tap in. I would've liked to get more tonight - I think I should have had a couple more but the keeper made some good saves - but we got the result so we're pleased.
On getting into form after a slow start to the season statistically...
I feel like I'm on the best team in the league, so I'm going to just get chances. I've always said that, I just have to put them away. I'm feeling confident at the moment, my body is feeling good. I just want to keep putting them away - keep scoring goals - and help the team win.
On finding the missing piece of his game after the slow start...
I don't know, to be honest. Sometimes luck goes away, sometimes it doesn't. I missed a few chances here and there. I started to get there and find my feet a little, start to shrug off some injuries - I had a few knocks here and there - and just get sharper through the season. It's coming business time; it's getting closer and closer to the playoffs and we're climbing up that table taking each game at a time. I just want to keep scoring goals, keep winning games and try and help the team.
Montreal Impact manager Frank Klopas
On Montreal's start to the match...
I think we started well. I think we just made two mistakes that were costly, and you can't do that. You can't be casual on the road. Other than that, I thought if you see the overall performance of the team, I think it was probably one of the better road games that we've played. It's hard for me to say because you look at the score and you see 2-1 and then you lose, but you see the game again and you know what I'm talking about. I thought that definitely those two early mental mistakes that we made cost the team and we have to realize that we can't take risky chances away from home and against a quality team. But other than that I thought we regrouped. The focus was to win the second half, and I thought we did that. We pushed the game. Unfortunately those early mistakes we made cost us.
On Benny Feilhaber's performance tonight and this season...
He's just a quality player, Benny is. I've known him for a long time. His decision making, not only what he does with the ball. It's important from a midfield player that he gets points, which help. But I think Peter's done a great job and he's getting the most out of him. I think as a player he's pushing himself to the highest level that he can. It's great when you have someone like that who can contribute in all phases of the game.
On the two goals that Montreal conceded...
I just think they were mental mistakes. We had a throw-in where we take a risk and try to play the ball out of the back, which is tricky, and we lose the ball. We were really stretched with the two center backs, when one is going up the other has to cover the middle. We lose the ball in the midfield and it's basically one ball and we let [Dom] Dwyer have a breakaway on goal. I think just being more focused after that throughout the game, knowing where to take risks, making better decisions on the ball, and I think that was the key. We're trying to find better solutions.
On his decision to switch forwards in the second half...
I just thought it was time to use the players on the bench. I think [Dominic Oduro] gave everything. He wasn't that involved in the game. I think he made some runs and we really didn't find him. In the first half he made a good run when [Ignacio Piatti] played the ball. You give everything and I think it's really about the team. I know [Anthony] Jackson-Hamel is a young player but I just thought as the game was going, we could've provided some more service, could've gotten some more corners or set pieces. He's a little bit better in the air, he's physically stronger, he can hold the ball up a little bit more and bring the team into play and win some fouls. So I think [Oduro] gave everything, I just wanted to bring in some fresh legs with some different characteristics.
Montreal Impact forward Dominic Oduro
On Montreal's 2-1 loss to Sporting KC...
The second half was better than the first half. We just lost our head a little bit. I think we gave them two goals-they didn't create the chance, we gave it to them. The mistakes we made shouldn't happen. That cost us this loss. But the second half was really good and we had our chances. We were able to create but we just couldn't finish it. What we did today in the first half, we shouldn't give a team the chance to just put the ball in the net. I thought the second half got better.
On Montreal's struggles on the road...
This is a tough crowd to play against and they're a good team, too. We just have to fight through it. Like I said, I thought we played better today. We had our mistakes but we have to play on the road like we did in the second half. If we do then we can win every game on the road, but at least we have to get a point.
Montreal Impact midfielder Dilly Duka
On Montreal's 2-1 loss to Sporting KC...
Slow start [for us]. The other team did a good job of sitting in in the first half. Overall, I guess we weren't playing like the road team in the beginning because we were kind of pushing too many numbers forward in the beginning of the first half. They capitalized on two goals just basically on our mistakes. I think to be a better away team, we need to play like an away team. We can be the aggressors from the beginning and think that we are going to score a goal. We've got to work off of the other team's mistakes, just like Kansas City did to us.
On Montreal's edge in possession throughout the match.
They worked off of our mistakes and they capitalized. I think they had respect for us coming into this game and they sat in, but we've got to be smarter. We can't try to play pretty soccer all the time, especially on the road when you play teams that sit back and then punish you on your mistakes.
On the team's position at the halfway point of the season...
There are a lot of games left. I think we just have to look at the positives: we have a really good team; we have a lot of talent. Even in away games at Kansas City, we come here and have more possession and they have a lot of respect for us. Now we just have to capitalize and get some points.
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
