A hot-blooded MLS rivalry continues Wednesday at Sporting Park with a spot in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final at stake. Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake will lock horns at 7:30 p.m. CT, marking the fourth time the sides have met this year. The rivalry's newest chapter will be streamed live on SportingKC.com, and tickets for the match are available via Ticketmaster.com.
Sporting KC enters Wednesday's semifinal showdown with a 14-game home unbeaten streak in all competitions, tying the club record first set from 2004 to 2005. Real Salt Lake took seven of a possible nine points against Sporting KC this season but hasn't won in Kansas City since August 2009 and has never won a U.S. Open Cup road game in club history.
We take a closer look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...
Head-to-head
- In 22 meetings across all competitions, SKC and RSL both have eight wins, eight losses and six draws.
- Wednesday is the fourth #SKCvRSL matchup of the season, the most since the series started in 2005.
- RSL took seven of a possible nine points against SKC this regular season, drawing 0-0 at Sporting Park (4/25) and winning twice by a 2-1 scoreline at Rio Tinto Stadium (6/21 & 7/24).
- RSL is 1-5-5 all-time in Kansas City with the lone victory coming in August 2009.
- RSL is 0-2-3 all-time at Sporting Park with just one goal in 480 minutes of action.
- Benny Feilhaber had one goal and one assist in the 2015 regular season series.
- Javier Morales had one goal, two assists and 13 chances created in the 2015 regular season series.
- The teams combined for 17 yellow cards in the 2015 regular season series.
- Wednesday marks the first ever meeting between Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake in the U.S. Open Cup proper. The clubs met in the 2007 MLS qualification semifinals as RSL claimed a 2-1 extra-time victory at home.
- The last knockout-style match played between the sides was MLS Cup 2013 at Sporting Park. Amid the coldest playing conditions in MLS history (recorded high of 20 degrees), SKC and RSL battled to a 1-1 draw before the hosts won 7-6 in a 10-round PK shootout.
Sporting KC
- 2015 MLS record: 10-4-7, 37 points (4th in West)
- Last five games in all competitions: 3-1-1 (W-W-L-T-W)
- U.S. Open Cup semifinal appearance: Fourth (2002, 2004, 2012)
- U.S. Open Cup semifinal record: 2-1-0
- U.S. Open Cup home record: 16-7-2 (9-3-1 at Sporting Park)
- The last two times SKC advanced to the Open Cup semifinals, they went on to win the tournament (2004, 2012).
- Dom Dwyer leads all players in the 2015 U.S. Open Cup with five goals.
- Dwyer's five career goals in U.S. Open Cup competition (all in 2015) are tied for most in club history (Davy Arnaud, C.J. Sapong, Igor Simutenkov).
- Benny Feilhaber's four career assists U.S. Open Cup competition (all in 2015) are most in club history
- SKC is unbeaten in 14 home games across all competitions this season (11-0-3), tying the club reciord first set from 2004 to 2005.
- SKC is tied for the MLS lead with 1.76 points per game.
- Peter Vermes is one victory shy of becoming the winningest coach in club history. He is currently tied with Bob Gansler at 108 coaching wins.
Real Salt Lake
- 2015 MLS record: 7-9-8, 29 points (8th in West)
- Last five games in all competitions: 3-2-0 (W-W-L-W-L)
- U.S. Open Cup semifinal appearance: Second (2013)
- U.S. Open Cup semifinal record: 1-0-0
- U.S. Open Cup away record: 0-7-1 (0-4-0 in tournament proper)
- RSL is in the Open Cup semifinals for the second time in three years, having defeated the Portland Timbers 2-1 in this stage of the 2013 tournament.
- Javier Morales has scored two game-winning goals in the 2015 tournament.
- Joao Plata and Sebastian Jaime have both scored in the 2015 Open Cup in addition to scoring game-winning goals against SKC this season.
- RSL has allowed a combined 10 goals in each of their last two MLS road matches (lost 6-4 at DC on Aug. 1, lost 4-0 at VAN on Aug. 8).
