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FINAL SCORE: Sporting Kansas City 3-2 Columbus Crew SC. That's all from Children's Mercy Park, my name is Tyler Fisher, thanks for joining me for this roller coaster of a game! Here are the full time stats!
90' GOAL! Matt Besler gives the home side the lead in the dying minutes of the match! 3-2 Sporting Kansas City!
The fourth official on the side has indicated a minimum of three minutes of added time.
90' Corner kick Sporting Kansas City. Things are heating up as time is starting to expire.
87' Finlay rushes upfield for a counter attack, but is quickly broken up. Ball cleared out for a Crew SC throw in.
84' Yellow card caution to Jimmy Medranda of Sporting Kansas City.
83' Yellow card caution to Harrison Afful. And Sporting Kansas City use their last sub with Justin Mapp replacing Benny Feilhaber.
78' Pair of substitutions: Sporting Kansas City replace Jacob Peterson with Brad Davis. Meanwhile, Columbus Crew SC replace Justin Meram with Rodrigo Saravia.
75' GOAL! Ola Kamara ties the game up at 2-2 with his second of the night! What a shot!
73' Columbus Crew SC second substitution sees Dilly Duka make his re-debut as he replaces Wil Trapp.
67' Zusi tries to find Dwyer in the box but the cross is high and way out of the range.
66' Yellow card caution to Matt Besler of Sporting Kansas City.
65' Matt Besler fouls Ola Kamara for a free kick in favor of Crew SC.
63' Offside Crew SC.
56' GOAL! Graham Zusi puts the home side up by one with a stunning strike! 2-1!
53' SUBSTITUTION: Sporting Kansas City use their first sub as Matt Besler replaces Lawrence Olum.
52' Yellow card caution to Sporting Kansas City Dom Dwyer.
50' GOAL! Benny Feilhaber converts the penalty kick to tie the game at 1-1!
48' PENALTY! Tyson Wahl pulls down Dwyer and gets an automatic red card. Columbus Crew SC now down to 10 men for the rest of the game.
47' Zusi gets tripped up by Harrison Afful. Free kick Sporting Kansas City.
START OF SECOND HALF: Sporting Kansas City 0-1 Columbus Crew SC.
Here are the first half stats. Sporting Kansas City lead in possession with 52%, while Columbus Crew SC has 48%.
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HALFTIME: Sporting Kansas City 0-1 Columbus Crew SC
45+1' Ola Kamara is down holding the side of his head. Not sure what happened.
45' The fourth official on the side has indicated a minimum of one minute stoppage time to the first half.
43' Another turnover by Medranda gives Crew SC a 3v2 counter attack. A pass from Kamara out to Finlay, who gives it back to Kamara for a shot is saved by Melia. Corner kick Crew SC.
38' Dwyer gets called for pulling down Tyson Wahl in the box. Free kick Crew SC.
36' CROSSBAR! Graham Zusi hits the free kick off of the crossbar! Score still 0-1 to Columbus Crew SC.
34' Free kick Sporting Kansas City. Had advantage been called, a wonderful Steve Clark save would've pushed it out for a corner kick. Free kick SKC.
32' Great break up by Opara to stop a rushing Ethan Finlay. Sporting Kansas City attack the other way, and Abdul-Salaam gets called for a foul on Corey Ashe.
31' Corner kick Sporting Kansas City.
22' GOAL! It's Ola Kamara who gets the visitors on the board first! A central low cross from Harrison Afful finds the feet of Kamara for the easy tap in!
19' An onside Ola Kamara runs into the box with the ball, and pulls off a shot but it's just wide. Goal kick Sporting Kansas City.
19' Meram dances around the Sporting defense, but is beat off of the ball at the top of the 18 yard box. Throw in Crew SC.
17' Foul on Sporting Kansas City.
15' Great sequence by Sporting Kansas City, but the shot by Medranda gets saved by Clark.
13' Yellow card caution to Sporting Kansas City player Benny Feilhaber.
11' Dom Dwyer turns on the jets and tries to get a shot off to the upper 90 corner but it's a remarkable save from Steve Clark! And in quick transition, a 2v1 counter attack for Crew SC sees Ethan Finlay take a shot on goal, but it's saved by Melia!
10' Sportin KC gets called for a previous foul. This one on Roger Espinoza for a foul on Hector Jimenez. Meanwhile at the other end, Peterson sends in a cross to the six yard box, but Feilhaber just can't get a foot on the end. Still 0-0.
4' A dangerous pass back from Harrison Afful to Steve Clark almost recrated the Portland Timbers opening goal in MLS Cup 2015.
1' - And just like that Crew SC earn a corner kick. Quick attack from Justin Meram.
KICKOFF! Sporting Kansas City and Columbus Crew SC are underway!
19:13 PM EST: National anthem being sung.
19:07 PM EST: We're just about set for kickoff here at Children's Mercy Park!
18:37 PM EST: A couple quick notes from Columbus Crew SC newsroom. Hector Jimenez starts in place of Mohammed Saeid who makes his way to the bench. And new signee Dilly Duka makes his first 18 since signing with the Black and Gold.
18:37 PM EST: Just a little under half an until kickoff! The suspense!
