Sporting Kansas City at Orlando City SC
Sunday, September 13 - 6 p.m. CT
Orlando Citrus Bowl | Orlando, Florida
TV: FOX Sports 1; FOX Deportes
Spanish Radio: La Grande 1340 AM
Game Notes | Media Guide | Game On | Social Media
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Sporting Kansas City concludes a four-game road swing on Sunday with their first-ever trip to the Orlando Citrus Bowl to face expansion side Orlando City SC. The nationally-televised match will be shown live on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes beginning at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday.
The homecoming for U.S Men's National Team midfielder Graham Zusi marks the first competitive game the Longwood, Florida native will play in front of his hometown crowd. Sporting KC's leading goalscorer, Dom Dwyer, also has ties to the Lions, spending a majority of the 2013 season on loan with the then-USL side and Sporting KC affiliate. Dwyer scored four goals in his last match at the Citrus Bowl to lead Orlando City to the 2013 USL Championship with a 7-4 victory over the Charlotte Eagles. That same season, Dwyer scored the game-winning goal for Sporting KC in the second leg of the MLS Eastern Conference Championship against rivals Houston Dynamo en route to the club hoisting the MLS Cup.
Orlando fell 3-0 against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in their last outing and has not secured a victory since a 5-2 home win against the Columbus Crew on August 1. Sporting Kansas City also struggled during the month of August, dropping three consecutive matches for the first time in 2015. Sporting KC got back on track with a road point against the Portland Timbers, who boast a 10-game unbeaten streak at home, on Wednesday with a scoreless draw.
Tim Melia made a career-high seven saves in the team's mid-week match against Portland, including a stoppage-time effort on Maximiliano Urruti that earned the No. 7 overall spot on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays. Wednesday's match also marked the return of three Sporting KC players from absences due to injury with Soni Mustivar, Jalil Anibaba and Bernardo Anor all logging minutes.
Heading into this weekend's matches, Sporting Kansas City sits in a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference while Orlando sits just two points out of playoff position in the East. Orlando City SC Manager Adrian Heath may be without multiple players on Sunday as Designated player Kaka suffered a minor leg muscle injury while on international duty with Brazil last week, while Brek Shea and Darwin Ceren are also listed as day-to-day on the team's injury report. Sporting Kansas City's Saad Abdul-Salaam, Chance Myers and Amobi Okugo are also questionable for Sunday.
In-game updates will be available online at SportingKC.com/GameOn, via Twitter at @SKCGameday and through the Sporting Club Uphoria mobile app. Following the match, tune in to 99.3 FM for the Sporting KC Final Whistle Postgame Show.
