Sporting Kansas City claimed the club's fourth straight home victory with a 1-0 win over the first-place Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday in front of 21,505 fans - the largest regular season crowd in Sporting Park history. Benny Feilhaber converted a penalty kick, won by Dom Dwyer, in the 84th minute and Tim Melia set a new MLS career high with six saves in the clean sheet to become the first goalkeeper in team history to go unbeaten in his first six appearances (4-0-2).
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Two weeks after shutting out the Sounders on their home turf in a scoreless draw, Sporting Kansas City captured the full three points on Saturday to snap a nine-game winless streak against Seattle and move within two points of the conference leaders. The visitors were without all three of their Designated Players - Clint Dempsey (personal), Obafemi Martins (injured) and Osvaldo Alonso (suspended) - while Sporting KC overcame the absence of leading scorer Krisztian Nemeth.
Melia's six-save performance began early with stops in back-to-back minutes to deny Lamar Neagle's effort from distance in the eighth minute and then thwart Zach Scott's header on a corner moments later. He remained active 10 minutes later, diving at full extension to his left to grab a well-struck shot from Marco Pappa.
On the opposite end, Marcel de Jong tested Stefan Frei with a left-footed attempt in the 20th minute and then delivered a cross in the 34th minute for Hallisey, who struck his first-time shot over the crossbar. The rookie continued to find himself in threatening positions in front of goal and was inches from connecting with a cross from fellow SuperDraft selection Amadou Dia on the team's next attack.
Melia made his best save of the night in the 36th minute when Neagle broke behind the Sporting KC backline and dribbled inside the penalty before unleashing a shot destined for the far corner. Melia dropped low to his right to palm away the attempt and then recovered to push the rebound over the endline with a diving header.
Sporting Kansas City's best scoring opportunity of the first half came with a 14-pass buildup in the 41st minute. The sequence culminated with Graham Zusi taking a touch to set up a volley from 25 yards out that Frei did well to parry away.
On a night in which Seattle placed all six of the club's shots on target - a feat only accomplished once before in team history (April 2010) - Melia picked up where he left off at the start of the second half with a save on Scott's header in the 48th minute. His counterpart matched the involvement with an important intervention to race off his line with de Jong a step away.
Pappa was next in line in pursuit of the breakthrough goal and eluded five Sporting KC players in a weaving run only to be bested by Melia on the shot from close range. In the 66th minute, Pappa turned playmaker and set up Neagle with a first-time finish at the top of the six-yard box that was disallowed for offside.
Sporting KC would hold the Sounders without a shot in the game's final 30 minutes and secured the victory with a game-winning goal in dramatic fashion during the game's closing stages. Roger Espinoza played Dwyer into the penalty area in the 82nd minute and the Englishman held off Scott in order to beat Frei to the ball before a collision that produced the penalty.
Feilhaber - now three-for-three on penalty attempts this season - stepped to the spot and sent Frei the wrong direction for his his fifth goal of 2015, second most on the team and a new MLS career high for the World Cup veteran. He has scored in each of the team's past three home games and has now scored or assisted on 12 of the team's 22 goals this season.
With the win, Sporting Kansas City is now unbeaten in seven straight (4-0-3) and is yet to lose at Sporting Park in 2015 (5-0-3). The club's +9 goal difference at home is best in Major League Soccer this season, as are Sporting Kansas City's 22 goals scored to date.
The team's attention will now shift to the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for a fourth round match-up with USL expansion side St. Louis FC at 7:30 p.m. CT on June 16 at Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets, including standing room only tickets, are available via Ticketmaster.com while supplies last.
Major League Soccer
Regular Season: Game 14
Sporting Park | Kansas City, Kan.
Attendance: 21,505 (61st straight sell out)
Weather: 84 degrees and partly cloudy
<strong>Score</strong> |
<strong>1</strong> |
<strong>2</strong> |
<strong>F</strong> |
<p>Sporting KC (6-2-6, 24 pts)</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>Seattle Sounders FC (8-4-2, 26 pts)</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>0</p> |
Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Jalil Anibaba, Kevin Ellis, Matt Besler (c), Amadou Dia; Soni Mustivar, Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber; Connor Hallisey (Saad Abdul-Salaam 85), Graham Zusi, Marcel de Jong (Dom Dwyer 58)
Subs Not Used: Jon Kempin, Chance Myers, Servando Carrasco, Jimmy Medranda, James Rogers
Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei; Dylan Remick, Zach Scott (c), Chad Marshall, Tyrone Mears; Gonzalo Pineda, Micheal Azira (Darwin Jones 86), Marco Pappa (Thomas 80), Andy Rose, Cristian Roldan (Leo Gonzalez 77); Lamar Neagle
Subs Not Used: Troy Perkins, Damion Lowe, Oniel Fisher, Aaron Kovar
<strong>Stats</strong> |
<strong>SKC</strong> |
<strong>SEA</strong> |
<p>Shots</p> |
<p>16</p> |
<p>6</p> |
<p>Shots on Goal</p> |
<p>4</p> |
<p>6</p> |
<p>Saves</p> |
<p>6</p> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>Fouls</p> |
<p>7</p> |
<p>9</p> |
<p>Offside</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>Corner Kicks</p> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>5</p> |
Misconduct Summary:
SEA -- Stefan Frei (caution; dissent) 82
Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Benny Feilhaber (penalty kick) 84
