MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Suffers 1-0 Loss to Philadelphia Union

September 28, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City lost to the Philadelphia Union 1-0 on Friday night at Sporting Park. Conor Casey grabbed a first half goal and the Union defense held firm to snap Sporting KC's three-game winning streak.

Despite the loss, Sporting KC remains in second place in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the New York Red Bulls. New York travels to Seattle on Sunday to take on Western Conference leaders Seattle Sounders.

Sporting KC controlled the tempo of the match Friday night, controlling 62% of the possession and outshooting the visitors 19-8. Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath made five saves on the night including three in the first half.

MacMath's first save came on a Benny Feilhaber free kick in the 14th minute. The Sporting KC midfielder curled a ball that appeared destined for the upper corner. MacMath lunged to his right and knocked away the ball before crashing into the goalpost.

The Maryland University product followed up that save with a point-blank save on Feilhaber in the 25th minute and one on Graham Zusi in the 28th minute.

The Philadelphia Union broke through against the run of play in the 36th minute. Midfielder Danny Cruz burst down the right flank and curled a ball to the backpost. Jimmy Nielsen stopped the first attempt from Michael Farfan, but Casey was in good position to finish the rebound.

Nielsen finished the match with two saves. His second came in the 63rd minute when Farfan one-timed a volley to the near post. The Danish goalkeeper reacted quickly to keep it a one-goal game.

Sporting KC continued to throw numbers forward in the final minutes but were unable to penetrate a Union squad that won for first time since August 10.

Sporting KC will have an extra day to prepare for their next MLS match. Peter Vermes' squad will hit the road for an Eastern Conference showdown Saturday night against the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium.

Fast Facts

The Philadelphia Union defeated Sporting KC 1-0 on Friday night at Sporting Park.With the loss, Sporting KC is 226-216-115 overall all-time and 149-80-50 all-time at home.Sporting KC is 3-2-3 against Philadelphia since the Union joined MLS in 2010.Sporting KC moves to 2-1-1 against Philadelphia at home, with Friday night marking the first home loss to Philadelphia since the Union joined MLS.The loss snaps a three-match home winning streak in MLS play for Sporting KC. The Union goal in the 36th minute of the match snapped a 346-minute scoreless streak for Philadelphia, 7th longest in MLS this season.Conor Casey scored the goal for the Union. Casey is now tied with Jack McInerney for most goals by a Union player this season with 10.McInerney and Casey are tied for seventh in the League for goals scored.Philadelphia is one of two teams in MLS to have two players with 10 or more goals scored this season along with the Columbus Crew.Casey now has six goals in 10 career games against Kansas City.With 60 career goals, Casey is 25th all-time for goals scored in MLS ranking him 9th among active players. Philadelphia goalkeeper Zac MacMath leads all MLS goalkeepers with 11 shutouts. Nielsen is tied for second with Clint Irwin, Donovan Ricketts, Luis Robles and Michael Gspurning.

Sporting KC has never beaten the Union more than once in a single-season.In the clubs' first meeting this year, Sporting KC earned the 3-1 victory at PPL Park.The clubs meet one more time during the MLS regular season, in Sporting KC's season finale on October 26 at PPL Park.For the second straight match against the Union, Sporting KC conceded the first goal of the match. Sporting KC is 2-8-1 when conceding the first goal in a match in 2013. Sporting KC has not won a match when trailing at halftime during the 2013 season. Sporting KC's record when trailing at the half moves to 0-4-1.Conversely, the Philadelphia Union is 7-0-2 when leading at the half in 2013.Sporting KC has conceded 15 goals at home this season, one more goal than they have conceded on the road this year.Sporting KC outshot the Philadelphia Union 19-8 on Friday. Sporting KC is 11-8-5 when outshooting an opponent.Oriol Rosell was shown a yellow card on Friday, his ninth this year. Rosell will serve a mandatory one-game suspension for Sporting KC's Oct. 5 match against the Columbus Crew due to caution accumulation. Jimmy Nielsen's next match played will tie New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis for second longest consecutive complete regular season games played in MLS history with 87.Sporting KC is 11-6-4 against Eastern Conference opponents in 2013 and 10-6-4 when playing in the Central Time Zone.Sporting KC is 12-8-5 when wearing Sporting Blue.Sporting KC has had the majority of possession in 14 consecutive home MLS matches this season.Sporting KC has won the majority of duels in 12 of 16 home MLS matches.Aurelien Collin led all players with 86 passes.Graham Zusi led all players with seven chances created. Chance Myers led all players with six tackles.Friday's match sponsor was Ivy Funds, the official investment management partner of Sporting Club and presenting jersey partner of Sporting Kansas City.Friday's match was nationally televised on the NBC Sports Network, one of three nationally televised games in the team's final five regular season matches.Sporting Park welcomed 19,243 fans on Friday, marking the 32nd consecutive sellout at Sporting Park including postseason matches dating back to the 2012 season.

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