Beyond The Box Score: Sporting KC caps clinical month of March with win over D.C. United

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Felipe Gutierrez is making this Beyond The Box Score series his very own.

The 27-year-old Chilean, who continues to add one impressive feather to his cap after another, rounded out a brilliant month of March with his league-best fifth goal of the season to give the Western Conference leaders a 1-0 victory over D.C. United on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park.

In doing so, Gutierrez joined historic and elite company while strengthening his bid for MLS Player of the Month. With a third-minute strike on Saturday, he checked off the following boxes in what has been a scintillating start to his maiden MLS campaign.

• Gutierrez is the second player in club history to score five goals in the first five games of an MLS regular season, joining one-year wonder Miklos Molnar who accomplished the feat in 2000 to help Kansas City capture the MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield.
• Gutierrez is the fourth player in club history to score in four consecutive regular season appearances. The other three are Sporting Legend Preki, former U.S. international Eddie Johnson and Dom Dwyer.

While it’s hard to ignore the midfielder’s immense impact on Sporting KC’s early success — he also ranks among the MLS leaders in tackles won and duels won — we would be remiss not to reflect on the club’s offensive efficiency during the first month of the season. After all, Sporting KC is tied for the MLS lead with 10 goals after ranking 18th in scoring offense last year.

As the calendar turns to April, Sporting KC can point to March as an excellent month on the offensive side. The causes for improvement are numerous, and the offseason arrivals of Gutierrez, Johnny Russell and Khiry Shelton certainly haven’t hurt Sporting KC’s cause.

From a statistical point of view, three particular areas stand out to highlight the club’s improved form in front of goal. The table below helps illustrate these three facets, which we can identify as shot conversion, shot location and quality of chances created.

Shot Conversion
Sporting KC has routinely finished among the league leaders in shot attempts over the last several seasons. This year, more of those shots are turning into actual goals. The club’s shot conversion rate and shooting accuracy have increased substantially, indicating a greater degree of clinical finishing.

Shot Location
In 2017, almost half of Sporting KC’s shot attempts came from outside the box. It comes as no surprise that shots from long range have a lower probability of resulting in goals than shots from close range. This season, Sporting KC is averaging three more shots inside the box per game than last year, and less than 40 percent of the team’s total shot attempts are coming from outside the 18. In other words, Vermes’ men have carved out better looks through increased penetration into the box.

Chance Creation Quality
Much like total shot attempts, Sporting KC has consistently ranked among the league leaders in chance creation. However, Opta identifies a fraction of chances created as “big chances created,” defined as an opportunity where the receiving player would reasonably be expected to score and manages to get a shot away. Creating chances is one thing, creating big chances is another. In 2018, Sporting KC has far more of the latter — almost double their average from 2017. The key to success here, then, isn’t creating more looks. It’s creating better looks.

Riding a four-game unbeaten run, Sporting KC will look to keep hold of first place in the West next Sunday when they travel to face Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the LA Galaxy at StubHub Center. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. CT on FS1 as a pair of MLS originals continue a long-standing rivalry that harkens back to the inaugural 1996 season.