When Sporting Kansas City takes the Providence Park field on Thursday in the Western Conference Knockout Round, a familiar face will patrol the middle of the field. PRO announced on Tuesday that Armando Villarreal is the center referee for this week’s contest against the Portland Timbers. Peter Manikowski and Corey Parker are the assistant referees while Allen Chapman is the fourth official.
Villarreal is in his fourth season as a Major League Soccer official and has worked 32 MLS games over the past two seasons. Thursday will be Villarreal's fourth Sporting KC match as a center referee.
The 29-year-old official worked Sporting KC’s 1-1 draw against D.C. United on May 9, the 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders on September 27 and the 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake on August 12 in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals. He was also the fourth official in Sporting KC’s dramatic 4-4 draw against the Houston Dynamo on April 25 at BBVA Compass Stadium and the 1-0 road loss to Houston on September 23. In both of those matches, a Dynamo player was issued a red card.
In 14 MLS games in 2015, Villarreal has awarded 424 fouls and is averaging 3.36 yellow cards per game and 0.14 red cards per game. His two red cards awarded are fewest among all MLS referees who have worked at least 10 games this season.
Villarreal will have a busy Thursday night in a match that features two players in MLS that are toward the top of the fouls suffered chart. Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe is second in MLS in fouls suffered (87), while Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer ranks fifth with 81 fouls suffered. Sporting Kansas City has committed 454 fouls this year and has suffered 424 fouls. In contrast, the Portland Timbers have suffered 470 fouls and committed 421.
The winner of Thursday’s match will advance to Western Conference semifinals. The first leg of the Conference Semifinal series is Sunday, November 1. Tickets for a potential Conference Semifinal home match at Sporting Park are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL.
