Sporting Park | Kansas City, Kan.
Attendance: 19,031
Weather: 41 degrees and partly cloudy
<p>Score</p> |
<strong>1</strong> |
<strong>2</strong> |
<strong>1OT</strong> |
<strong>2OT</strong> |
<strong>F</strong> |
<p>Sporting Kansas City (1-1-0)</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>1</p> |
<p>3</p> |
<p>New England Revolution (1-1-0)</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p> 1</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>0</p> |
<p>1</p> |
Sporting Kansas City: Jimmy Nielsen (c); Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic; Oriol Rosell, Paulo Nagamura (Soony Saad 97), Benny Feilhaber (Ike Opara 116); C.J. Sapong, Dom Dwyer (Claudio Bieler 84), Graham Zusi
Subs not used: Eric Kronberg, Mechack Jerome, Jacob Peterson, Teal Bunbury
New England Revolution: Matt Reis; A.J. Soares, Jose Goncalves, Darrius Barnes (Jerry Bengtson 115), Andrew Farrell; Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, Andy Dorman (Scott Caldwell 46), Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo; Dimitry Imbongo (Chad Barrett 78)
Subs not used: Clyde Simms, Donald Smith, Bobby Shuttleworth, Stephen McCarthy
<b>Stats</b> |
<b>KC</b> |
<b>NE</b> |
<p class="p1">Shots</p> |
<p class="p1">32</p> |
<p class="p1">5</p> |
<p class="p1">Shots on Goal</p> |
<p class="p1">10</p> |
<p class="p1">2</p> |
<p class="p1">Saves</p> |
<p class="p1">1</p> |
<p class="p1">7</p> |
<p class="p1">Fouls</p> |
<p class="p1">17</p> |
<p class="p1">27</p> |
<p class="p1">Offside</p> |
<p class="p1">3</p> |
<p class="p1">1</p> |
<p class="p1">Corner Kicks</p> |
<p class="p1">10</p> |
<p class="p1">1</p> |
Misconduct Summary:
NE -- Darrius Barnes (caution; unsporting behavior) 19
KC -- Chance Myers (caution; unsporting behavior) 19
NE -- Scott Caldwell (caution; reckless foul) 88
Scoring Summary:
KC -- Aurelien Collin 2 (unassisted) 41
NE -- Dimitry Imbongo 1 (Kelyn Rowe 1) 70
KC -- Seth Sinovic 1 (Graham Zusi 1, Aurelien Collin 1) 79
KC -- Claudio Bieler 1 (Benny Feilhaber 1) 113
Sporting Kansas City advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship with a 3-1 win after extra time against the New England Revolution at Sporting Park on Wednesday in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Claudio Bieler's goal in the 113th minute of the second extra time period gave Sporting Kansas City the 4-3 advantage on aggregate following goals from Aurelien Collin and Seth Sinovic in regulation.
Sporting Kansas City will face the Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Championship, a two-games series again decided by aggregate goals scored over both legs. The opening match will be played at 1:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium (watch party at Boulevard Members Club) with the return leg at 6:30 p.m. CT on Nov. 23 at Sporting Park. Tickets are now available for the team's home playoff match on Ticketmaster.com as Sporting KC and Houston meet for the third consecutive postseason.
Entering Wednesday's match behind 2-1 on aggregate, Sporting Kansas City attacked from the opening whistle with Benny Feilhaber and C.J. Sapong combining in the game's early minutes. A give-and-go between the two allowed for Sapong to launch a right-footed shot from 25 yards out that went narrowly wide in the third minute. Less than a minute later, Feilhaber's free kick found Sapong but his header was saved by Reis.
New England attempted their first of two shots in the half in the seventh minute as Juan Agudelo's shot deflected off Matt Besler and carried over the crossbar. The Revolution's only other offensive opportunity came in the 45th minute when Kelyn Rowe hit his shot wide off a set piece.