18:18 PM EST: Here is the CONFIRMED starting XI for Columbus Crew SC.
18:18 PM EST: Here is the CONFIRMED starting XI for Sporting Kansas City.
18:02 PM EST: We're just a little under an hour until kickoff from Children's Mercy Park! You can catch the game on Fox Sports 1 for national broadcast!
17:57 PM EST: Lineups should be out shortly! Stay tuned for the confirmed starting XI for both teams!
17:42 PM EST: Hello again everybody, and welcome to VAVEL USA's LIVE coverage of Major League Soccer between Sporting Kansas City, and Columbus Crew SC. My name is Tyler Fisher, and thanks for stopping by!
Sporting Kansas City 1-1 Columbus Crew SC.
Prediction: Given the recent performances by Columbus -- a point at home, and a loss midweek -- and Sporting Kansas City -- a point on the road, and a loss midweek -- both teams are in search of three points. A draw would suit well for this match, ending 1-1.
Sporting Kansas City is lead by head coach Peter Vermes.
Sporting Kansas City (4-3-3): Melia; Medranda, Opara, Besler, Abdul-Salaam; Espinoza, Zusi, Feilhaber; Hallisey, Dwyer, Peterson
Columbus Crew SC is lead by head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter.
Columbus Crew SC (4-2-3-1): Clark; Ashe, Wahl, Parkhurst, Afful; Tchani, Trapp; Meram, Saeid, Finlay; Kamara.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams.
The match will be overseen by referee Ted Unkel. His assistants are Ian Anderson, and James Conlee. The fourth official will be listed as Geoff Gamble.
The game will be played at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Missouri. You can catch the game on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 Go, or Fox Deportes. Kickoff is set for 7pm EST/6 CT.
Sporting KC’s next four of six games are held at Children’s Mercy Park. Two notable games to highlight is their match against the Seattle Sounders and the following week against the Portland Timbers.
This is the only meeting between the two teams this season, but SKC have shown recent success in the head-to-head series. Sporting are 5-1-1 against Columbus in the last seven, regular season meetings. They are also 4-1-0 against Columbus when playing at Children’s Mercy Park, scoring 11 goals, and conceding five.
More good news coming out of the Sporting newsroom is that they are granted the return of forward Graham Zusi, and defender Matt Besler, after their stint with the US Men’s National Team during the Copa America Centenario.
As for the hosting side of the spectrum, Sporting Kansas City are just coming off a loss also in US Open Cup play to the Houston Dynamo, by a score of 3-1. Beforehand, SKC also played out to a draw against the Montreal Impact. Although their Open Cup run was put to an end, there’s still great things happening in league play, as they have not lost a match in three straight league games. Sporting Kansas City are seventh in the Western Conference, just one point shy of playoff contention.
After two years with the Impact, Duka was signed by Columbus this past month, thus playing for the Black and Gold for the second time in his professional career.
Duka was later traded to rivals Chicago Fire in 2013 along with former defender and current Los Angeles Galaxy defender Robbie Rogers. Just a year later, Duka was acquired by the Montreal Impact in exchange for Sanna Nyassi.
Dilly Duka was originally selected by Columbus in the 2010 MLS Superdraft. While with Crew SC in his rookie season, Duka played three games. Two of which were starts. Duka made his MLS debut on August 14, 2010, against Real Salt Lake. He recorded two assists in four CONCACAF Champions League games for Columbus, three as a starter, and also started two of three US Open Cup matches.
Much hype came around the Columbus city area after Gonzalo Higuain was seen at Obetz, Crew SC training ground. But it’s not a transfer. The Napoli striker was still in the United States after his Argentina squad was defeated in the Copa America Centenario Final against Chile, and decided to stop by the Buckeye State to pay a visit to his elder brother. So, calm down Crewville. Although, Crew SC just did land the rights from the Montreal Impact for midfielder Dilly Duka. This will be his second stint with Columbus.
Still dealing with multiple injuries, most notably, Federico Higuain missing five to seven weeks after hernia surgery, Columbus are slowly but surely finding ways to cope without their number 10.
Just before their US Open Cup match against the Fire, Columbus pulled out a point against the New York Red Bulls after an Ola Kamara 93rd minute goal, to tie the game at 1-1. What faired as a draw in the standings, seemed to have the effect of a loss to the Red Bulls, but a win to Columbus. New York opened the game with heavy pressure and multiple counter attacks off of forced errors by Crew SC. Three yellow cards within a span of six minutes shifted momentum to the likes of the home team for Columbus.
Columbus travel to Kansas City, Missouri after previously being defeated by the Chicago Fire in US Open Cup Round of 16. David Accam would put the home side up with a first half brace, putting Crew SC up against the wall. Ethan Finlay would convert the penalty kick given in the 79th minute, giving Columbus the consolation goal. Chicago would go on to defeat Crew SC, 2-1. This marks six straight years that Columbus has been knocked out of US Open Cup in the Round Of 16.
Hello, and welcome to VAVEL USA’s LIVE coverage of Major League Soccer 2016. My name is Tyler Fisher and I will provide you with LIVE commentary, updates, and scores of Columbus Crew SC, and Sporting Kansas City! So sit back, relax, and get ready for this Eastern Conference showdown!