Sporting Kansas City's 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake was impressive for a number of reasons. One of them was the defensive performance and how the team dominated the final 25 minutes of the match with a man advantage.
It could have been very easy for Sporting KC to play conservative in the final minutes with a 1-1 scoreline at Rio Tinto Stadium. Instead, Sporting KC were aggressive and ended up scoring the match winner in the final moments of the match.
In the second half, Sporting KC almost doubled Real Salt Lake in passes (253 to 139), had 64% of possession, and had a 13% higher passing accuracy (82% to 69%). Overall, Saturday marked season lows for Real Salt Lake in possession (42.13%), passing accuracy (67.24%), and passes (290). The victory improves Sporting KC's away record to an MLS best 5-2-3.
