Another convincing home display from Sporting Kansas City resulted in a 2-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park. The biggest takeaway from the match becomes obvious with a quick look at the Western Conference standings: Peter Vermes’ men distanced themselves from the dubious red line, going seven points clear in the ultra-competitive playoff race.
Upon closer examination, we’ve picked out five statistical storylines that emerged from Saturday’s result. So let’s jump right into it.
Hot at home
Remember when Sporting Kansas City suffered home defeats to Real Salt Lake and D.C. United at the end of May? The club was amidst a 1-4-1 stretch at Children’s Mercy Park while four of their Western Conference counterparts — namely Colorado, FC Dallas, LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake — were all unbeaten (and still remain unbeaten) at home.
Fast forward three months, and the team has rattled off six straight home victories to alleviate fears (at least for now) of missing the playoffs. Amazingly enough, the summer surge has seen Sporting KC move into a tie for the MLS lead with nine home wins. A side that was ruing its home form 10 weeks ago has turned the tide emphatically, much to the delight of a fanbase that has sold out 84 straight MLS matches at Children’s Mercy Park.
Sporting Kansas City’s six-game home winning streak in the regular season is one shy of the club record set in 1998 and 2000. And as the following table reveals, it’s tied for the longest home winning streak by any team in MLS this year.
MOST HOME WINS IN MLS - 2016 REGULAR SEASON
<strong>Club</strong> |
<strong>Wins</strong> |
<strong>GP</strong> |
<strong>Longest home<br>
winning streak</strong> |
Sporting KC |
9 |
14 |
6 (6/19 - present) |
FC Dallas |
9 |
13 |
4 (6/25 - 7/31) |
Colorado Rapids |
9 |
13 |
6 (3/12 - 5/11) |
New York Red Bulls |
9 |
12 |
5 (4/24 - 6/19) |
Portland Timbers |
8 |
13 |
3 (5/22 - 6/26) |
Toronto FC |
7 |
11 |
5 (7/9 - present) |
Philadelphia Union |
7 |
13 |
3 (twice) |
Real Salt Lake |
7 |
12 |
4 (3/12 - 4/30) |
Wins go a long way
In a league stricken with parity, three points could be the difference between fourth place and a home playoff game or seventh place and a long offseason. To put it plainly, wins go an awfully long way.
Despite struggling throughout the spring — we’re talking one victory in 11 games from mid-April to early June — Sporting Kansas City is tied for fourth in the West simply because it has won just as much as anyone else in the league except for FC Dallas. That’s right — 11 wins is tied for second in MLS behind Dallas’ 13. And while the 11 in the loss column isn’t exactly pretty for Sporting KC, the math is simple: one win and one loss is better than two draws.
Peterson provides the answer
Jacob Peterson equalled an MLS career-high on Saturday with his fourth goal of the season. Little was expected of the grizzled vet entering 2016, and he didn’t even see the field until 10 games into the season.
Since mid-May, however, the tireless Peterson has been a vital contributor to Sporting Kansas City’s turnaround. He has appeared in all but one of the club’s last 17 MLS matches, and his three game-winning goals are one shy of the league lead. Everyone remembers his heroic cameo against Orlando City SC, but “The Answer” has remained clutch since then, bagging game-winners in each of Sporting KC’s last two home wins. The club is 4-0-0 when Peterson scores, with all four goals coming in the friendly confines of Children’s Mercy Park.
Feilhaber still fantastic
It would have been hard for Benny Feilhaber to replicate a 2015 season that saw him set MLS career-highs with 10 goals and 15 assists. And while 31-year-old hasn’t been as prolific this campaign, he’s still been pretty darn good.
Feilhaber tallied a goal and an assist on Saturday to stay within touching distance of New York’s Sacha Kljestan for most combined goals and assists from MLS midfielders since the start of 2015. Feilhaber is the conductor that makes Sporting Kansas City roll, and his performances down the stretch will go a fair way in deciding how successful the team is.
MOST GOALS AND ASSISTS SINCE 2015 - MLS MIDFIELDERS (REG. SEASON)
<strong>Player</strong> |
<strong>Club</strong> |
<strong>Goals + assists</strong> |
Sacha Kljestan |
New York Red Bulls |
41 (13 G, 28 A) |
Benny Feilhaber |
Sporting KC |
38 (16 G, 22 A) |
Ignacio Piatti |
Montreal Impact |
35 (22 G, 13 A) |
Ethan Finlay |
Columbus Crew SC |
35 (16 G, 19 A) |
Mauro Diaz |
FC Dallas |
31 (11 G, 20 A) |
Caps Collapse?
Make no mistake: Tuesday’s CONCACAF Champions League match at Vancouver will be very difficult. The Whitecaps have an early two-point lead over Sporting KC in Group C and would all but ensure progression to next year’s knockout rounds with a victory on Tuesday at BC Place. With an eager home crowd on their side and the stakes elevated, the Caps will be a tough team to beat.
That being said, Sporting KC might be catching Carl Robinson’s men at the right time. Vancouver has lost four straight league matches and is 0-4-1 in their last five games against Sporting KC. In fact, Vancouver’s four defeats to Sporting KC since the start of 2015 are their most against any MLS opponent during that time.
While a loss would be fatal, a point on the road would put Vermes’ side in a decent position for the Champions League return fixture at Children’s Mercy Park on Sept. 13. Supporters can watch Tuesday’s game live on CONCACAF’s official Facebook page at 9 p.m. CT.
