MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Hosts the Chicago Fire at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday

July 4, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City hosts Eastern Conference rivals Chicago Fire on Sunday at Sporting Park. The match will be nationally televised on ESPN, WatchESPN and ESPN Deportes. Local coverage is available on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Gran D 1340 AM. A limited number of tickets are still available, including Standing Room Only tickets beginning at $20, and can be purchased at 24e10afd1bb042a4189773ba3 Ticketmaster.com or the Sporting Park box offices on gameday.

Sporting KC enters the weekend atop the Eastern Conference with 25 points and a regular season record of 7-5-2. Most recenlty, Sporting KC defeated the Portland Timbers 1-0 at Providence Park despite only traveling 16 players due to injuries and international competition. Lawrence Olum scored the game-winner in the 24th minute, his first goal of the 2014 season.

The Sporting KC defense secured the club's seventh clean sheet of the season. Kronberg's seven shutouts -- including two in the month of June for a 242 minute active shutout streak -- and 0.88 goals against average are League bests among goalkeepers with minimum of 400 minutes played in MLS this season and yielded MLS Player of the Month honors for the veteran goalkeeper.

Chicago visits Kansas City after a midweek draw with Toronto FC at Toyota Park. The Fire fell behind just before the halftime intermission. A 29th-minute red card shown to Toronto's Luke Moore gave Chicago a man-advantage for nearly 60 minutes and rookie Harry Shipp was able to notch the equalizer with his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Chicago sits towards the bottom of the MLS standings but has lost only once in their last six matches.

In that six-match stretch, Chicago earned two victories in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play by defeating the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and the Columbus Crew to advance to the quarterfinals of the 101st edition of the tournament.

The Fire will be without Quincy Amarikwa on Sunday as he serves a mandatory one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Amarikwa has scored five goals and added three assists for the Fire this season. Sporting KC midfielder Antonio Dovale will also serve the final game of his suspension for a red card received in a 2-0 win at Houston last month.

All ticket holders are encouraged to arrive early on Sunday to welcome back Matt Besler and Graham Zusi as part of a special ceremony prior to the match. Besler and Zusi spent the last seven weeks with the United States Men's National Team for preparation and participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

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