Amidst their longest losing streak in three years and without a clean sheet since June, Sporting Kansas City needed a spark.
A trip to sunny Southern California proved to be the perfect tonic for Peter Vermes’ squad, who cruised past Chivas USA 4-0 on Friday night at StubHub Center.
Most importantly, the win shrunk D.C. United’s lead atop the Eastern Conference to two points heading into the final five regular season contests. And while style points don’t count in the League standings, the resounding nature of Friday’s triumph will help restore any lost confidence in the defending MLS champions.
So emphatic was Sporting KC’s win that the four-goal margin of victory is tied for the second largest away from home in club history. Not since 2000 had the team earned a more lopsided road win.
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
04/29/2000 |
at Colorado Rapids |
W 5-0 |
05/14/2005 |
at Columbus Crew |
W 4-0 |
<strong><em>09/12/2014</em></strong> |
<strong><em>at Chivas USA</em></strong> |
<strong><em>W 4-0</em></strong> |
Friday was only the third occasion all-time in which Sporting KC’s four goals came from four different players and the fifth time they scored at least two goals in either half. Then there’s the clean sheet—the club’s first in 13 games—and the season-low one shot on goal allowed.
“I thought our defensive pressure was excellent,” Vermes said after the match. “The swarming of the ball was exceptional and it really led to all the chances that we had and that we were pretty clinical around the goal.”
Indeed, Sporting KC delivered its most clinical offensive outing of the season, scoring four open-play goals from nine chances created (per Opta). That 44 percent conversion rate is their second highest for a single game since Opta began tracking the ‘chances created’ statistic in 2011, a span of 131 matches. In comparison, their 36 created chances during the four-game losing streak from Aug. 23 to Sept. 6. yielded just three total goals.
In similar efficiency, Sporting KC put six of their 13 shots on goal for a 46.2 percent clip. During the losing streak, just 12 of their 51 shot attempts (23.5 percent) tested the goalkeeper.
Dom Dwyer ultimately stole the headlines, scoring a club record 19th goal of the regular season and moving within two of MLS Golden Boot leader Bradley Wright-Phillips. But the scoresheet is indicative of a balanced attack in which three other players—Benny Feilhaber, Graham Zusi and Claudio Bieler—found the back of the net.
Bieler’s 87th-minute strike was an appropriate if not historic end to a comprehensive performance. Until Friday, Bieler and Dwyer had never scored in the same match despite combining for 108 appearances and 37 goals across all competitions since the beginning of 2013.
