Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Kansas City used two first-half goals—including a world-class strike from Julio Cesar—and a stingy defense to defeat Toronto FC in front of a season-high crowd of 20,488 fans at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.

The match was the first in 11 days and is also the first of five in 14 days.

Sporting KC started attacking from the starting whistle. In the third minute, Seth Sinovic broke loose on the counterattack and fed the ball ahead for Teal Bunbury. Bunbury put a good move on defender Doneil Henry and fed the ball back to Sinovic in the box, but Sinovic's first touch was lacking and he turned the ball over.

Sporting KC opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Defender Chance Myers fed the ball up the right wing to Jacob Peterson. Peterson crossed the ball in, and Henry went for the clearance and missed. The ball reached C.J. Sapong, who one-timed the ball into the back of the net.

The goal was Sapong's fifth of the season, tying him with Kei Kamara for the team lead. Sporting KC is now 11-0-0 when Sapong scores.

Toronto missed a golden opportunity in the 30th minute. Torsten Frings played the ball over the top and found Eric Avila near the top of the penalty area. Avila put a shot on target and it hit the left post, rebounded to the right post and off of defender Aurelien Collin before going over the endline.

After the game, Avila said:

"I've had one post, but never two. Torsten (Frings) played me a great ball, I brought it down, saw a gap and put it in there. Seeing it hit the first post, I thought it was in. It was just one of those heart-breaking things. If it goes in, it's 1-1 and who knows what happens."

Five minutes later, Sporting KC doubled their lead. Graham Zusi took a corner from the left side and put the ball on the far post. Cesar was unmarked on the back post and volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Milos Kocic. It was Cesar's first goal of the season and Zusi's eighth assist, tying him for the league lead with Dwayne De Rosario.

After the game in the locker room, Cesar said:

"Zusi gave me a good pass from the corner kick. I just wanted to strike it on target, and I put it into the net. I am comfortable shooting, but at my position it is not my job. Tonight I felt I could attack more, and I am very happy to score."

Sporting KC dominated the first-half possession battle, controlling the ball almost 68 percent of the first 45 minutes. Toronto FC had to wonder if that would continue when Sporting KC nearly scored directly from the second-half kickoff.

Collin launched the ball forward from about halfway into the Sporting KC half of the field. Sapong headed the ball to Teal Bunbury, who one-timed the ball, but Kocic made the initial stop. Bunbury got the rebound, but Kocic denied him again.

Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen came up big in the 70th minute. Luis Silva put in a nice through ball that put Danny Koevermans in one-on-one with Nielsen. Nielsen came out to cut down the angle and Koevermans' shot was met with the left boot from Nielsen. If this had been a Toronto Maple Leafs game, the announcer may have called it, "a kick save and a beauty..."

Toronto FC was lucky to finish the game with 11 men on the field.

In the 76th minute, forward Ryan Johnson had Myers draped over his back. Had a foul been given, it might not have escalated a bit, but it wasn't and Johnson appeared to kick at Collin as he shoved Myers to the ground. There was some pushing and shoving after that, but order was restored fairly quickly and referee Paul Ward booked Johnson for what was clearly frustration on Johnson's part.

Toronto FC was able to win more of the possession and managed to get 10 shots off in the second half, but was simply unable to capitalize on the opportunities they created.

At the postgame press conference I attended, Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said:

"Other than the chance that was given up to (Danny) Koevermans, (Jimmy) Nielsen made a world-class save there. For him to come up with that big save that was tremendous. It kept us in the game and you hope that your keeper can do that for you over the course of multiple games and he did. Credit to the guys, great job, excellent effort tonight."

Also at the postgame press conference, new Toronto FC manager Paul Mariner said:

"Kansas City came out of the blocks really well. We tried to weather the storm, but they were coming out in waves. We changed it slightly for the first 15 (minutes) of the second half and went a little bit higher with the guys out wide. After 60 minutes, we completely changed the system. It just wasn’t meant to be tonight."

Up next for Sporting KC is a road match Wednesday at the Seattle Sounders. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PDT. After this match, Sporting KC will not face another Western Conference team in league play unless it's in MLS Cup.

Sporting KC's next home match is Tuesday, June 26th, at 7:30 p.m. It is the quarterfinals of the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and their opponent is the Dayton Dutch Lions of USL Pro, the third division of soccer in the U.S.

