When the full-time whistle sounded Sunday night at Childrenās Mercy Park, Sporting Kansas City founds themselves in a recently familiar position. Manager Peter Vermesā side held a distinct edge in possession, shots and chances created, but statistical dominance had failed to produce a win.
Such has been the nature of Sporting Kansas Cityās current five-game winless streak. Yet when Vermes spoke to Media following a 1-1 draw against LA Galaxy at Childrenās Mercy Park, the boss sounded more optimistic than rueful.
āI look at it this way: We play like that in a lot of games, and weāll win a lot of games,ā he said, before later adding, āWhen you create that many chances and you dominate the game the way we did, itās a good sign of things to come for sure.ā
There is no shortage of numerical evidence to support Vermesā claim. While victory has eluded his team in recent weeks, Sporting Kansas City has shown signs of a team capable of beating the leagueās best opposition home and away.
Look no further than Sunday, where LA Galaxy entered the game head and shoulders above the rest of MLS with 2.43 goals per game. Bruce Arenaās side mustered just four shot attempts and created three chances, both of which were season lows. Meanwhile, Sporting KC had 17 shots and created 12 chances, continuing a five-game trend in which the team has largely controlled the run of play.
SPORTING KC DURING FIVE-GAME WINLESS STREAK
<strong>STAT</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
<strong>Goals</strong> |
4 |
7 |
<strong>Shots/game</strong> |
14.2 |
8.6 |
<strong>Chances/game</strong> |
8.0 |
5.4 |
<strong>Corners/game</strong> |
6.4 |
3.2 |
During the clubās current five-game winless run, Sporting Kansas City has out-shot its opponent in every match and created more chances in four. The last time Sporting KC out-shot five straight opponents and failed to win each game was 2006, and itās happened only four total times in club history since the start of the non-shootout era (2000-present).
āWhat I like about tonight is that when you have a dominant performance, even if you donāt get a win, you can see that thereās something youāre building from, and the guys believe in it,ā Vermes said.
If Sporting Kansas City was frustrated to come away with only a draw, LA Galaxy will be perfectly content to take a point back to Southern California. The five-time MLS Cup champions have failed to win in each of their last eight visits to Kansas City. Thatās the clubās fifth longest road winless streak against a single opponent all-time and their longest active streak of that kind.
āThis is a great organization, great stadium, a great fanbase; they do everything right,ā said Arena, who has an 8-11-7 record against Kansas City despite ranking first in MLS history with a .601 winning percentage (min. 20 games coached). āIf thereās a reason why we donāt win here, then maybe thatās the case. They do everything well.ā
LA GALAXY ROAD WINLESS STREAKS VS. SINGLE OPPONENT (REG. SEASON)
<strong>Streak</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
<strong>Started</strong> |
<strong>Stopped</strong> |
12 games |
Colorado |
5/31/03 |
5/5/10 |
10 games |
FC Dallas |
7/29/98 |
5/8/04 |
10 games |
NY Red Bulls |
5/12/01 |
7/16/09 |
9 games |
NE Revolution |
5/24/00 |
8/8/09 |
<strong><em>8 games</em></strong> |
<strong><em>Sporting KC</em></strong> |
<strong><em>9/13/08</em></strong> |
<strong><em>Active</em></strong> |
8 games |
San Jose |
8/3/08 |
6/28/14 |
Two other statistical narratives emerged from Sundayās fixture. For just the seventh time in MLS history, neither side recorded a single save. Goalkeepers Tim Melia and Brian Rowe were beaten by Giovani dos Santos and Brad Davis, respectively, with the latter scoring his 60th career MLS goal (including playoffs) in spectacular fashion. Renowned as one of the leagueās greatest assist men, Davis displayed his penchant for stunning strikes on Sunday to become the ninth active MLS player to reach the 60-goal mark.
ACTIVE MLS PLAYERS WITH 60 CAREER GOALS (INCLUDING PLAYOFFS)
<strong>Player</strong> |
<strong>Current team</strong> |
<strong>Goals</strong> |
Chris Wondolowski |
SJ |
117 |
Robbie Keane |
LA |
84 |
Kei Kamara |
CLB |
82 |
Mike Magee |
LA |
75 |
Alvaro Saborio |
DC |
74 |
Conor Casey |
CLB |
73 |
Chris Rolfe |
DC |
69 |
Fabian Espindola |
DC |
64 |
Brad Davis |
SKC |
60 |