MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Moves Atop East with 2-1 Win at Chicago

Published on July 7, 2013 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City moved into a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 road win over the Chicago Fire Sunday afternoon at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi provided the goals as Sporting KC ran their unbeaten streak to four consecutive games and seven out of their past eight.

The visitors put the home side on the back foot early, tallying two goals in the game's first eight minutes. Sporting KC opened the scoring in the fifth minute off a long throw-in from Matt Besler. The All-Star center back hit a streaking Kei Kamara who flicked the ball off Fire defender Bakary Soumare. Feilhaber pounced on the loose ball and fired a rocket past goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi for his first goal of the year.

Sporting KC wasted little time doubling their lead as left back Seth Sinovic intercepted an errant Fire clearance in the eighth minute. The fourth-year defender found Zusi, who curled a ball to the far post. Kamara's presence inside the box caught Tornaghi off his line as Zusi's ball curled into the corner of the net.

Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen tied a season-high with four saves in the match. His first came in the 10th minute off a laser strike from Chris Rolfe. The Fire midfielder picked up a headed clearance at the top of Sporting KC's penalty box and unleashed a strike on target. Nielsen reacted quickly to knock the ball over the crossbar and keep the home side off the board.

Rolfe was in the thick of the action again a minute later, finding himself one-on-one with Nielsen in the 17th minute. The former U.S. international found space behind the Sporting KC back line, but Nielsen did well to cut off his angle and force Rolfe's attempt wide of the far post.

Chicago was able to pull one back prior to halftime with Mike Magee tallying his fifth goal in his past six games and League-leading 11th of the season. Jeff Larentowicz's header freed Magee behind the Sporting KC defense and the wily veteran slotted the ball past Nielsen to cut Sporting KC's lead in half.

The second half featured few quality chances on goal for either side. Sporting KC attempted seven shots, but were unable to test Tornaghi. Kamara and Rosell - who turned 21 on Sunday - each had quality chances in the 58th minute, but Fire defenders deflected both attempts.

Chicago's best opportunity at an equalizer came in the 87th minute. Magee found Joel Lindpere with a throw-in near the Sporting KC touchline. The Estonian international slotted the ball to Dilly Duka, but Nielsen dropped to his left to preserve the Sporting KC win.

Sporting KC will return home this week to take on Toronto FC Saturday night at Sporting Park. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on KSMO-TV. Limited tickets are available and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or at the Sporting Park box office.

FAST FACTS - With the win, Sporting Kansas City moves into a tie with the Montreal Impact for first place of the Eastern Conference with 30 points. Montreal plays Chivas USA at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday. - Sporting KC's record moves to 8-5-6 this season and 4-2-3 away from home. The team's 15 road points are the most in the League this season.

- Sporting KC's four road victories and .611 winning percentage on the road are tied for the best in the League this season away from home.

- Sporting KC is now 12-23-10 against the Fire all-time and 4-15-2 on the road in the series.

- Sporting KC and the Chicago Fire meet three times during the 2013 MLS regular season. The first match took place on March 16 and ended in a 0-0 draw at Sporting Park. The final match will be on August 23 at Toyota Park. - Benny Feilhaber opened the scoring for Sporting Kansas City in the 6th minute of the match. The goal is his first since joining Sporting Kansas City and the sixth goal of his MLS career. - Feilhaber's goal came off a Matt Besler throw-in, marking the third time in 2013 that Sporting Kansas City has scored off a throw-in.

- Feilhaber's last MLS goal prior to Sunday came on June 12, 2012 against Chicago while playing for the New England Revolution.

- Graham Zusi scored Sporting KC's second goal two minutes later. The goal was Zusi's fourth of the season and 15th of his MLS career. - Zusi's goal was his sixth career game-winning goal, which ties him for eighth in club history. - Sporting Kansas City is 11-0-1 all-time when Zusi scores in an MLS match.