Sporting Kansas City used a lock-down defense and a goal from Rapids-killer Teal Bunbury to defeat Colorado 2-0 in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup in front of 14,868 fans at Livestrong Sporting Park.

Just over two weeks ago, Colorado fought back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to earn a draw with Kansas City at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

In the locker room after the game, I asked defender Matt Besler what changed between the two matches. He said:

"Our attitude. We were at home, we wanted to make sure we drove the game. In Colorado, we sat back too much and let them have the ball and let them dictate the play. We wanted to make sure we pressured higher up the field this game."

Sporting KC enjoyed the majority of the possession in the first half, but too many chances were left unfinished.

As an example, in the 11th minute, Besler put one of his Rory Delap-like long throw-ins into the penalty area. Defender Chance Myers tried to use his heel to direct it into the net, but it bounced up and over the crossbar.

The match was also incredibly physical. Sporting KC and Colorado combined for 32 total fouls and five yellow cards.

Sporting KC got credit for the first goal in the 27th minute. Midfielder Graham Zusi put a 40-yard free-kick in the penalty area for Aurelien Collin. Goalkeeper Matt Pickens made a spectacular save on Collin's header, pushing it onto the post. Unfortunately for Pickens, it then came back and bounced off of his gloves and into the back of the net.

Originally given to Collin, the goal was changed to an own-goal.

Colorado seemed to wake up after the goal was scored. Two minutes later, forward Wells Thompson took a shot from approximately 40 yards out, but goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen punched the ball clear, his first save of the night.

The Rapids seemed to carry this renewed energy into the second half. Seven minutes after the restart, midfielder Martin Rivero brought the ball up the right sideline and put a cross into the 18-yard box. There it found Jamie Castrillon, who one-timed the ball off of the post. The ball then bounced out to Edu's feet, but Collin broke up the play and cleared the ball from danger.

In the 61st minute, Bunbury made a nice play to keep the ball in play along the left sideline. He then took the ball into the penalty area and took a shot, but put the ball over the bar.

The 69th minute featured some end-to-end action. Sporting KC's Graham Zusi had a close-in shot deflected that Colorado turned into a quick counter-attack which Collin haulted with a well-timed tackle near the top of the 18-yard box.

In the 79th minute, Bunbury notched his sixth goal in eight matches against Colorado. Second half substitute Soony Saad crossed the ball in from the right. Intended for C.J. Sapong, Kosuke Kimura got to it first and headed it straight up in the air. Sapong got the better of the second duel and headed the ball to Bunbury, who volleyed home from seven yards out.

In the postgame press conference, Bunbury was asked if he was in a groove. He said:

"I feel like I'm in that groove. I feel like a lot of strikers, you know you get in streaks and things like that, but the ultimate goal for me is to try to work hard on the field. The goal is, obviously, I want to score every game, but the things off the ball as well, you know, working hard defensively, getting in good positions, making good runs. Things like that really help out the rest of the team."

The last ten minutes of the game produced a lot of physical play in the midfield, but no scoring chances for either team.

Sporting KC will now have 11 days until their next match when they host Toronto FC on June 16th at 7:30 p.m. CDT. That match starts a stretch of five matches in 13 days.

The next Open Cup match for Sporting KC will be June 26th, also at 7:30 p.m. CDT, when they host the Dayton Dutch Lions of USL PRO.

On a night when MLS teams were falling left and right, Sporting Kansas City managed to avoid the upset and put away 10-man Orlando City 3-2 in front of 12,217 fans at Livestrong Sporting Park in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Sporting KC were led by a pair of teenagers. 19-year-old goalkeeper Jon Kempin, making the first competitive start of his young career, made six saves, including at least one that would be a candidate for MLS Save of the Week in league play.

During the postgame press conference I attended, manager Peter Vermes said:

He’s grown a lot and I thought he was very good tonight. He made some really good saves that kept us in the game and also didn’t lose his cool. There are a lot of things we’ve been talking about—managing the game, building out of the back and being confident—and I thought he was pretty good. For his debut, that was a big-time game.

In the locker room after the game, I asked Kempin if he'd thought he'd be in a position to make his first start in tonight's game in only his second full year as a pro. He said:

It probably wasn't in my mind. You know, when we sat down with Peter, it was patience and we're looking at three to five years for you. So, to get into a game before and to keep improving, get another 90 minutes in a game like that, it's definitely great.

