It took Sporting Kansas City a bit to find the back of the net, but Saturday nonetheless proved to be a comfortable day at the office.
Sporting KC posted a comprehensive 3-0 home win over a flat Minnesota United side at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday evening. Ike Opara scored the winner for Kansas City in first-half stoppage time, and Jimmy Medranda and Saad Abdul-Salaam got in on the fun with second-half tallies.
Minnesota did little to trouble Sporting KC in the Western Conference fixture. The expansion club lost the possession battle and put just one shot on frame.
Goals
Three Things
- IN CONTROL: It took a mere few seconds to see that Sporting Kansas City were the better team in this one. Sporting KC came out aggressively from the start and put Minnesota United on their heels (more on that in a bit) with dangerous wing play. The dynamic Gerso was very involved, and his strong contributions out wide gave Sporting KC the recipe they needed to pull out the victory.
- DEFENSE LEADS THE WAY: While Kansas City overpowered Minnesota from start to finish, it was players on the home side's back line that really made the difference and not only because they posted a shutout. Ike Opara broke the deadlock with an impressive low line drive from distance that zipped into the back of the net, and Saad Abdul-Salaam scored his first MLS goal with his effort from in close. Quite a solid day for a defense that was littered with questions heading into this one.
- UGLY REMINDER: Minnesota United had been showing improvements in recent weeks, but their performance on Saturday was reminiscent of the disastrous ones they put forth at the start of the year. Minnesota looked overmatched from the first minute on, especially when having to defend from wide spots, and they showed little fight throughout the course of the 90 minutes. Minnesota were outshot 27-7 on the day, and will be hoping this poor showing was just a minor setback and not the start of another bad run of form.
Next Up
- SKC: Saturday, June 10 – vs. Montreal Impact (8 pm ET | TVAS; MLS LIVE in the US)
- MIN: US Open Cup: Wednesday, June 14 – at Sporting Kansas City (8:30 pm ET | Youtube.com/ussoccer)
