Recap: Sporting convert two PKs, earn 3-1 win in Montreal

Stade Saputo | Montreal, Quebec
Attendance: 12,085
Weather: Cloudy and 27 degrees (Celsius)
Video: Match Highlights

Sporting Kansas City: Jimmy Nielsen©; Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic; Paulo Nagamura (Peterson Joseph 86), Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi; Kei Kamara (Soony Saad 69), Teal Bunbury (Jacob Peterson 46), C.J. Sapong

Subs not used: Eric Kronberg, Korede Aiyegbusi, Kevin Ellis, Konrad Warzycha

Montreal Impact: Donovan Ricketts; Jeb Brovsky (Eduardo Sebrango 80), Hassoun Camara, Shavar Thomas, Zarek Valentin; Patrice Bernier, Collen Warner, Justin Mapp (JustinBraun 87), Davy Arnaud©, Felipe Martins; Marco Di Vaio (Sanna Nyassi 71)

Subs not used: Evan Bush; Tyson Wahl, Karl Ouimette, Lamar Neagle

Misconduct Summary:

KC – Graham Zusi (caution; reckless foul) 16
MTL – Felipe Martins (caution; simulation) 36
MTL – Collen Warner (caution; reckless foul) 67
MTL – Davy Arnaud (caution; dissent) 69
KC – Seth Sinovic (caution; persistent infringement) 90

Scoring Summary:

MTL – Patrice Bernier 4 (Felipe Martins 5, Zarek Valentin 1) 49
KC – Kei Kamara 6 (penalty kick) 57
KC – Graham Zusi 2 (penalty kick) 75
KC – Jacob Peterson 2 (Roger Espinoza 2, Soony Saad 1) 82

Sporting Kansas City defeated the Montreal Impact by a 3-1 score line Wednesday at Stade Saputo in Montreal. After falling behind in the 49th minute on a goal from Patrice Bernier, Sporting KC came back with goals from Kei Kamara, Graham Zusi and Jacob Peterson in a 25-minute span.

Sporting Kansas City improved their record to 10-5-2 and moved into second place in the Eastern Conference, just one point shy of D.C. United.

Montreal had the first chance of the night in the fifth minute with a sharp ball from the Italian Designated Player Marco Di Vaio through to Felipe Martins, but Jimmy Nielsen snuffed out the play with his first of five saves on the night.

Just one minute later, Di Vaio proved to be dangerous again and nearly scored but was just wide of the far post with his shot across the goal.

Sporting Kansas City’s first chance came in the 12th minute from a header from Matt Besler, which was cleared at the near post off a corner kick from Zusi. The visitors continued to attack in the 21st minute with a crack from Roger Espinoza 25 yards out that was easily saved by Donovan Ricketts.

Trouble came again for Sporting Kansas City one minute later from a well-taken free kick from Felipe that was sharply headed by Di Vaio. Nielsen reacted well to keep theball out at the upper corner and keep the match scoreless.

Three minutes later, Davy Arnaud, the former Sporting Kansas City captain, nearly scored against his former club with a sliding shot just wide of the right post off of a low cross from Justin Mapp.

The 29th minute saw more havoc from Di Vaio when he settled the ball with one touch and turned at nearly midfield and made a run at goal, past the Sporting KC backline and shot just wide of the post.

Sporting Kansas City responded with a chance of their own four minutes later when Kamara received a curling ball from Zusi and rose above his marker to win the ball, but his header went inches wide of the post.

Mapp was denied a goal in the 38th minute after Felipe, charging down the middle, passed wide to Mapp, who shot low with ample power, but was turned away by a stellar save from Nielsen.

Montreal struck within four minutes of the start to the second half, netting their lone goal in the 49th minute when Felipe made a perfectly-timed run past the defense. Receiving the ball from Zarek Valentin, the Brazilian’s cross found Bernier alone at the top of the area and he made no mistake in burying his shot on a first-time finish. It was his fourth goal of the season and second of the year against Sporting Kansas City.

Sporting KC found a way back into the game in the 55th minute, earning a penalty off of a handball in the box from the goal-scorer Bernier. Kamara converted the penalty, notching his team-leading sixth goal of the season and successfully ending the club’s goal-scoring draught of 320 minutes without a goal scored. 

