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Sporting Kansas City heads north of the border for a MLS regular season match against CF Montreal on Saturday, July 9 at 6:30 p.m. CT. It has been a while since these two sides have taken the field against each other. They last squared off on March 30, 2019, at Children’s Mercy Park when Sporting defeated Montreal 7-1.
Saturday is the beginning of a span of three road matches in eight days for Sporting. They will take on Montreal before facing Minnesota United and Real Salt Lake away from home. Sporting is also gearing up for their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals match on July 27 at Sacramento Republic FC.
Below we provide a statical preview of Sporting Kansas City’s clash with CF Montreal on Saturday.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting are 5-1-2 against Montreal in the last eight regular season meetings and own a 7-4-3 edge in the all-time series.
- Sporting have outscored Montreal 27-14 in 14 regular season meetings.
- Sporting are 3-2-2 in seven trips to Stade Saputo.
- Sporting last visited Montreal on June 30, 2018, taking a 2-0 loss at Stade Saputo.
- Sporting forward Johnny Russell scored twice in the 7-1 home win over Montreal on March 30, 2019.
- Montreal striker Kei Kamara, who tallied 41 goals and 21 assists in 126 appearances for Sporting from 2009-2013, has made 15 regular season appearances against Kansas City in his MLS career. He has four goals and six assists in those 15 matches.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2022 MLS record: 4-11-4, 16 points (14th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS road record: 1-7-2, 5 point (8 GF, 24 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: Lost to Real Salt Lake in Western Conference Semifinals
- All-time Honors: Two MLS Cups (2000, 2013), four Open Cups (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017), one Supporters' Shield (2000).
- Sporting will play their next three matches on the road before hosting eight of 11 MLS fixtures at Children’s Mercy Park between July 23 and Oct. 2.
- Since July 2020, Sporting are 24-0-1 in the regular season when leading in the 75th minute.
- Sporting have reached the U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the sixth time in club history. In each of the last four instances, they went on to win the competition (2004, 2012, 2015 and 2017).
- Forward Daniel Salloi struck twice in Sporting’s 6-0 win over Omaha on June 22, becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer in the U.S. Open Cup with seven goals.
- Salloi is second on the team with six goals in all competitions, one behind captain Johnny Russell’s seven.
- Since the start of 2019, Russell’s five direct free kick goals are the second-most in MLS regular season play behind Lucas Zelarayan (seven).
- Midfielder Felipe Hernandez leads Sporting with four assists in all competitions.
- Midfielder Remi Walter leads MLS in distance covered (127.6 miles) and ranks third among field players in recoveries (155). His two goals this year have equaled his career-high for a single league season dating back to 2013.
- Midfielder Roger Espinoza, who ranks fourth in MLS with 18 possessions won in the attacking third, has become the third active MLS player to record an assist in 13 different MLS seasons alongside Kei Kamara and Dax McCarty.
CF Montreal
- 2022 MLS record: 9-7-2, 29 points (3rd in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS home record: 5-3-0, 15 points (16 GF, 12 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: N/A
- All-time Honors: N/A
- Montreal went 0-3-0 to begin the season, then went unbeaten in eight (6-0-2 record) before losing four of their last seven (3-4-0).
- Montreal rank fourth in MLS with 1.78 goals per match.
- Montreal lead MLS with 14 points gained from losing positions.
- Montreal have conceded eight goals in the first 15 minutes of matches this season, the most in MLS.
- Montreal have managed just one shutout in 18 league matches. Only Toronto FC (zero) has fewer clean sheets this season.
- Winger Romell Quioto is one shy of the MLS lead with three game-winning goals. He also ranks second in the league with 15 offsides.
- Despite keeping just one clean sheet in 18 games, goalkeeper Sebastian Breza is tied for second in MLS with nine wins.
- Attacking midfielder Djordje Mihailovic leads Montreal with seven goals but has not played since May 28 due to injury. Montreal are 7-5-2 with Mihailovic and 2-2-0 without him.
- Kei Kamara and Joaquin Torres are tied for the Montreal lead with five assists apiece. They have also bagged three goals each.
- Defender Rudy Camacho is tied for the MLS lead with 37 interceptions.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Manager Peter Vermes is the longest-tenured head coach with one club in MLS history, having served at the helm since August 2009.
- Forward Johnny Russell is one shy of his 150th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 12 career game-winning goals in the regular season, one shy of tying the club record held by Preki and Dom Dwyer.
- Midfielder Felipe Hernandez is one shy of his 50th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
- Midfielder Remi Walter is one shy of his 50th MLS appearance for Sporting (regular season and playoffs).
- Midfielder Uri Rosell is one shy of his 50th regular season start for Sporting.