Forward Soony Saad, also 19, had two goals in a four-minute span in the second half, including the game winner. Saad was playing in his first competitive match of 2012.

Sporting KC played several backups with a few starters mixed in due to the quick turnaround after the 2-1 win over San Jose on Sunday.

Konrad Warzycha, another player in his first competitive match for Sporting KC, chased a ball down in the 10th minute to prevent an Orlando scoring chance.

Six minutes later, the Sporting KC defense clamped down again. Defender Chance Myers forced Dennis Chin outside on the right. Chin tried to put a cross in for Charlie Campbell, but Warzycha recovered well to intercept.

In the 23rd minute, Aurelien Collin was given a yellow card for a tactical foul. During the ensuing free kick, Campbell took a shot on net that was saved by a diving Kempin.

The rest of the half was dotted with missed chances on both sides, some due to unlucky shots and others through defensive efforts.

Sporting KC opened the scoring deep in first-half stoppage time. Peterson Joseph played a good ball to Nagamura about 30 yards out. Nagamura took the shot from distance and rifled it into the back of the net. It was the kind of goal that would have a chance to win Goal of the Week in league play.

After the game, Vermes said:

I keep joking with him every day almost about it that he can hit it from far, hit it from far. So, today we're walking out here, I said, "You know, remember, I keep telling you  shoot from distance.' Obviously, the game's over and he scored and his comment was, 'I keep telling you I can shoot from distance.'

Orlando City equalized 10 minutes after the restart. St. Louis native Erik Ustruck crossed the ball into the box for Kevin Molino, who headed it past Kempin into the net.

Two minutes later, Vermes signaled his intention to substitute forward Teal Bunbury in for Saad, wanting to spark some offense after giving up the tying goal.

However, before the sub could be made, Joseph picked up an injury and had to come off for Graham Zusi instead. Luck, it seemed, was on Sporting KC's side.

In the 65th minute, Saad gave Sporting KC the lead back. Halftime sub C.J. Sapong lofted the ball out to the left side of the penalty area. Nagamura ran on to the ball and cut it back toward the top of the box for Saad. Instead of his powerful shot, Saad placed the ball inside the far post to make the score 2-1.

Saad completed the brace just four minutes later. On a corner kick from Zusi, goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo swatted the ball out of the air, where it fell directly to Saad. Shots from distance being, as he put it after the game, his bread and butter, Saad shot the ball through four or five players and past Gallardo for a two-goal lead.

Just before Orlando City was allowed to restart play after the goal, midfielder Anthony Pulis was sent off for violent conduct, having elbowed Sporting KC's Lawrence Olum, a former Orlando City player.

Despite being down a man, Orlando City still managed to create some chances, even a three-on-one break they failed to capitalize on. They pulled a goal back in the 84th minute on a 15-yard blast from Chin but just couldn't find an equalizer.

With the win, Sporting KC moves on to the Round of 16 and will host a fellow MLS club, the Colorado Rapids, on Tuesday, June 5th, at Livestrong Sporting Park. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CDT.

Sporting Kansas City rode first-half goals by C.J. Sapong and Kei Kamara to a 2-1 victory of the San Jose Earthquakes in front of 19,974 fans at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The win snaps Sporting KC's four-match winless streak.

The win was also the first in the month of May since May 16th, 2009 in a road win against Real Salt Lake, a span of 13 matches without a win.

Sporting KC opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Earthquakes defender Brad Ring poked the ball away from Teal Bunbury, but Graham Zusi got the ball right back. Zusi made a pass out wide to Kei Kamara on the right. Kamara crossed the ball into the penalty area where Sapong put the ball in the back of the net with a sliding one-timer from about seven yards out.

In the locker room after the game, Sapong told us he was wearing a pair of cleats borrowed from Kamara. "I must have packed my shoes in the wrong bag or something," Sapong said. "I came early, didn't even look until 10 minutes to go out and realized I didn't have my cleats. I tried to keep quiet about it. I mean, he (Kamara) is the closest person to my shoe size. About a full size smaller, but we made it work."

The goal was Sapong's first since April 1st, a span of seven matches without scoring. The team's record when Sapong scores, dating back to last season, is 9-0-0.

