Yes, it came against an overmatched and shorthanded Toronto FC side that had just sent captain Darren O'Dea home to prepare for a transfer.
That didn't diminish Sporting Kansas City's satisfaction from Saturday's 3-0 home win over the Reds, or the momentum it gives them headed into this weekend's trip to Supporters Shield race leaders Real Salt Lake.
“We needed that,” goalkeeper and captain Jimmy Nielsen said in the locker room afterward. “We set the bar now and we know what we're able to do. We have to be able to create consistency with that.”
Sporting, who are now unbeaten in five straight and lead the Eastern Conference, were dominant everywhere on the pitch against TFC.
Their offense found open space on the wings all night, even before defender Reggie Lambe drew a straight red card in the 56th minute for a foul on brace-scorer Soony Saad, and only seven saves from Joe Bendik kept the rout from getting even more out of hand.
“Regardless of the guy that got red carded, I thought that we were excellent in possession,” manager Peter Vermes said afterward. “Very seldom did we make the wrong choice in where we played the ball. I think they had one major chance. After that I don't remember anything else happening.”
Nielsen's eighth shutout, tying him for a share of the league lead, was Sporting's first since a 1-0 win at Houston on May 12 and first at home since a 4-0 drubbing of Chivas USA on May 5.
“That's something that we haven't felt in a long time either,” center back Matt Besler said. “It's important. It's something the back four talk about. That's our No. 1 job going into a game: not letting the other team score.”
And in the midfield, Sporting got the first full-90 outing of the year from Benny Feilhaber – and it was his best all-around effort this season, with solid defense and heady passing that included the final assist on Claudio Bieler's game-icing goal in the 63rd minute.
“My thought was to just work my butt off because that's what's expected from every midfielder on this team,” he said. “We have to press, cover for each other, win tackles, and that's really the first thing in my head. And if I'm able to do that, hopefully my technical ability will be able to come out. That was my mentality and for myself it worked today and now the goal is to just remain consistent and improve on everything.”