With 30 minutes left in the game and an even scoreline, Sporting Kansas City did better to break down Montreal’s backline and generate more chances. A free kick from Roger Espinoza in the 68th minute beat the wall but floated just over the crossbar.

The eventual game-winner for Sporting Kansas City came in the 74th minute when a Arnaud was ruled to have taken down second-half substitute Soony Saad while fighting for position on a corner kick. Zusi stepped up to the spot and converted a minute later with a right-footed shot to the right of Ricketts.

Nine minutes later, Sporting Kansas City sealed their comeback with a volley from Peterson. Espinoza crossed the ball from the left to Peterson, stationed at the corner of the box with plenty of room, and he controlled the ball with his chest and struck before the ball could hit the ground. The shot skimmed off former Sporting KC defender Shavar Thomas en route and sailed past Ricketts inside the near post for Peterson’s second goal in his past four appearances for Sporting KC.

Montreal nearly notched their second goal of the match in the first minute of stoppage time off of a wide-struck header from Justin Braun, sent in to him on a corner kick. Two minutes later, Felipe took a shot from 40 yards out that was well-struck but scooped up by Nielsen.

Sporting Kansas City will return home to host the Houston Dynamo at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Championship. Tickets for the match, sponsored by Outback, are available online at Ticketmaster.com or at the LSP Box Offices.

FAST FACTS:

• With the win, Sporting Kansas City’s record moves to 10-5-2 in 2012 and 4-3-2 on the road this season. 
• Sporting Kansas City's four wins on the road are second most in MLS, behind only the San Jose Earthquakes.
• Sporting Kansas City's 10 wins are the second most in MLS, behind only the San Jose Earthquakes.
• Sporting Kansas City has accumulated 1.88 points per game this season, second most in MLS behind only the San Jose Earthquakes.
• Sporting Kansas City's .647 winning percentage is tied with New York for second best in MLS this season, behind only the San Jose Earthquakes.
• Sporting Kansas City's .556 winning percentage on the road this season is tied for third best in MLS this season, behind only Chivas USA and San Jose.
• The road win was Sporting KC's first since a 3-1 triumph at Vancouver on April 18, a span of six games.
• Sporting Kansas City moved into second place in the Eastern Conference with 32 points, one shy of D.C. United.
• Thirty-two points is the second most all-time that Sporting KC has earned at the midpoint of the season. In 2000, Kansas City had 34 points after 16 games.
• Second place is the highest Sporting KC has been in their conference at the midpoint in the season since 2004.
• Sporting Kansas City is 204-204-102 all-time in MLS.
• Sporting Kansas City is 18-2-2 with Chance Myers, Seth Sinovic, Matt Besler and Aurelien Collin starting in defense.
• Sporting Kansas City is 2-4-0 when conceding the first goal thus far in 2012 (.333 winning percentage is 5th in MLS in 2012). In 2011, Sporting Kansas City was 1-6-7 when conceding the first goal and 1-13-2 in 2010.
• Sporting Kansas City played their first match at Stade Saputo on Wednesday. Among active MLS opponents, Stade Saputo is the 30th venue in which Sporting KC have played a regular season match.
• Sporting KC is 3-7-2 when playing of the Fourth of July. 
• Sporting KC is 3-2-3 in Canada all-time.
• Sporting KC is 5-1-1 when tied at half.
• Sporting KC is 3-0-0 when scoring 3 or more goals and 10-1-2 when scoring 1 or more goal.
• Sporting Kansas City is 8-0-0 when leading after the 75th minute. 
• The win marks the 36th all-time win in July, most in any month in club history having surpassed April (35).
• Tonight’s match is only the 3rd time Sporting Kansas City has worn dark indigo this season (2-1-0).
• Sporting Kansas City is tied for the lowest goals against average (1.00) in MLS with Columbus and is fourth in the East for goals per game (1.35).
• Sporting Kansas City made two changes to the starting lineup with Paulo Nagamura replacing Julio Cesar. The start is Nagamura’s third start this season and first since May 19th.
• Matt Besler replaced Lawrence Olum, making his first start since May 27th.
• Montreal made five changes from their last MLS match. Donovan Ricketts, Hassoun Camara, Jeb Brovsky, Patrice Bernier and Marco Di Vaio replaced Evan Bush, Callum Mallace, Tyson Wahl, Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Sanna Nyassi.
• Graham Zusi received a caution in the 16th minute marking his second yellow card received this season.
• Montreal Impact's Felipe Martins (simulation) and Davy Arnaud (dissent) each received cautions on Wednesday and will miss the team's match against Columbus on Sunday due to yellow card accumulation.
• Patrice Bernier scored for Montreal in the 49th minute. The goal was Bernier’s fourth goal in 2012. Bernier also scored in the two team’s first meeting in 2012 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
• Sporting Kansas City was awarded a penalty kick in the 57th minute. Kei Kamara converted the PK to mark the 50th successful regular season penalty kick in club history.
• The penalty kick was Kamara’s second attempt in 2012 but first successful attempt. Kamara is three of four for PK’s during his MLS career.
• Kamara’s goal was his team-leading sixth goal this season and first since May 27. Sporting KC is 6-0-0 this year when Kamara scores.
• The goal was the first goal scored by Sporting Kansas City in 320 minutes. The scoreless streak was the second longest in MLS this season.
• The goal also broke Sporting Kansas City’s stretch of nine straight games without a second half goal, dating back to April.
• Sporting Kansas City was awarded a second penalty kick in the 75th minute. Graham Zusi converted the first penalty kick attempt of his career for his second goal of the season and first since March 17.
• With the two penalty kicks in tonight’s match, Montreal has conceded seven in 2012, most in MLS this season.
• Sporting Kansas City has taken and allowed three penalty kicks this season.
• Sporting Kansas City is now 51 of 69 all-time on penalty kicks in MLS regular season matches for a 73.9 percent conversion rate.
• Zusi’s goal was Sporting Kansas City’s 3rd game-winning goal after the 75th minute this year.
• Jacob Peterson added a goal in the 82nd minute on assists from Soony Saad and Roger Espinoza. 
• The goal is his second goal of the season, both of which have been the furthest two goals scored by Sporting KC in 2012. The team is yet to score from outside the penalty area in 2012.
• Peterson played in his 150th regular season MLS match on Wednesday, entering at halftime for Teal Bunbury (illness).
• The assist is Saad’s first in MLS competition and Espinoza’s second of the season and 11th of his career. 
• Saad's 31 minutes on Wednesday marked the second-most minutes played in an MLS match in his career.
• Seth Sinovic was shown a yellow card in the 90th minute for persistent infringement. The yellow was his second in 2012 and seventh all-time in MLS.
• Sporting Kansas City outshot their opponent for the 12th time in 17 games (9-3-0).
• Sporting Kansas City's 281 shots this season are most in MLS.
• Sporting KC is currently in a stretch of seven games in 22 days. Tonight’s match was the sixth in the stretch.
• The Montreal Impact gave up three goals in tonight’s match for the third consecutive game.
• Graham Zusi has attempted 189 corner kicks which moves him into second place on the club's all-time chart, one ahead of Claudio Lopez.
• Zusi also passed David Beckham on Wednesday for the League lead with 74 corner kicks this season.
• Sporting Kansas City leads MLS in corner kicks this season with 110.
• Zusi started his 50th regular season match for Sporting KC on Wednesday, while C.J. Sapong made his 50th regular season appearance in the game.
• Paulo Nagamura surpassed 14,000 minutes played in MLS competition, including postseason, on Wednesday. That's second most among all current Sporting KC players, behind only Bobby Convey (14,979).
• Wednesday marked only the third time in 17 games this season that their opponent has attempted more corner kicks in an MLS match.
• Sporting Kansas City defender Chance Myers is the only field player to have played every MLS minute this season for Sporting Kansas City.
• Sporting Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi is the only player to have appeared in every match for Sporting Kansas City in all competition this season.
• Sporting Kansas City captain and goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen has played every MLS minute in net for Sporting Kansas City in 2012.
• Jimmy Nielsen's five saves were the second most recorded by the Sporting KC captain this season and most since his five stops at Vancouver on April 18.
• Jimmy Nielsen moves atop the MLS goalkeeping charts for most victories this season with 10.