Sporting Kansas City's chances continued to mount in a first half that saw the home side control 72 percent of the possession. Feilhaber's first-time volley went high of frame in the 11th minute and Reis made a superb one-handed save to deny Dom Dwyer on a header in the 17th minute.
Manager Peter Vermes' side continued to threaten with crosses into the box and in the 33rd minute it was Graham Zusi finding Sapong. The third-year striker, who has started all seven of the team's postseason games in his three MLS season, directed his header on frame but right at Reis.
With four minutes remaining in the first half, Sporting Kansas City broke through to take a 1-0 lead and level the aggregate series at 2-2. Aurelien Collin was positioned inside the penalty area and was the first to react to the flick from Dwyer. Collin pounced on the deflection off Andrew Farrell and buried his left-footed strike off the inside of the post for his second straight postseason game with a goal.
Dwyer, making his first playoff start, remained active on both sides of the halftime break. In the 43rd minute, Dwyer's header off a Chance Myers' cross went just wide of the post. In the 46th minute, his give-and-go with Paulo Nagamura nearly gave Sporting KC the coveted two-goal lead. Dwyer played the ball into the right channel ahead of Nagamura and immediately darted inside the box to receive the ball back for a first-time shot saved by Reis.
The veteran goalkeeper, who entered Wednesday 8-0-4 in his 12 MLS starts in 2013, came up with an outstanding two-save sequence in the 55th minute. Myers' cross from the flank was met by Dwyer at the near post and Reis reacted well to turn the header away, only to then sprawl full length to deny Feilhaber's follow-up.
The play proved pivotal as the game's next shot would pull New England back ahead in the semifinal series. Agudelo was brought down by Besler along the right touchline and Rowe's ensuing free kick was whipped to the top of the six-yard box where Dimitry Imbongo was stationed for an acrobatic side volley that caromed off Jimmy Nielsen and into the net in the 70th minute.
On the brink of postseason elimination, Sporting Kansas City responded in the 79th minute through Sinovic -- a Leawood, Kan. native and former Revolution defender. Collin began the play with his service some 65 yards from goal, flicked forward by Zusi and smashed into the side netting with a first time finish off his left foot. Sinovic now has two goals in his MLS career, both coming in back-to-back home playoff matches in the last two years.
New England made the most of their opportunities on the counter, coming close to delivering a dagger in the 85th minute. Diego Fagundez, 18, dribbled with pace on the break and struck a shot from 25 yards that skimmed off the top-side of the crossbar.
The back-and-forth action continued until the final moments of regulation, including a Nagamura last-ditch effort that rolled inches past the post in the third minute of stoppage time.
The first 15-minute extra time period was dominated by Sporting Kansas City as the team's defense held New England without a shot. On the opposite end of the field, Sporting KC fired six times in the stanza and none were closer than Feilhaber's half-volley from 30 yards out in the final minute before switching sides.
In the 109th minute, New England nearly sealed the series on an individual effort from Agudelo. Receiving a pass from Lee Nguyen, the Stoke City-bound playmaker slipped past Besler and went one-on-one with Nielsen only to be thwarted with a foot save to keep the aggregate even with 10 minutes to go.
The home crowd of more than 19,000 erupted in the 113th minute as Bieler, a second-half substitute, scored the biggest of his 11 goals on the season. Feilhaber, who played each of the last two seasons in New England, set up the Designated Player with a well-earned assist after intercepting Reis' distribution and dribbling inside the edge of the penalty area before picking out Bieler with a well-weighted pass. The Argentine calmly slotted his shot by Reis for the decisive goal to extend Sporting Kansas City's postseason.
Wednesday's other Eastern Conference Semifinal also ended 4-3 on aggregate after 120 minutes of action with the Houston Dynamo eliminating Supporters' Shield winners New York at Red Bull Arena. The Western Conference Semifinals will conclude on Thursday between Portland/Seattle and Salt Lake/LA.
Visit SportingKC.com/playoffs for all the latest on the team's quest for MLS Cup.
