Sporting Kansas City isn't just winning at home.
They're doing it in style.
The most recent victim of the Children's Mercy Park buzzsaw was expansion side Minnesota United FC, who suffered a 3-0 defeat Saturday afternoon to a Sporting Kansas City outfit that reclaimed its spot atop the Western Conference standings. The result extended Sporting KC's club-record home unbeaten streak to 16 regular season matches, a run that began more than a year ago and includes 10 shutouts.
Taking a look back at the history books, a strong argument can be made that Sporting Kansas City is in the midst of its best home form ever. The club's six-game home winning streak is one shy of tying its regular season record of seven games, set in 2000. Furthermore, Manager Peter Vermes' men now boast four consecutive home victories of the shutout variety, matching a feat that was first accomplished in 2000 and 2004.
Sporting Kansas City will hope this statistical trend bodes well, as the team went on to win major trophies in 2000 (MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield) and 2004 (U.S. Open Cup).
SPORTING KC: FOUR STRAIGHT SHUTOUT HOME WINS
MLS REGULAR SEASON (ALL-TIME)
<strong>Games</strong> |
<strong>Dates</strong> |
<strong>Opponents</strong> |
<strong>Results</strong> |
6 |
04/01/00<br>
04/15/00<br>
04/22/00<br>
05/13/00<br>
05/17/00<br>
05/20/00 |
Colorado Rapids<br>
San Jose Earthquakes<br>
Tampa Bay Mutiny<br>
New York Red Bulls<br>
D.C. United<br>
San Jose Earthquakes |
W 3-0<br>
W 2-0<br>
W 1-0<br>
W 2-0<br>
W 2-0<br>
W 2-0 |
4 |
09/04/04<br>
09/18/04<br>
09/25/04<br>
10/16/04 |
New York Red Bulls<br>
San Jose Earthquakes<br>
Colorado Rapids<br>
LA Galaxy |
W 1-0<br>
W 1-0<br>
W 1-0<br>
W 1-0 |
4 |
04/29/17<br>
05/03/17<br>
05/17/17<br>
06/03/17 |
Real Salt Lake<br>
New York Red Bulls<br>
Seattle Sounders FC<br>
Minnesota United FC |
W 3-0<br>
W 2-0<br>
W 3-0<br>
W 3-0 |
As the tables above indicate, Sporting Kansas City has pieced together four straight multi-goal shutout wins at home for the first time. Consecutive drubbings of Real Salt Lake, New York Red Bulls, Seattle Sounders FC and Minnesota United FC have seen Vermes' side outscore opponents 11-0 with a 67-37 edge in shots and 55 percent average possession.
That segues us onto the subject of shots. Sporting Kansas City has pulled the trigger at a dizzying rate over the last two matches, totaling 24 shot attempts on May 27 against Colorado before racking up 27 more on Saturday. Their 51 shots over the last two matches are tied for the most during a two-game regular season stretch in club history, and the tied for the sixth-most in MLS.
MOST SHOTS OVER TWO CONSECUTIVE GAMES
MLS REGULAR SEASON (ALL-TIME)
<strong>Shots</strong> |
<strong>Club</strong> |
<strong>Year</strong> |
56 |
Chicago Fire |
2000 |
53 |
New York Red Bulls<br>
FC Dallas |
1999<br>
2001 |
52 |
Columbus Crew SC<br>
New York Red Bulls |
1997<br>
1998 |
51 |
New York Red Bulls<br>
Sporting Kansas City<br>
Sporting Kansas City<br><strong>Sporting Kansas City</strong> |
1996<br>
2011<br>
2012<br><strong>2017</strong> |
“I don’t know if we look for credit, we just kind of expect to win at home," said defender Ike Opara after the match. Opara opened the scoring Saturday with a 30-yard laser on the stroke of halftime, which proved to be the game-winner.
"We expect to drive the game, we expect to dominate, and I think when we’re on the road, we have a lot of good things, we just haven’t been able to pull off a few of those wins like we would’ve hoped. But we come home and we expect those things. We bring a lot of energy, especially with the crowd backing us. We owe them a whole lot of credit for that. It’s not something we look at, to prolong the streak or whatever, we just expect to come home and win."
