Sporting KC Resumes MLS Play Friday Night at Portland
June 26, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City returns to MLS play this week when they take on the Portland Timbers for the second time in a four-day span on Friday night. The regular season match, set to kick off at 10 p.m. CT at Providence Park, will be televised locally on KMCI's 38 The Spot and across the Midwest on SKCTV. The match can also be heard on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Gran D 1340.
Sporting Kansas City's official watch parties for the match will be at Johnny's Tavern in the Power and Light District and in Overland Park (119th St.). Fans in attendance at the Power and Light District location will be entered to win four tickets to Sporting KC's July 23 friendly vs. reigning English Premier League champions Manchester City FC. Select Boulevard draft specials will be available at all Johnny's Tavern watch parties for Sporting KC away matches in 2014, as well as the "Blue Believer" signature cocktail (Dragon Berry, Lemon-Lime Red Bull and Blue Curacao).
Sporting KC are in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 6-5-4 record including a 2-0 road victory in the club's last League match prior to the World Cup break. Sporting KC defeated the Houston Dynamo despite being reduced to ten men for the final 69 minutes of the match after Antonio Dovale was shown a straight red card for violent conduct. Sporting KC will be without Dovale on Friday, as he serves the first of his mandatory two-game suspension. Sporting KC forwards Soony Saad and Dom Dwyer each tallied a goal in the victory.
The goal was Saad's first of the season and since then Saad has scored a goal in three consecutive matches for Sporting KC in all-competitions. Saad tallied the game-winner in back-to-back matches against Houston and then Minnesota United FC in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The 21-year-old striker then converted a penalty kick in Sporting KC's 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Timbers Tuesday night in the fifth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Sporting Park.
Portland is currently in 6th place in the Western Conference with a 4-4-8 record and have lost only once in their last nine League matches. Argentine striker Gaston Fernandez leads the team in goals scored with six in MLS competition and has added four more in U.S. Open Cup play.
Portland has both scored and conceded a League-high 19 goals at home this season. Sporting KC's three road wins in 2014 rank second in MLS this season. With a victory at Providence Park on Friday, Sporting KC will move into a tie with Seattle Sounders FC for most road victories this year.
The match will feature a Portland squad with three former Kansas City players in Jack Jewsbury, Michael Harrington and Rauwshan McKenzie. All three made an appearance in Tuesday's Open Cup match. Sporting KC winger Sal Zizzo spent three seasons with the Timbers before being traded to Kansas City in December.
Fans can find in-game updates online by visiting SportingKC.com/GameOn or by following @SKCGameday on Twitter.
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