Defender Seth Sinovic had to leave the game in the 23rd minute with another injury. Chasing down a ball in the San Jose end of the field, Sinovic fell over the LED board behind the endline. Sinovic's left hand came down on the brace supporting the board and got a nasty cut that ended up requiring 20 stitches to close. Sinovic made way for Michael Harrington.

During the postgame press conference I attended, manager Peter Vermes said Sinovic will be available for the US Open Cup game against Orlando City on Tuesday.

Sporting KC looked like the more dangerous team throughout the first half. In the 22nd minute, Kamara fed the ball through to Bunbury, who was making a run into the penalty area. Bunbury's initial shot was blocked by defender Jason Hernandez and Bunbury put the second attempt just outside the far post.

San Jose's first truly dangerous chance of the match came in the 31st minute. Steven Beitashour took a shot from about 32 yards out, but goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen tipped the ball wide with a leaping save.

Eight minutes later, Kamara doubled the Sporting KC lead. Defender Chance Myers made a pass out to the left wing for Harrington. Harrington settled the ball and took one touch back to put the ball on his right foot. His cross found Kamara in the penalty area and Kamara's header bounced past Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch.

The goal was Kamara's fifth on the season, his first in four matches. Harrington notched his first assist of the season, while Myers tallied his third, all on goals by Kamara.

Bunbury had another chance denied in the 56th minute. Making a run on the left side of the penalty area, Bunbury's shot was blocked by a sliding Justin Morrow.

San Jose pulled one back in the 72nd minute. Defender Ramiro Corrales headed the ball down to Simon Dawkins. Dawkins moved forward a couple of yards in front of a backpedaling Aurelien Collin before shooting the ball inside the far post past a diving Nielsen.

The goal was Dawkins' second of the season, and Corrales now has three assists.

The Sporting KC defense clamped down on San Jose after that and limited the Earthquakes to one shot for the rest of the match.

With the win, Sporting KC is now 8-3-1 and lead MLS in points per game with 2.08. Their next league match is June 16th against Toronto FC. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. CDT and will be shown on KSMO-TV.

Despite dominating the stat sheet in almost every category, Sporting Kansas City fell to the Montreal Impact 2-0 in front of 20,404 fans at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park (LSP). After starting the season with seven straight wins, Sporting KC has now lost two straight.

The loss was the first shutout loss at LSP and the first for the team since a 2-0 loss to Chivas USA on July 10, 2010 at Community America Ballpark.

Sporting KC outshot Montreal 22-6, had 11 corners to Montreal's one and 66 percent of the possession, but were just not able to get the final pass or finish their chances.

During the postgame press conference that Bleacher Report attended, Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said, "We didn't come to compete today, and that was a big part of why we lost today. I take responsibility for that. That's not happening."

The Impact's chances seemed to come close on the heels of missed opportunities by Sporting KC.

In the 27th minute, midfielder Graham Zusi took a shot from distance, but goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts made the save, tipping the ball out for a corner.

Three minutes later, Sporting KC had a throw-in deep in its own end of the field. After a couple of headers, the ball fell to Impact midfielder Jeb Brovsky. Brovsky made a short pass to Justin Braun, who one-timed the ball to Felipe. The Brazilian moved the ball forward and took a shot from about 25 yards out.

Defender Aurelien Collin appeared to screen goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen for a split second and that was all it took. Nielsen picked up the ball late and got a hand to it, but not enough to keep it out of the back of the net.

In the locker room after the game, Nielsen said, "That's why I probably reacted a little late. I have not seen it on video, but from the outside it probably did not look good from my side. That's a shot I normally expect myself to save. Of course, that's a big disappointment."

In the 55th minute, Bobby Convey played a short corner to Chance Myers. Myers found Zusi for a shot, but the shot was blocked.

Eight minutes later, Montreal was awarded a penalty for a foul on Lamar Neagle in the box. Collin seemed to clear the ball from in front of Neagle before Neagle fell over Nielsen. Referee Juan Guzman pointed to the spot, despite the massive protests from Sporting KC players.

Patrice Bernier stepped up and converted the penalty to give Montreal a 2-0 lead.

After the game, Vermes said, "I saw the replay. It's not a penalty. Collin gets the ball. Referee makes a call, makes a call. If you look at the play prior to that, how it led to it, terrible, terrible on our part. From the throw-in, we give up, we're all open. The whole play should have been totally different."

