Thanks for following along with me today from Children's Mercy Park, I'm Mason Jones for VAVEL USA signing off.
Kansas City come away with a deserved win after goals from Dom Dwyer and Jacob Peterson after Cyle Larin tapped in a goal for Orlando.
FULL TIME: Sporting Kansas City 2 Orlando City 1
90+3' - Substitution for SKC: Roger Espinoza makes way for Paulo Nagamura
91' - The 4th official has indicated that there will be 5 minutes of additional time
89' - Medranda fires a ball across the area towards Dwyer it reaches him and two defenders and it's behind for a corner. Nothing comes of the following corner.
87' - Substitution by SKC: Benny Feilhaber comes off for Lawrence Olum
86' Ceren is replaced by Carlos Rivas after Ceren is strechered off the field after an apparent injury following the tackle by Coelho.
Coelho recieves the card for a hard tackle on Ceren
83' - Yellow Card for Nuno Coelho of Sporting Kanas City
Another great chip into the box by Espinoza finds the head of Peterson who headed it home
79' - GOOAAALLLL Kansas City! Jacob Peterson for the 1st time this campaign!!
78'- Orlando have two players down, Mateos and Carrasco. Both get back up no problem and are ready to go.
Before that goal, Sporting went 314 minutes on the pitch without a goal.
That was Sporting's 12th shot on goal and they finally get their reward
74' - GOOOAAAALLLLLL SPORTING KANSAS CITY, Dom Dwyer with the finish. Roger Espinoza scooped the ball into the box to Peterson who headed to Dwyer and he finished it off.
73' - Another chance for Sporting, Espinoza heads the ball towards goal but the keeper and the man on the line keep it from going in
72' - Zusi fires a cross into the box, Bendik barely gets a hand to it and it's behind for a corner
71' - Change for Orlando: Julio Baptista is on for Cyle Larin
It does appear that Cyle Larin has been given credit for the 67th Minute goal by the Lions
68' - Substitution for Kansas City: Brad Davis is replaced by Jacob Peterson
67' - GOOAAALLL Orlando City, following a corner there was a scramble at the far post. It appears Kyle Larin may have gotten the final touch.
65' - Substitution by Orlando: Luke Boden is onto replace Brek Shea
64' - Zusi has a go from outside the box but fires well wide
63' - Sporting attack after a couple of good chances by Orlando, but the can't find the target
61' - Sporting go on the counter, Espinoza fires a cross into the box and it's headed straight to the keeper by Feilhaber
58' - Another Dwyer chance, he recives the ball from Espinoza but his shot is right at the goalkeeper
57' - Dwyer intercepts a ball and fires it just past the far post
56' - The corner is headed by Abdul-Salaam, his headed is saved at the near post by Bendik! Sporting get another shot on goal but it is saved as well.
56' - Epinoza delivers a cross into the box, it find Dom Dwyer, his shot deflects out for a corner
54' - Epinoza flicks the corner delivery backwards and straight into the arms on Bendik
54' - Abdul-Salaam bangs a cross off the defender to win a corner
53' - Both Feilhaber and Larin are down in the center circle after a collision, neither will require treatment
48' - Feilhaber blasts the freekick into the wall, Medranda stops the counter attack with a tackle and will recieve a YELLOW CARD.
48' - Handball is whistled on the edge of the ark against Orlando, SKC will have a freekick from a great spot
The 2nd Half is underway here in Kansas City!!
We're just about ready to begin the 2nd half, KC had lots of chances in the first half and could be up 2 or 3 goals. But the second half will begin 0-0 here at Children's Mercy Park.
Halftime: Sporting Kansas City 0 Orlando City 0
45+1' - Sporting have a corner, it's delivered in and Bendik snatches it from the air.
Ceren appears to be the player down and reciving treatment.
45' - An Orlando City player is down inside his own box, Sporting continues to play on. Dwyer and Zusi both have shots at goal, Zusi's shot goes wide and the player can finally recieve treatment.
43' - Dom Dwyer shots and scored from just inside the area. BUT he was offside, but just by the smallest of margins.
42' - Another chance for Orlando as Molino is on the recieving end of a cross, but has his shot deflected into the arms of Tim Melia
41' - Shea again gets into the Sporting area, Melia comes scrambling out to get the ball but the cross is delivered and cleared away
40' - It appears he will be alright and is ready to enter the game once again
39' - Brek Shea is now recieving treatment after he went flying out and of bounds.
37' - Another through ball from Kaka finds Shea on the left side, he fires the cross into the box but Melia tips it away as Shea flies out of bounds
36' - Abdul-Salaam delivers the ball to Davis on the edge of the box, he takes the shot but it's not anywhere close to hitting the target
34' - Dwyer fights his way into the Orlando box, he squares the ball back but nobody is on the end of it. Medranda gets the ball and takes a shot from outside the area but slices it well wide
32' - Sporting have a throw, Besler throws the ball long into the box, Dwyer gets on the end of it but heads the ball well wide
28' - A horrible clearance from Redding at about 2o yards outside the box, gives Davis the ball, he drives straight into the box but fires the shot right at Bendik
25' - Kaka recieves a layoff at the edge of the box but he curls the shot high and wide
22' - A ball delivered into the box from Espinoza finds Dwyer but he flicks it just wide of the post
21' - Brek Shea delivers a flying ball across the 6 yard box after a great pass from Kaka. But Larin can't get on the end of the cross.
17' - A ball over the top from Medranda to Dom Dwyer is trouble but Bendik comes out to snatch it out of the air at the edge of the box and he slams into Dwyer.
