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Children's Mercy Park will hosts its 100th MLS regular season match on Friday when Sporting Kansas City (11-12-5, 38 points) hosts the Houston Dynamo (5-11-10, 25 points) at 7 p.m. CT. Three hours of local television coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT on 38 The Spot, while UniMas will televise the game nationally in Spanish. Listeners can also follow the action on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Fresh off a bye week during FIFA's international window, fifth-place Sporting Kansas City will look for a club-record seventh straight regular season home win against a struggling Houston side whose playoff hopes hang by a thread. A limited number of tickets for Friday's showdown are still available at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL. We take a statistical look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview.
Head-to-head
- Houston holds a 9-5-10 record in the regular season series, including a five-game regular season unbeaten run at Children's Mercy Park (1-0-4).
- Sporting KC has just two wins in the last 12 regular season meetings since 2012 and hasn't earned a regular season home win over Houston since Sept. 10, 2011.
- Sporting KC and Houston have met twice previously in 2016. The Dynamo claimed home victories on both occasions, winning 2-0 on May 7 before earning a 3-1 result in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 on June 29.
- Sporting KC hosted Houston twice in 2015, winning 3-1 in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals before battling to a 1-1 league draw in August.
- Houston is 3-0-2 in its last five regular season matches vs. Sporting KC and has just one loss in the last seven meetings across all competitions.
- Sporting KC has faced Houston 22 times in all competitions since 2011, more than any other team (8-7-7 record).
- Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer has six goals in his last nine appearances vs. Houston in all competitions. He is Kansas City's all-time leading scorer against the Dynamo.
- Houston forward Will Bruin has four goals in his last six appearances vs. Sporting KC in all competitions.
- Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber scored three goals in three games vs. Houston in 2015.
- Houston forward Mauro Manotas scored two goals in Houston's 3-1 Open Cup win over Sporting KC on June 29.
Houston Dynamo
- 2016 MLS record: 5-11-10, 25 points (10th in West)
- 2016 MLS road record: 1-9-3 (11 GF, 20 GA)
- Last five games: 1-2-2, 5 points (L-T-W-T-L)
- Last MLS match: Lost 3-1 vs. FC Dallas on Aug. 27
- Houston is 1-9-3 on the road in 2016. Only Portland (0-8-6) has fewer road wins, and only Chicago (1-10-2) has more road losses.
- Houston has hit the woodwork 13 times in 2016, third most in MLS.
- Houston is the only MLS team that has yet to win a penalty kick in 2016.
- Houston has scored three goals after the 75th minute this season, the fewest in MLS.
- Under former head coach Owen Coyle, Houston was 3-7-2 with 1.50 goals per game and 1.67 goals allowed per game. Under interim head coach Wade Barrett, the Dynamo are 2-4-8 with 0.79 goals per game and 1.00 goals allowed per game.
- Midfielder Boniek Garcia is seventh in MLS with 53 chances created.
- Midfielder Alex is fifth in MLS with 163 duels won and sixth with 59 tackles won.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2016 MLS record: 11-12-5, 38 points (5th in West)
- 2016 MLS home record: 9-4-1 (23 GF, 14 GA)
- Last five games: 2-2-1, 7 points (W-L-T-W-L)
- Last MLS match: Lost 2-0 at Philadelphia Union on Aug. 27
- SKC is on a six-game home winning streak in the regular season dating back to June 19, one shy of tying the club record set in 1998 and 2000.
- SKC leads MLS with 63 chances created from set pieces, seven more than any other team.
- SKC is second in MLS with 24.1 touches per game in the opponent's box.
- SKC is last in MLS in shooting accuracy (39.3%) and shot conversion rate (7.9%).
- Forward Dom Dwyer is the first player in Sporting KC history to score 12 goals in three straight regular seasons.
- Midfielder Benny Feilhaber is ninth in MLS with 49 chances created. His 38 goals and assists since the start of 2015 are the second most among MLS midfielders behind Sacha Kljestan (42).
- SKC is 11-0-2 all-time when forward Jacob Peterson scores, including a 4-0-0 mark this season.
- Saad Abdul-Salaam is tied for the lead among MLS defenders with five assists.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Friday will be Sporting KC's 100th MLS regular season match at Children's Mercy Park (53-21-25 record).
- Matt Besler is one shy of tying Chris Klein for fifth in Sporting KC history with 235 appearances for the club in all competitions.
- Benny Feilhaber is one shy of tying Graham Zusi for 10th in team history with 28 goals in all competitions.
- Kevin Ellis is one shy of his 50th career MLS start (including playoffs).
Team stats (2016 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>Houston</strong> |
Goals scored |
1.14 (16th) |
1.12 (17th) |
Goals conceded |
1.14 (5th) |
1.31 (8th) |
Shots |
14.5 (1st) |
13.1 (10th) |
Shots on goal |
4.4 (14th) |
4.4 (15th) |
Passing accuracy |
78.2 (7th) |
75.5 (17th) |
Possession |
55.9 (1st) |
46.8 (19th) |
Duels won |
48.3 (7th) |
47.3 (11th) |
Tackles won |
14.0 (2nd) |
12.7 (14th) |
Interceptions |
19.3 (6th) |
17.4 (16th) |
Fouls committed |
12.6 (9th) |
12.4 (11th) |
Shots faced |
9.1 (1st) |
13.0 (13th) |
Recent #SKCvHOU meetings (all competitions)
- Regular season record vs. Houston: 5-9-10 (2-4-5 at home)
- All competitions record vs. Houston: 9-13-11 (5-5-5 at home)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<b>H/A</b> |
<strong>Details</strong> |
06/06/2014 |
W 2-0 |
A |
Dwyer scores penalty kick, Feilhaber tallies assist |
08/29/2014 |
L 1-3 |
H |
Bruin, Clark and Horst score, Brad Davis tallies two assists; Dwyer scores |
04/25/2015 |
T 4-4 |
A |
Feilhaber (2), Dwyer, Barnes (2) and Bruin score in eight-goal epic |
07/21/2015 * |
W 3-1 |
H |
Bruin scores first, but SKC replies with goals from Dwyer, Feilhaber and Nemeth |
08/01/2015 |
T 1-1 |
H |
Feilhaber assists Dwyer early; Brad Davis assists Ricardo Clark late |
09/23/2015 |
L 0-1 |
A |
DaMarcus Beasley and Brad Davis assist Will Bruin in 67th minute |
05/07/2016 |
L 0-2 |
A |
Andrew Wenger and Giles Barnes score in first half |
06/29/2016 ** |
L 1-3 |
A |
Mauro Manotas bags brace, Alex adds third; Brad Davis scores for SKC |
* 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals
** 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16