Braun brought Kei Kamara down in the Montreal penalty area in the first half, in what should have been a more obvious penalty call, but nothing was given.

Aside from Collin hitting the crossbar in the 90th minute, none of the rest of the Sporting KC chances truly threatened to put a dent in the Montreal lead.

In the locker room after the game, Zusi said, "I think we got out-fought tonight and I can honestly say that it's the first time that our team, that's happened to us this year. I can pretty much promise you that it won't happen again. We just flat got out-fought. They capitalized on a couple of mistakes by us, and credit to them, they played the game pretty well. They had a game plan and they stuck to it pretty well."

Sporting Kansas City head back out on the road next week to try to get back on track. They head to Toyota Park to take on the Chicago Fire on Saturday, May 12th, at 7:30 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on KSMO-TV.

A Chance Myers own goal was all the offense the Portland Timbers needed to knock off Sporting Kansas City 1-0 in Portland on Saturday night. It was Sporting KC's first loss of 2012 and Portland's first home win of the season.

Portland also snapped a four-match losing streak to move to 2-4-1 on the season.

Portland made the most of its domination of possession early. The Timbers earned a corner in the fourth minute. Former Kansas City midfielder Jack Jewsbury took the corner, but the whistle was blown for a foul. Referee Hilario Grajeda called Eric Brunner for a high boot on Kei Kamara.

Sporting KC's first opportunity came five minutes later. Forward C.J. Sapong took the ball down to the endline in the Portland penalty area. Sapong found Kamara near the penalty spot, but Kamara's shot was stopped by Troy Perkins.

The next dangerous chance for Sporting KC came in the 22nd minute. Following a yellow card to Timbers defender Steve Purdy for a foul on Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi's free kick forced a save from Perkins, tipping it over the bar.

On the ensuing corner kick, Bobby Convey's attempt was gathered by Perkins and when Perkins went to throw the ball out, the whistle was blown. Grajeda tried to say Perkins could not make the throw because either Kamara or Sapong were in his way. Replays showed the ball came off of Portland's Hanyer Mosquera.

Had the whistle not been blown, Sapong would have had a good chance to score.

That lack of a chance would come back to bite Sporting KC approximately 20 minutes later.

Portland forward Kris Boyd got in behind the Sporting KC defense and as he neared the penalty area, he put in what could be considered a poor cross, considering no Timbers players were anywhere near it.

However, Myers and midfielder Julio Cesar were there. A lack of communication between the two led to them colliding as Myers headed the ball into the back of the net. Coming so close to halftime, it was a hard blow to take and led to Sporting KC's first halftime deficit.

To be fair, it cannot have been easy to hear on that end of the field, that close to the Timbers Army supporters section.

Two minutes after the restart, Portland almost doubled its lead. Diego Chara put a through ball in to Boyd who tapped it on net, but Jimmy Nielsen would make a sliding save.

Sporting KC would enjoy better possession in the second half and almost lived in Portland's half of the field for the last 15 minutes of the game. That effort almost paid off with an equalizer in the 90th minute.

A long throw-in from Matt Besler went through the hands of Perkins as he and Sporting KC sub Teal Bunbury made a play for the ball. Mosquera cleared it off the line and Perkins was able to cover up as Aurelien Collin attempted to poke the ball into the net.

After three matches in eight days, Sporting KC will have two weeks until their next game. They will host the expansion Montreal Impact at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on Saturday, May 5th at 7:30 p.m. CDT. The game will mark the return of longtime Kansas City midfielder Davy Arnaud, traded to Montreal to reacquire defender Seth Sinovic. Sinovic had been selected by Montreal in the expansion draft days earlier.

Compared to last season's 10-game road trip to begin the year, this will be a piece of cake. After Saturday's victory over Real Salt Lake, Sporting Kansas City is hitting the road for two games this week.

On Wednesday, they will take on the Whitecaps at BC Place in Vancouver. The Whitecaps are playing well, having only allowed three goals in their first five games. All three of those goals came in their first loss of the season against San Jose on April 7th.

On the other side of the ball, Vancouver has only scored four goals in 2012. Former Philadelphia Union forward Sebastian LeToux leads the team with two goals. Camilo and Jay DeMerit have the others.