13'- Zusi recieves a pass from Espinoza in the middle of the Orlando box, but he can't control and the ball is cleared away
13' - Dom Dwyer exited the pitch momentarily to change his boots
11' - Great chance for Zusi, Shea tried to clear the ball away but it hit Zusi in the chest, but he fired wide
9' - Some great play from Sporting at the edge of the Orlando box, but a pass pops up on Davis's hand. Foul is called
7' - Great chance for Orlando, Kaka delivered a through ball to Brek Shea who was in the box, he fired across missing a goal by the slimmest of margins. He could've squared it back for Larin for an easy tap in.
3' - Dwyer lays one off to Zusi at the edge of the box, he curls the shot off the crossbar!
2' - Early chance for KC, Abdul-Salaam delivers a ball into the box but Brad Davis can't get on the end of it
1' - Roger Espinoza is fouled at midfield, SKC with an early freekick
Here we go! Sporting Kansas City - Orlando City is underway!!
The National Anthem is over. Teams are gearing up for kick-off.
Teams are out on to the field, waiting on the National Anthem
14:47 - We are 10 minutes way from kick off here at Children's Mercy Park
Both sides are now out on the pitch to begin warm-ups. We are about 30 minutes away from kick-off.
If you are wondering how you can watch the game today, it will be nationally televised on ESPN.
The starting line-up for the visiting Orlando City looks like this: Bendik; Shea, Mateos, Redding, Ramos; Carrasco, Ceren, Kaka; Nocerino, Larin, Molino
Here's the XI for Sporting Kansas City: Melia; Medranda, Besler (C), Coehlo, Abdul-Salaam; Espinoza, Mustivar, Feilhaber; Zusi, Dwyer, Davis
The goalkeepers for both teams are out on the field to begin warm-ups.
Hello and welcome to Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, KS. It's a beautiful sunny day in the KC Metro today! We are around an hour away from kick-off.
It’s difficult to call whether this game will be a tight affair or a goal fest. Both teams will look to keep the other off the board so the early minutes could be a cagey affair. Expect the second half to be open, Sporting KC could push hard for the win at home with the crowd behind them. If Orlando City don’t have the lead going into the last minutes of the game they will most likely close up shop and hope to get a point. The crowd could be a factor with many SKC supporters upset over recent results, they will either rally behind Sporting or be very critical of any mistakes.
Orlando City, on the other hand, have scored 16 goals and conceded 14 this campaign. Half the goals they’ve given up this season (7) have come in their last 3 away games against the Revs, Red Bulls and Union. Their only other road game of the year was at Yankee Stadium against NYCFC when they came away with a 1-0 victory.
This game will be vital from a Sporting Kansas City standpoint. Not just to snap their winless streak but to snap a scoreless streak. KC has not scored since the Brad Davis curling wonder goal against the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 30th minute of that game. Don’t do the math, we’ve got it, that’s 240 minutes without a goal. Sporting haven’t scored a lot this season, with only 11 goals they sit only in front of Seattle Sounders with 10 and Chicago Fire with 8 at the bottom of the league.
The biggest headline coming into this matchup is Orlando’s coach, Adrian Heath will be suspended. His crime? Retrieving a ball off the pitch last week against Red Bulls. He’ll have to prepare the team this week with extra effort because he will not be allowed at Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday afternoon.
Sporting Kansas City are in 7th as well, in the Western conference standings with 14 points, below the red line. KC have played the most games of anyone already this season with 12 matches played (tied with Vancouver and Dallas). It is necessary for Sporting to have a great run of form this summer with CONCACAF Champions League play coming this fall, along with US Open Cup play.
Orlando City currently sit 7th in the Eastern conference standings with 11 points from 9 games. They are below/above the red line coming into this matchup. The Lions need a good run of form in the summer months to earn their first-ever trip to the playoffs.
Sporting KC and Orlando are more connected than most MLS franchises, the Lions were Sporting’s USL affiliate during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Many of Kansas City’s players, such as Dom Dwyer, Kevin Ellis and Jon Kempin played for Orlando City during their season’s of affiliation with Sporting.
Orlando City have never before visited Kansas City, this will be their first visit to Children’s Mercy Park since they entered the league. SKC and the Lions have only met once before in MLS, last year in Florida. Orlando defeated Sporting 3-1 on that occasion. Krisztian Nemeth scored the only goal for KC on that day, he has since departed the club. Dom Dwyer was sent off in the 87th minute of that game, against the club he spent a year on loan with.
Sporting Kansas City have been on an equally bad run of form as Orlando. SKC have lost their last 2 matches against Houston Dynamo and Colorado Rapids. Sporting haven’t won since April 9th against the Red Bulls, since then SKC have drawn twice and suffered five defeats. Although Sporting have had a bad time lately, the argument can be made that they have played well. Except for the match in Houston against the Dynamo when they were hopeless. SKC haven’t earned a point since May 1st against the Galaxy.
Much like the home team, the visitors, Orlando City, are going through a rough patch lately. The team from Florida haven’t won a game since April 3rd when they beat the Timbers 4-1. Since then, Orlando have suffered 2 defeats and drawn on 3 occasions. During this stretch the Lions have played New York Red Bulls twice, losing 3-2 on April 24th and drawing 1-1 last Friday. Orlando played New England Revolution the week before last and drew 1-1. After 2 straight draws, the Lions will be looking to earn their first win in the month of May.
Hello and welcome to VAVEL USA’s Live coverage of Sporting Kansas City - Orlando City. My name is Mason Jones and I’m happy to bring you all the action from Children’s Mercy Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 CT on Sunday afternoon. Until then, I will walk you through the build-up to the game.