Fresh off their Wednesday visit to the White House, Sporting Kansas City stays in the U.S. capital to face D.C. United at RFK Stadium Friday night. The 7 p.m. contest will be televised nationally on NBCSN with Spanish radio coverage on La Gran D 1340 AM.
The reigning MLS Cup champions (13-11-6, 45 points) begin the final month of the regular season against a D.C. United side that leads the Eastern Conference (15-9-6, 51 points) and boasts an MLS-best eight clean sheets at home. Ben Olsen's team is 10-2-3 at RFK Stadium and has undergone an impressive transformation this season after finishing 2013 with just three wins and 16 points.
Sporting Kansas City entered 2014 unbeaten in seven games against D.C. United, but have lost the first two meetings this season -- a 1-0 result at RFK on May 31 and a 3-0 defeat at Sporting Park on Aug. 23. Our By The Numbers preview takes a closer look at the matchup.
Streaking
- D.C. ranks second with 10 home wins and has not lost at RFK stadium since June 28, a stretch of eight games in all competitions.
- Forward Luis Silva has 11 goals since the beginning of June, third most in MLS.
- Goalkeeper Bill Hamid leads MLS with nine shutouts and a 75.0 save percentage.
- Forward Fabian Espindola (nine goals, nine assists) has scored five goals in 12 appearances all-time against Sporting KC, including two straight.
- Forward Dom Dwyer has scored in five straight appearances across all competitions, tying Preki (1996) for Kansas City's all-time record.
- Midfielder Antonio Dovale has scored or assisted in three straight appearances across all competitions.
Significant
- D.C. United is 14-0-1 when scoring the first goal. They are one of three MLS teams (SJ, LA) yet to lose a match after taking a 1-0 lead.
- D.C. United has an MLS-best 12-0-1 record when leading at halftime, while Sporting KC is close behind at 9-0-1 when up at the break.
- D.C. United is 1-9-3 when allowing the first goal, while Sporting KC is 1-10-0 when conceding first.
Support
- Midfielder Graham Zusi has four assists in eight starts against D.C. United.
- Sporting KC ranks first in chances created from set pieces (63), 10 more than any other team.
- Since the beginning of July, Graham Zusi ranks fourth in MLS with 37 chances created.
- Fabian Espindola is one of eight players in MLS with at least nine goals and nine assists (he has nine each).
Staunch
- D.C. United has allowed 11 goals at home this season, fewest in MLS.
- Centerback Bobby Boswell has started all 30 League matches for D.C. United this season.
- Aurelien Collin (questionable for Friday with a right ankle strain) ranks fourth in MLS with 98 aerial duels won.
- Among goalkeepers with at least 400 minutes played, Eric Kronberg ranks first with a 1.00 goals against average.
- Sporting KC ranks first in fewest shots on goal allowed (3.6 per game).
- No team in MLS has more road wins than Sporting KC's eight.
Head-to-head (MLS regular season)
Overall: 20-20-10
- Home games: 14-7-5 (47 GF, 31 GA)
- Away games: 6-13-5 (26 GF, 35 GA)
Team leaders (MLS regular season)
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>Statistic</strong> |
<b>D.C. United</b> |
Dom Dwyer 20 |
<strong>GOALS</strong> |
Luis Silva 11 |
Graham Zusi 7 |
<strong>ASSISTS</strong> |
Fabian Espindola 9 |
Dom Dwyer 100<br>
Dom Dwyer 44 |
<strong>SHOTS<br>
(ON GOAL)</strong> |
Fabian Espindola 54<br>
Fabian Espindola 24 |
Dom Dwyer 59<br>
Benny Feilhaber 72 |
<strong>FOULS<br>
(SUFFERED)</strong> |
Perry Kitchen 62<br>
Davy Arnaud 49 |
Eric Kronberg 40 |
<strong>SAVES</strong> |
Bill Hamid 99 |
Eric Kronberg 1.00 |
<strong>GAA</strong> |
Bill Hamid 1.19 |
Team stats (MLS regular season)
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>D.C. United</strong> |
|
Goals Scored (Conceded) |
45 (37) |
46 (34) |
Shots (on goal) |
418 (147) |
313 (118) |
Chances Created per game |
9.8 |
8.4 |
Crosses/Corners per game |
19.0 |
16.7 |
Fouls Committed (Suffered) |
452 (441) |
382 (355) |
Duel Success |
49.3% |
49.7% |
Passes per game |
432 |
408 |
Passing Accuracy |
80.0% |
77.7% |
Average Possession |
57.0% |
48.3% |
Recent regular season meetings
<u>Date</u> |
<u>Score</u> |
<u>Result</u> |
<u>Location</u> |
03/10/2012 |
1-0 |
W |
RFK Stadium |
08/11/2012 |
2-1 |
W |
Sporting Park |
04/05/2013 |
1-0 |
W |
Sporting Park |
05/19/2013 |
1-1 |
T |
RFK Stadium |
10/18/2013 |
1-0 |
W |
Sporting Park |
05/31/2014 |
0-1 |
L |
RFK Stadium |
08/23/2014 |
0-3 |
L |
Sporting Park |
