"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation, giving a statistical preview of every Sporting KC match.
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134 The number of alcohol-related crashes in Kansas during St. Patrick's Day holiday from 2013-2017.
Sporting Kansas City will play their sixth match in an 18-day spell on Sunday, visiting Western Conference rivals Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The St. Patrick’s Day showdown will kick off at 8 p.m. CT with live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports GO, ESPN 94.5 FM (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish).
A breathless month of March has seen Sporting juggle tons of games and even more travel. Sunday marks the final test of the early-season grind, and it comes against a familiar opponent. With an intriguing matchup in the Rocky Mountains just around the corner, here is our next edition of By The Numbers.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting are winless in their last five trips to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park since 2015, taking four straight losses before drawing 2-2 last March.
- Sporting went 6-0-5 against Colorado from 2009-2015 (including playoffs), but has lost six of the last nine in the series since October 2015.
- Sporting last won at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on March 29, 2014, when Graham Zusi paced the visitors to a 3-2 victory with a goal and two assists.
- Midfielder Felipe Gutierrez and now-departed forward Diego Rubio, who has since joined Colorado, scored for Sporting in last season's 2-2 draw.
- The most recent meeting between the sides saw Sporting prevail 1-0 at home as Daniel Salloi found the back of the net on May 5, 2018.
- Colorado goalkeeper Tim Howard has a 5-4-3 record and a 0.98 goals against average in 12 career regular season appearances against Sporting KC.
- Sporting will meet Colorado for the 77th time in all competitions on Sunday, making the Rapids the most frequent opponent in Kansas City history. Sporting leads the series 31-28-17, including a 25-23-14 mark in the regular season.
Colorado Rapids
- 2018 MLS record: 8-19-7, 31 points (11th in West)
- 2018 MLS home record: 6-8-3
- 2019 Week 1: Tied 3-3 vs. Portland Timbers on March 2
- 2019 Week 2: Lost 0-2 at Seattle Sounders FC on March 9
- Colorado has ranked last in goal scoring for two straight seasons. Their 36 goals in 2018 were seven fewer than any other team.
- Colorado's minus-27 goal difference last season (36-63) was the worst in the Western Conference.
- Colorado's eight away losses in 2018 were the second-most in MLS (6-8-3).
- Among Colorado's 11 offseason acquisitions are former Sporting players Benny Feilhaber, Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio. The trio combined for 94 goals and 87 assists in 371 competitive matches during their respective stints with Sporting.
- Kamara and Feilhaber both scored in Colorado's 3-3 draw against Portland to open the season.
- The Rapids outshot Seattle 15-13 in last weekend's 2-0 road loss but conceded twice in the first eight minutes.
Sporting
- 2018 MLS record: 18-8-8, 62 points (1st in West)
- 2018 MLS away record: 8-6-3
- 2019 Week 1: Lost 1-2 at LAFC on March 3
- 2019 Week 2: Won 2-0 vs. Philadelphia Union on March 10
- Sporting are 4-2-0 in all competitions this season, winning all three home games and losing two of three away fixtures.
- Sporting have recorded shutouts in four of their six competitive matches this season.
- On Thursday, Sporting became the lone MLS team to reach the 2019 Concacaf Champions League Semifinals with a 3-0 win over Independiente.
- Forward Krisztian Nemeth leads Sporting with five goals in as many appearances this season across all competitions.
- Defender Matt Besler is the only player to play every minute of Sporting's first six competitive matches this season.
- Forward Gerso Fernandes has recorded two goals and two assists in four Concacaf Champions League appearances this winter.
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia has posted shutouts in four of his first five starts this season across all competitions.
Recent #COLvSKC regular season meetings
- Regular season record vs. Colorado: 25-23-14
- Regular season away record at Colorado: 5-18-9
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>H/A</strong> |
<strong>Competition</strong> |
04/13/2016 |
L 1-2 |
Home |
Luis Solignac and Shkelzen Gashi cancel out Dom Dwyer goal |
05/11/2016 |
L 0-1 |
Away |
Dillon Serna scores winner in 78th minute |
07/16/2016 |
L 0-1 |
Away |
Marlon Hairston scores winner in 78th minute |
04/09/2017 |
W 3-1 |
Home |
Seth Sinovic and Gerso pace dominant victory |
05/27/2017 |
L 0-1 |
Away |
Hosts prevail on Kortne Ford goal despite being outshot 24-6 |
03/24/2018 |
T 2-2 |
Away |
Colorado take early 2-0 lead, but Felipe Gutierrez and Diego Rubio score in comeback |
Team stats (2018 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting</strong> |
<strong>Colorado</strong> |
Goals scored |
1.91 (4th) |
1.06 (23rd) |
Goals conceded |
1.18 (3rd) |
1.85 (17th) |
Shots |
17.2 (1st) |
11.2 (21st) |
Shots on goal |
6.1 (1st) |
3.6 (23rd) |
Shooting accuracy |
46.4 (14th) |
43.8 (18th) |
Passing accuracy |
83.8 (2nd) |
79.8 (17th) |
Possession |
57.1 (2nd) |
45.3 (22nd) |
Duels won |
50.9 (14th) |
47.9 (18th) |
Tackles won |
10.6 (20th) |
9.4 (23rd) |
Interceptions |
12.9 (15th) |
11.7 (22nd) |
Clearances |
16.5 (20th) |
17.6 (15th) |
Fouls committed |
11.1 (13th) |
13.7 (2nd) |
Fouls suffered |
10.2 (17th) |
11.5 (6th) |
Shots faced |
11.9 (4th) |
15.4 (21st) |
