Sporting KC Enter Critical Match After New England Defeat

Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer (14) Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

What is it about extra time that spells doom for Sporting Kansas City.

A lapse in judgement by Aurelien Collin earned him a red card in the 74th minute, which forced Sporting to play a man down for the rest of the match. Two minutes into stoppage time former Sporting KC player Teal Bunbury riffled in a goal and reopened the same two sets of questions that have haunted Sporting for the first two months of the season:

Why can Sporting not score goals? What is with the late game collapses?

One would have thought Sporting had started to find a rhythm two weeks ago against Montreal when Sporting scored four goals and kept the clean sheet. It was by far their best overall performance of the season and it looked as if Sporting were about to kick into high gear. One week later everything has changed.

Saturday represented the third of seven MLS games in which Sporting failed to score a goal. Remove Sporting’s 4-0 win over Montreal and Sporting has a minus-one goal differential in the remaining six matches.

It is not as if the issues are not clear. Sporting has been awful in late match scenarios both on the attack and on defense. Whether it is trying to get the decisive goal or holding fort in front of goal, Sporting hasn’t been able to execute in those pressure situations. Of the six goals Sporting has allowed this season, four have come in the 90th minute or later. Three of those four goals have cost Sporting points – two ties and a win.

If matches ended in the 89th minute, Sporting would be 4-0-3 with 15 points and hold a strong three point lead in the Eastern Conference. Instead Sporting finds themselves with 11 points and one point back of first place Columbus Crew, Sporting’s next opponent.

Yet with all of this working against them, the obvious concerns about late game lapses and the inability to convert strong possessions into goals, manager Peter Vermes does not seem too concerned. In fact, his comments after Saturday’s loss seemed to displace blame from his squad.

"“The game wasn’t a 2-0 game by any means,” Vermes said. “I thought that we had very good run of play. I thought our possession was good away from home. I have to say I think the red card was extremely harsh. I don’t think it was a tackle on the field. There were a few other ones that could have been on both sides of the ball, but there was nothing in that tackle that I think warranted a red card. I think it changes the game a little bit, but I thought we managed the situation all the way up until the first goal. But definitely it’s not a 2-0 game, no doubt.”"

All the way up to the first goal. At some point Sporting’s late-game play is not a bump in the road but a trend. This current play isn’t going to be good enough for what is in front of them in May.

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Sporting is about to start another grueling stretch of matches – four matches in 14 days, seven matches in 28 days – as part of the scheduling quirk brought on by the World Cup in June.

This whole string starts with Columbus on Sunday afternoon, and includes big matches against D.C. United, New York Red Bull, and Toronto FC. A bad run here and Sporting will have a significant mountain to climb coming back from the World Cup break.

There is no doubt Sporting has the ability and the talent to win the MLS Cup. They’re less than five months removed from doing so. However a repeat will not be in the cards if certain things are not cleaned up quickly.

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