Sporting Kansas City beat Los Angeles 2-1 on Saturday night a spectacular costless kick from Benny Feilhaber and a header from Lawrence Olum. Robbie Keane scored in the losing effort.

SKC dominated the first half and Benny Feilhaber had an immaculate costless kick to give SKC the lead. In the 11th minute, Feilhaber struck the ball with wonderful pace past a diving Jaime Penedo.

The Galaxy only had two shots in the first half and neither of them were on goal. SKC had several shots on net and put forth a strong defensive effort.

Sporting Kansas City put lots of pressure on LA to start the second half. At the same time, Los Angeles looked uncoordinated at the back. However, the best chance in the first ten minutes of the 2nd half came when Juninho won the ball and LA had a two-on-one break. Juninho passed the ball to Robbie Keane, who had to make a quick decision in the 54th minute. SKC's Andy Gruenebaum came out to force Keane to shoot, but the ball ended up over going over the bar.

Marcelo Sarvas had a chance for LA after a nice series of passes, but his shot was over the bar in the 56th minute.

SKC got another goal after a series of headers in the 61st minute. Graham Zusi put a cross into the box that found Jacob Pederson, that hit off the crossbar and back onto the field of play. The rebound came to Lawrence Olum and he headed the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0 SKC.

Keane nearly had a great response in the 65th minute, but his shot went off the crossbar. It was a harsh bounce for Keane as LA could not find the back of the net.

Dominic Dwyer nearly put SKC ahead three goals to the good after some awful clearances by LA. His  header ended up wide of the post and LA could breathe a bit easier.

Keane finally got his goal in the 79th minute. Bradford Jamieson flicked the ball on and Keane flicked the ball past Gruenebaum to make it a 2-1 SKC lead.

The 81st minute nearly saw SKC's two goal lead restored. Jaime Penedo could not hold the cross and the ball fell to Aurelien Collin, but he could get it past the defense.

Dwyer had another chance in 89th minute. Graham Zusi floated the ball into the box, but he did not have enough power to score a goal.

Sporting Kansas City held on for the 2-1 win and they raised some serious questions about the Galaxy defense. The win puts SKC at 35 points and atop the Eastern Conference and also extends their unbeaten streak to six games. SKC will play Manchester City on Wednesday in a club friendly before going on the road and facing Toronto FC next Saturday.

For LA, they will need to shore up their back four and instill confidence in Jaime Penedo. Penedo was tentative on corners and crosses into the box. As of this writing, LA is sitting in 3rd with 27 points in the Western Conference. They will face the other Manchester team, Manchester United, on Wednesday in a club friendly. They travel to the always tough CenturyLink Field to take on the Sounders on Monday, July 28.

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About the author
Matthew Dixon
I follow College Football at all levels; FBS, FCS, Division II, and Division III. In addition, I am a horse racing enthusiast.