The home field advantage will not be the only edge Vancouver has in this match. Their last game was that loss to San Jose, so they will have had 11 days off when they kick off against Sporting KC.

Sporting KC, on the other hand, will be playing their second game in five days and will have flown halfway across the continent.

The key for this matchup will be Sporting KC's offense versus Vancouver's defense. Kei Kamara and C.J. Sapong each have three goals on the season, while Graham Zusi leads MLS in assists with six. Kei Kamara, not surprisingly, leads MLS in two categories; shots and shots on goal.

I think Sporting KC will come out with a victory, but it will probably be of the 1-0 variety (it would be the team's fourth straight 1-0 win).

JELD-WEN Field is the site of Saturday's clash with the Portland Timbers. The third game in eight days for Sporting KC will also be their last until May 5th at home versus the Montreal Impact.

To put it mildly, Portland is struggling right now. They've allowed three more goals than they've scored and are on a four-match losing streak. They took a lead Saturday on the road against the LA Galaxy, but gave up three goals to lose 3-1.

The key for this matchup is, again, Sporting KC's offense against Portland's defense (or lack thereof, lately). Portland has yet to keep a clean sheet, while Sporting KC has five, including the last three matches in a row.

I would be willing to bet Teal Bunbury starts this game. He's had a lack of playing time due to not only Sapong's strong start to the season, but he also missed two games because of a call-up to the US U-23 team for Olympic Qualifying.

I think Sporting KC will simply have too much firepower for Portland to deal with. While this game comes at the end of a long week, Sporting KC has shown that their team's fitness is on another level when compared to other teams. The work that the players put in, not only individually, but also collectively, is starting to pay off. By the end of Saturday's match, it almost seemed like Real Salt Lake was out of gas, but Sporting KC had plenty left in the tank.

It won't be easy, but I think Sporting KC has the potential to come home from this trip without a loss in their luggage.

Defender Aurelien Collin scored the only goal of the game and Jimmy Nielsen posted his third consecutive shutout as Sporting Kansas City defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 last night. It was Sporting KC's third consecutive 1-0 victory.

The standing-room-only crowd of 19,422 at Livestrong Sporting Park also witnessed the 200th win in franchise history. The all-time record now stands at 200-199-100. This makes Sporting KC the fifth team in MLS with 200 wins, joining the LA Galaxy, Columbus Crew, FC Dallas and DC United.

Sporting KC's league-record streak of not allowing a shot on goal ended after a span of 335 minutes. The last shot on goal allowed was Ricardo Villar's 25th-minute goal for FC Dallas on March 25th.

To put this streak into perspective, prior to this season, there were only three games in franchise history where Sporting KC had held a team without a shot on goal.

Sporting KC's shutout streak remains alive, also at 335 minutes.

Real Salt Lake had a streak of their own snapped. Collin's goal ended a shutout streak of 267 minutes. The loss drops RSL to 5-2-0 on the season.

The first chance for Sporting KC came in the eighth minute, when defender Seth Sinovic played a long ball over the top to C.J. Sapong. Sapong appeared to be fouled when Jamison Olave pulled him down just outside the penalty area, but referee Kevin Stott signaled for play to continue.

RSL's Alvaro Saborio was in a potentially dangerous situation in the 20th minute. On a ball headed by Kansas City's Chance Myers, Saborio went up for the ball while Kei Kamara stood next to him and Saborio went up and over Kamara. Saborio landed awkwardly, but appeared to be okay.

Despite having only 48.9 percent of the possession in the first half, Sporting KC earned nine corner kicks in the first half, one off of a team record.

It was the ninth corner kick of the half that generated some controversy. Graham Zusi took the corner with Collin and Sapong going up for the ball and Sapong heading it back out. Bobby Convey gathered the ball as Sapong made a run for the back post and Convey served the ball in to Sapong.

Sapong headed the ball into the back of the net, but Stott disallowed the goal. Stott had called a foul on Sapong for pushing off on Olave, but replays showed no contact.

Sporting KC continued to press the attack early in the second half. In the 51st minute, RSL's Will Johnson was booked for pulling down Kamara just outside the penalty area. Zusi took the ensuing free kick and the ball fell to Sapong, who one-timed it, but hit it just wide.

Six minutes later, RSL's Fabian Espindola had what appeared to be a breakaway. Espindola was running down the left wing, but pulled up to wait for help. With a better first touch, he could have been in alone on Nielsen, but tried to get too fancy with it and Sporting KC ended the chance and cleared the ball to safety.