How They Got Here
<strong style="text-align: center;">Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>U.S. Open Cup</strong> |
<b>Real Salt Lake</b> |
W 1-0 vs. St. Louis FC<br><span style="font-size:10px;">(Zusi)</span> |
<strong>Round of 32<br><span style="font-size:10px;">June 16</span></strong> |
<span style="text-align: right;">W 2-1 vs. Sounders FC 2</span><br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(Plata, Morales)</span> |
W 6-2 vs. FC Dallas<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(Dwyer 4, Nemeth 2)</span> |
<strong>Round of 16</strong><br><strong><span style="font-size: 10px;">July 1</span></strong> |
W 2-0 vs. Portland Timbers<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(Morales, Jaime)</span> |
W 3-1 vs. Houston Dynamo<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(Feilhaber, </span><span style="font-size: 10px;">Dwyer, Nemeth</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
<strong>Quarterfinals</strong><br><strong><span style="font-size: 10px;">July 14/21</span></strong> |
W 1-0 vs. LA Galaxy<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(Maund)</span> |
2015 MLS Regular Season Leaders
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b style="text-align: right;">Category</b> |
<b>Real Salt Lake</b> |
Feilhaber/Nemeth 8 |
<strong style="text-align: right;">Goals</strong> |
Javier Morales 5 |
Benny Feilhaber 12 |
<strong style="text-align: right;">Assists</strong> |
Javier Morales 9 |
Dom Dwyer 60 (21) |
<strong style="text-align: right;">Shots (on goal)</strong> |
Javier Morales 31 (11) |
Dom Dwyer 35 |
<strong style="text-align: right;">Fouls committed</strong> |
Abdoulie Mansally 28 |
Dom Dwyer 53 |
<strong style="text-align: right;">Fouls suffered</strong> |
Javier Morales 38 |
Tim Melia 0.77 |
<strong style="text-align: right;">GAA</strong> |
Nick Rimando 1.06 |
Tim Melia 8 |
<strong style="text-align: right;">Wins</strong> |
Nick Rimando 4 |
Tim Melia 6 |
<strong style="text-align: right;">Shutouts</strong> |
Nick Rimando 6 |
Tim Melia 39 |
<strong style="text-align: right;">Saves</strong> |
Nick Rimando 43 |
Team Stats (2015 MLS Regular Season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (Opta stats as of Aug. 11, 2015)
<strong>Category<br>
(per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b>Real Salt Lake</b> |
<strong>Goals scored</strong> |
1.57 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
1.13 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
<strong>Goals conceded</strong> |
1.05 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3rd</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
1.54 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-15th)</span> |
<strong>Shots</strong> |
12.2 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h)</span> |
10.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
<strong>Shooting accuracy</strong> |
32.3% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(17</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
38.1% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(6th)</span> |
<strong>Chances created</strong> |
9.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(8th)</span> |
8.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18th)</span> |
<strong>Fouls committed</strong> |
13.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(12</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
12.7 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(14th</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
<strong>Fouls suffered</strong> |
11.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18th)</span> |
12.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
<strong>Successful passes</strong> |
270 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(19th)</span> |
284 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(16th)</span> |
<strong>Possession</strong> |
48.7% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
50.6% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(8th)</span> |
<strong>Shots faced</strong> |
9.7 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
13.4 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(17th)</span> |
<strong>Saves</strong> |
2.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-11</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
3.4 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
Recent #SKCvRSL Meetings
- All competitions record vs. RSL: 8-8-6 (0-1-0 in Open Cup)
- Home record vs. RSL: 5-1-5 (2-0-3 at Sporting Park)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Score</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>Location</strong> |
7/20/13 |
2-1 |
W |
Rio Tinto Stadium |
12/7/13 |
1-1<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(7-6)</span> |
T<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(SOW)</span> |
Sporting Park<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">MLS Cup 2013</span> |
4/5/14 |
0-0 |
T |
Sporting Park |
4/11/15 |
0-0 |
T |
Sporting Park |
6/21/15 |
1-2 |
L |
Rio Tinto Stadium |
7/24/15 |
1-2 |
L |
Rio Tinto Stadium |
