Portland Timbers vs. Sporting Kansas City | MLS Match Preview

Portland Timbers vs. Sporting Kansas City, October 3, 2015 - ExLink

PORTLAND TIMBERS vs. SPORTING KANSAS CITY
PROVIDENCE PARK, Portland, Ore.
October 3, 2015 (WEEK 31, MLS Game #314)
10:30 p.m. ET (MLS LIVE)

A massive match right on the red line kicks off when the Portland Timbers play host to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday evening at Providence Park. The two clubs hold the final two places in the top six in the Western Conference – Sporting sitting in fifth place, one point ahead of the Timbers, who are just a single point further ahead of seventh-place San Jose. The Timbers come into the match having put an end to their four-game winless run with a 2-1 win at Columbus Crew SC last weekend, while Sporting reached a 1-1 draw with Seattle Sounders FC at home last weekend, ahead of their U.S. Open Cup victory at midweek against Philadelphia Union.


  • The Timbers put an end to their four-game winless slide, as Fanendo Adi again scored a pair of goals in a 2-1 win at Columbus Crew SC. In the 13 games when Adi has scored a goal (21 goals in all), he’s scored two goals in eight of those games, including four times this season.
  • Sporting headed into their U.S. Open Cup Final with Philadelphia Union with a dramatic draw, as Dom Dwyer scored a late equalizer for a 1-1 draw with Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday afternoon at Sporting Park. It was Dwyer’s 11th goal of the season.
  • The teams are meeting for the third time this season, reaching a pair of scoreless draws, the first March 21 at Sporting Park, and the second Sept. 9 at Providence Park.
  • The road team has won three of the seven meetings all-time in the series. Sporting have come away with points on three of their four visits to Providence Park, including two victories.
  • The Timbers have come away with points on each of their last two visits to Sporting Park. The Timbers also won a fifth-round match in the U.S. Open Cup last year in Kansas City.


DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE (PDF)

REFEREE: Ismail Elfath. AR1 (bench): Eric Boria; AR2 (opposite): Adam Garner; 4th: Baboucarr Jallow


MLS Career: 59 games; FC/gm: 24.9; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 15; pens: 17


SUSPENDED: KC: Paulo Nagamura (caution accumulation; through Oct. 4)


WARNINGS:


SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: POR: Diego Chara, Alvas Powell | KC: Soni Mustivar


SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: POR: Rodney Wallace, Diego Valeri, Lucas Melano | KC: Roger Espinoza, Kevin Ellis, Dom Dwyer, Seth Sinovic


DISABLED LIST: none


INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none


HEAD-TO-HEAD

ALL-TIME (7 meetings): Timbers 2 wins, 6 goals | Sporting KC 3 wins, 8 goals | Ties 2


AT PORTLAND (4 meetings): Timbers 1 win, 2 goals | Sporting KC 2 wins, 3 goals | Ties 1


2015 (MLS):


3/21: KC 0, POR 0


9/9: POR 0, KC 0


  • The teams are meeting for the third time this season, reaching a pair of scoreless draws, the first March 21 at Sporting Park, and the second Sept. 9 at Providence Park.
  • The road team has won three of the seven meetings all-time in the series. Sporting have come away with points on three of their four visits to Providence Park, including two victories.
  • The Timbers have come away with points on each of their last two visits to Sporting Park. The Timbers also won a fifth-round match in the U.S. Open Cup last year in Kansas City.
  • Coaches record: Peter Vermes vs. POR: P7 W3 L2 D2 | Caleb Porter vs. KC: P4 W1 L1 D2


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