Collin struck on the first corner of the second half. Zusi took the corner and both Kamara and Sapong missed it, but Collin buried it in the back of the net. It was Collin's second goal of the season and Zusi's league-leading sixth assist. The goal was also the team's second from a corner kick this season.

Kamara almost doubled Sporting KC's lead in the 75th minute. Convey's shot was deflected, setting up the team's 11th corner of the match. Zusi served the ball into the penalty area and Kamara got a head on it, but Nick Rimando made an impressive save to keep it a one-goal game.

The Sporting KC shots-on-goal streak ended in the 90th minute. Off of a Kyle Beckerman free kick, Nat Borchers headed it on net, directly into the arms of Nielsen. The assistant referee has his flag up, but Stott overruled him as Nielsen had the ball.

With the shutout, Nielsen moves into a three-way tie on the Sporting KC regular season shutouts list with 22. Nielsen is tied with Kevin Hartman and Bo Oshoniyi. Tony Meola tops the list with 37.

This match was the first of three in eight days for Sporting KC. They travel to Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps on Wednesday before heading to Portland for a matchup with the Timbers on Saturday. Sporting KC's next home match is May 5th against the Montreal Impact.

On one side, you have the visitors from Utah, Real Salt Lake. Led by manager Jason Kreis, RSL is in first place in the Western Conference with 15 points (of a possible 18).

On the other, you have the hosts, Sporting Kansas City. Under the direction of manager Peter Vermes, Sporting KC is in first place in the Eastern Conference with 15 points (of a possible 15).

On paper, this looks like it could be an early-season preview of MLS Cup, right?

Not according to Vermes, it isn't. When he was asked at the weekly press conference if today's match was a preview of MLS Cup, he told us, "It's just the next game on the schedule."

That answer fits in with the way Vermes says the team tries to deal with the season: in 45-minute increments.

It seems to be working. Not only has Sporting KC not lost a match this season, they've not lost a half, either. The only game they fell behind in (at home against FC Dallas), the equalizer was struck in first-half stoppage time and the game-winner was put in two minutes from full time.

To say Sporting KC's defense has been playing well this season would be an understatement. Team captain and goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen has a GAA of 0.20. The team has not allowed a shot on goal in a league-record 254 minutes.

The last shot on goal? Ricardo Villar's 25th minute goal for Dallas on March 25th.

In contrast, Real Salt Lake has had periods of dominance, but they've been interspersed with periods of utter vulnerability. The crossbar was probably goalkeeper Nick Rimando's best friend against the Galaxy on the road, keeping a Landon Donovan blast out.

As far as health is concerned, Sporting KC has the edge there, as well. For the most part, the only injury Sporting KC has to deal with is the back injury of backup goalkeeper Eric Kronberg. Kronberg has not made the bench this season, but has now returned to training.

Real Salt Lake's midfield, on the other hand, could be missing a few pieces. Ned Grabavoy (left rib cage dislocation), Enzo Martinez (lower back spasms) and Javier Morales (strained right hamstring) are all listed as doubtful on the team's injury report.

There are a few reasons I believe that Sporting KC will win this match, starting with their style of play. The high-pressure, attacking style that Sporting KC uses with their 4-3-3 formation has been producing great results so far. At home or on the road, Sporting KC will come after you nonstop.

Another factor that can't be discounted is the home crowd. As Taylor Twellman said on ESPN before last week's match with the Galaxy, "If you had told me five years ago that this stadium and this crowd were in Kansas City, I would've said you were nuts."

The team is expecting another capacity crowd, and with the way the roof holds the sound in, LIVESTRONG Sporting Park is an incredibly difficult place to play for an opposing team. Just ask the Galaxy about that.

With all of that in mind, I will say this game will not be easy. Any Kreis-led team will not roll over and play dead. He was never that way as a player in the league.

I asked Vermes about that during the press conference. I asked how playing against Kreis translated into coaching against him.

Vermes said, "Jason was a very good player and he also was an efficient player on the field and I think his team plays that way as well. They're efficient. They stick to what they're good at and they go do it and they're good at it. And I think that's what translates to knowing, at least, him and what he does."

Should be a great game.

Alan Hainkel is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.