Dominant from start to finish.
Such was the nature of Sporting Kansas City's 3-0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday at Children's Mercy Park. Dom Dwyer notched a brace, Jacob Peterson added a sublime goal of his own and Peter Vermes' men collectively suffocated a Sounders side that mustered a single shot attempt over 90 minutes, tied for the fewest in a match in MLS regular season history.
Five other clubs have been limited to one shot in a game, most recently on June 2 when Sporting Kansas City ventured to Southern California and stifled a potent LA Galaxy outfit. With Sunday's match in the books, Sporting KC becomes the first team to limit an opponent to one shot twice in the same season.
Among the six games listed in the chart below, Sporting Kansas City came closest to holding its opponent without a shot attempt. Seattle broke their duck two minutes from full time when Joevin Jones' left-footed effort dragged harmlessly wide of goalkeeper Tim Melia's lefthand post.
Sounders captain Brad Evans provided a succinct summary of the one-sided affair after the match.
"They pressured us early on and throughout the game, for all 90 minutes," Evans said. "They smelled every single back pass and really put us under pressure. We just couldn’t get control of the ball, from back to front. We may have completed six or seven passes total today. I’ve never played in a game like that. Mental lapses when it starts to get hot and they are pressing and pressing. Credit to them, they stuck to their game plan and it worked."
FEWEST SHOTS IN A GAME IN MLS HISTORY (REGULAR SEASON)
<strong>Shots</strong> |
<strong>Team</strong> |
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
<strong>Lone shot</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>Opponent shots</strong> |
1 |
Miami Fusion |
05/31/98 |
at FC Dallas |
39th min |
L 0-2 |
11 |
1 |
Chivas USA |
09/04/10 |
at Colorado |
4th min |
L 0-3 |
15 |
1 |
FC Dallas |
05/06/12 |
vs. Colorado |
33rd min |
L 0-2 |
22 |
1 |
D.C. United |
08/08/15 |
at Montreal |
13th min |
W 1-0 |
26 |
<strong>1</strong> |
<strong>LA Galaxy</strong> |
<strong>06/02/16</strong> |
<strong>vs. Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>68th min</strong> |
<strong>T 0-0</strong> |
<strong>15</strong> |
<strong>1</strong> |
<strong>Seattle Sounders FC</strong> |
<strong>07/24/16</strong> |
<strong>at Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>88th min</strong> |
<strong>L 0-3</strong> |
<strong>19</strong> |
Sunday's historic result required a collective effort from all 14 players who featured for Sporting Kansas City. Dwyer contributed as the front line of defense and also netted a pair of goals, thus entering the club record books for a pair of noteworthy milestones.
The 25-year-old Englishman notched the eighth brace of his regular season career, entering a tie with Vitalis "Digital" Takawira for the most multi-goal games in club history. Three of those doubles have come this season -- first on March 12 against Vancouver Whitecaps FC and then on June 25 at Montreal Impact. Only Bradley Wright-Phillips of the New York Red Bulls has more multi-goal games in 2016 (four) than the Sporting KC frontman.
MOST MULTI-GOAL GAMES FOR SPORTING KC (MLS REGULAR SEASON)
<strong>Player</strong> |
<strong>Multi-goal games</strong> |
<strong>Years with KC</strong> |
<strong><em>Dom Dwyer</em></strong> |
<strong><em>8</em></strong> |
<strong><em>2012 - present</em></strong> |
Vitalis Takawira |
8 |
1996-99 |
Preki |
7 |
1996-2000; 2002-05 |
Kei Kamara |
5 |
2009-13 |
Scott Sealy |
5 |
2005-08 |
Josh Wolff |
5 |
2003-06; 2008-10 |
Dwyer's latest salvo vaulted him to the 10-goal mark for the third consecutive regular season. He joins Preki and Josh Wolff as the only players in club history to hit double-digit goals in three separate regular seasons. Dwyer (2014-16) and Preki (1996-98) are the only ones to hit at least 10 in three consecutive seasons.
THREE 10-GOAL REGULAR SEASONS FOR SPORTING KC
<strong>Player</strong> |
<strong>10-goal seasons</strong> |
Preki |
1996 (18)<br>
1997 (12)<br>
1998 (10)<br>
2003 (12) |
Josh Wolff |
2004 (10)<br>
2005 (10)<br>
2009 (11) |
<strong><em>Dom Dwyer</em></strong> |
2014 (22)<br>
2015 (12)<br>
2016 (10) |
With 11 regular season matches still to play, fourth-place Sporting Kansas City (9-10-4, 31 points) won't be short on confidence heading into a crucial home tilt against reigning MLS Cup champion Portland Timbers (7-7-8, 29 points) on Sunday. After laboring in the attacking third for much of April and May, Sporting KC has scored at least three goals in three straight home games for the first time in club history.
To put this accomplishment into perspective, Kansas City has hosted 326 regular season games during its 21-year existence. But never before has the team bagged three goals in three consecutive home matches.
This Sunday's tilt with seventh-place Portland will kick off at exactly 1:01 p.m. CT on FOX, FOX Deportes, 99.3 FM and 1340 AM. Supporters are encouraged to arrive early to Children's Mercy Park ahead of the earliest MLS kickoff in stadium history, and a limited number of tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL.
