Sporting Kansas City vs. FC Dallas | MLS Match Preview

MLSsoccer staff

SPORTING KANSAS CITY vs FC DALLAS
SPORTING PARK, Kansas City, Kan.
September 18, 2015 (WEEK 29, MLS Game #286)
6 p.m. CT (UniMás; UDN; KMCI-38)

It’s a critical contest in the Western Conference on Viernes de Fútbol when Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas meet for a third time this season at Sporting Park. The teams are separated by six points in the division, both sitting inside the top six and playoff positions. Sporting return home after their winless run was extended to five games with a 3-1 loss at Orlando City SC last weekend. FC Dallas extended their winning run to three matches in a 2-1 win against New York FC last Saturday at Toyota Stadium.

Sporting saw their winless streak extended to five games with a fourth loss in that time, after a 3-1 defeat by Orlando City SC on Sunday evening at the Citrus Bowl. Benny Feilhaber collected an assist on the SKC goal, moving into a tie in the MLS assist standings with 14 for the season.
FC Dallas won for a third consecutive match – their eighth victory in their last 11 league games – in a 2-1 win against New York City FC on Saturday evening at Toyota Stadium. Michel scored a gol olimpico – a goal directly from a corner kick – for the second time in his MLS career.
The teams are meeting for the third time this season. Krisztian Nemeth, Benny Feilhaber, Kevin Ellis and Graham Zusi all scored as Sporting cruised to a 4-0 win May 29 at Sporting Park. Blas Perez scored on either side of halftime and Fabian Castillo put the match away with a late goal as FC Dallas claimed a 3-1 win March 14 at Toyota Stadium.
The wins are the first for either team in the all-time series since 2012, when Sporting won 2-1 in Kansas City. The last FCD victory had come in 2011, a 3-2 at Sporting Park on Aug. 27.

REFEREE: Mark Geiger. AR1 (bench): Paul Scott; AR2 (opposite): Jonathan Johnson; 4th: Hilario Grajeda
MLS Career: 143 games; FC/gm: 26.6; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 34; pens: 44

DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE (PDF)

SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: KC: Matt Besler, Benny Feilhaber, Paulo Nagamura … DAL: Matt Hedges
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: KC: Roger Espinoza, Soni Mustivar, Kevin Ellis, Dom Dwyer … DAL: Kellyn Acosta, Ryan Hollingshead, Victor Ulloa, Dan Kennedy
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (51 meetings): Sporting 21 wins (2 shootout), 76 goals …FC Dallas 20 wins (1 shootout), 83 goals …Ties 10
AT KC (26 meetings): Sporting 12 wins (0 shootout), 48 goals … FC Dallas 8 wins (1 shootout), 34 goals … Ties 6"
2015 (MLS)
3/14: DAL 3, KC 1 (Perez 17, 52; Castillo 73 – Espinoza 44)
5/29: KC 4, DAL 0 (Nemeth 19; Feilhaber 51; Ellis 57; Zusi 64)

The teams are meeting for the third time this season. Krisztian Nemeth, Benny Feilhaber, Kevin Ellis and Graham Zusi all scored as Sporting cruised to a 4-0 win May 29 at Sporting Park. Blas Perez scored on either side of halftime and Fabian Castillo put the match away with a late goal as FC Dallas claimed a 3-1 win March 14 at Toyota Stadium.
The wins are the first for either team in the all-time series since 2012, when Sporting won 2-1 in Kansas City. The last FCD victory had come in 2011, a 3-2 at Sporting Park on Aug. 27.
Coaches record: Peter Vermes vs. DAL: P10 W4 L4 D2 … Oscar Pareja vs. KC: P5 W1 L2 D2