KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Sporting Kansas City came to play Wednesday night in front of a capacity crowd at Sporting Park, but despite taking dozens of shots at goal, the home club were unable to leave the pitch with a win, blowing a 1-0 lead to finish in a 1-1 draw against the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps.
Defender Aurélien Collin put the hosts up 1-0 shortly after the half-hour, but a free-kick golazo from Camilo in the dying seconds of the half salvaged the match for Vancouver.
The Whitecaps (7-5-5) had a three-match winning streak snapped, while Sporting (7-5-6) are unbeaten in three straight but have won just one of their last six. Sporting remain unbeaten (8-0-2) when Collin finds the net.
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Kansas City came out pressing hard in Vancouver's half of the pitch, with aggressive runs from wingers Kei Kamara and Soony Saad, and it paid off when Collin's second-effort score put Sporting up 1-0 in the 35th minute.
Uri Rosell sent a long diagonal ball to the top right of the area, and Chance Myers headed it to Collin at the corner of the 6-yard box. Collin's first shot deflected off defender Johnny Leverón, but Collin collected the rebound and put it past Brad Knighton for his third goal of the season.
The lead didn't make it to the half, though, as Sporting surrendered a one-goal advantage for the fifth time in its last four games.
A foul by Saad in the 45th minute gave the Whitecaps a restart 25 yards out, and Camilo delivered the equalizer, his team-leading 10th of the season. Goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen could only watch the Brazilian's shot, a dipping blast into the upper right of the goal.
OPTA Chalkboard: Sporting Kansas City peppers goal, but can't find finishing touch
The best chance for either team to pick up all three points in the second half came in the 76th minute. Sporting's Graham Zusi sold a cross to gain space, then fired a shot from the edge of the area that beat Knighton but smacked off the left post and was cleared away.
Sporting continued to apply pressure to Knighton and the Whitecaps goal in the final half-hour, but were unable to put anything into the back of the net.
Both teams are in action this weekend, with Vancouver hosting Cascadia rival Seattle Sounders on Saturday and Sporting traveling to Illinois to take on red-hot Chicago Fire on Sunday.
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/Graham-Zusi">Graham Zusi</a> |
Played with incredible pace for the entire 90 minutes, constantly finding holes in the Whitecaps defense, creating chances for his teammates |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/Camilo-Sanvezzo">Camilo Sanvezzo</a> |
The Brazilian was the lone bright star for the Whitecaps, tallying a Goal of the Week caliber strike on a free kick to equalize the match |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/Benny-Feilhaber">Benny Feilhaber</a> |
With a lot to prove to his coach, the SKC midfielder came on in the second half and was the sparkplug that led to several late-game opportunities |