- Sporting Kansas City is the only team with a positive goal difference on the road in the Eastern Conference (+2) and second in the League behind only the Portland Timbers (+3). - Seth Sinovic earned his second assist of the season and fourth of his MLS career on Sunday. Both of Sinovic's assist this season have come on game-winning goals. - Seth Sinovic did not receive a yellow card in Sunday's match. Due to the good behavior incentive, Sinovic will have his caution accumulation total reduced to three. - Sunday marks the second time all season that Sporting KC has scored two goals during the first half. - Sporting KC has scored five goals in the opening 15 minutes of games in 2013, tied for the second most during that span in MLS this season. - Sunday marked Sporting Kansas City's seventh multi-goal game this season.

- Zusi's goal in Sunday's match marks just the second time that Sporting KC has scored a goal from outside the penalty area this season. - Zusi's goal on Sunday was his third career goal against Chicago which is tied with Kei Kamara for most among active Sporting KC players.

- Sporting KC has scored 24 of the team's 26 goals from inside the penalty area this season. - Sporting KC was outshot 12-11 on Sunday. Sporting KC is 2-1-1 when getting outshot by their opponent in 2013.

- Sporting KC is 7-3-5 when wearing Sporting Blue in 2013.

- Sunday's victory ended the Chicago Fire's five-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten streak in all-competition. - Sporting KC has only one loss in the team's last eight MLS matches. - Sporting KC was without defender Mechack Jerome and midfielder Peterson Joseph on Sunday. Both players are with the Haiti Men's National Team in advance of their 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup opener on Monday against Honduras at Red Bull Arena.

- Sean Johnson missed Sunday's match while with the U.S. Men's National Team for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. - Sporting KC's scored on their only two shots on goal on Sunday. - Graham Zusi, Matt Besler and Aurelien Collin were announced as fan selections for the Fan XI for the AT&T MLS All-Star Game at halftime of Sporting Kansas City's nationally televised match against the Chicago Fire. - Zusi's 82 corner kicks in 2013 are the most in MLS.

- Sporting Kansas City is unbeaten in their last four matches on the road. - Sporting Kansas City has conceded nine goals on the road this season, fewest in MLS. - Chicago's Mike Magee scored the lone goal for the Fire moving into a tie for most goals scored in the League this season with 11. - Magee's goal was his third career goal against Sporting KC which is most among active Chicago players.

- Sporting Kansas City's +7 goal differential is tied with the New England Revolution for the best in the Eastern Conference. - Nielsen has started and played the full 90 minutes in 75 straight MLS matches (including postseason). That's the longest active streak among MLS players. - Nielsen has the best career goals against average (1.02) in League history among MLS goalkeepers with a minimum of 4,500 minutes played. - Nielsen matched his season high with four saves on Sunday.

- Sporting KC is 5-1-1 when leading at halftime in 2013. - Sporting KC is 7-2-3 when scoring the first goal in a match. - Sporting KC is 6-0-1 when leading at the 75-minute mark in 2013.

- Claudio Bieler is the only Sporting KC player to have played in every competitive match this season. - Sporting Kansas City's 287 shots are most in MLS this season. - The Chicago Fire's Gonzalo Segares will miss the Fire's next match after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season on Sunday. - Daniel Paladini will also miss Chicago's next match after being ejected for a dangerous tackle on Dom Dwyer in the 93rd minute on Sunday. - Paladini's ejection was the fourth red card by a Sporting KC opponent this season.

- Sporting Kansas City has allowed the fewest shots in MLS this season, conceding just 175 shots in 2013. - Matt Besler led all players on Sunday with nine clearances. - Kei Kamara led all players on Sunday with eight aerial duels, winning seven of them. - Kei Kamara led all players in duels (22) and duels won (10) on Sunday. - Approximately 400 Sporting Kansas City supporters traveled to Chicago on Sunday for the match. QUOTES Post-game reaction from Sunday's match, including comments from players and coaches, will be available later tonight on SportingKC.com.

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 7, 2013


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