Sporting Kansas City 2, Minnesota United FC 0 | 2018 MLS Match Recap

Sporting Kansas City extended its clean sheet streak to four in a 2-0 win Saturday over Minnesota United FC.

After an evenly matched first half, coach Peter Vermes opted to substitute Felipe Gutierrez out for Yohan Croizet to open up the middle of the field. Ninety seconds after the restart, Midfielder Johnny Russell received a pass from Diego Rubio and quickly turned to pass the ball off to Croizet inside the penalty box. Croizet touched the ball around defender Michael Boxall before making a diving shot past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. 

Refusing to sit back, second-in-the-West SKC pushed into the final third again. On Rubio's first shot of the game, he added the insurance goal for Sporting.

Goalkeeper Tim Melia recorded a career-best 11th clean sheet. He made eight saves against Minnesota, who was playing without its key goalscorer Darwin Quintero. 

Goals

• 48' – SKC –  Yohan Croizet | WATCH
• 62' – SKC – Diego Rubio | WATCH

Three Things 

THE BIG PICTURE: Sporting's four-match clean sheet streak is impressive, but, more importantly, boosts them into second place in the standings just one point behind FC Dallas. Sporting's goal differential is plus-17 compared to FC Dallas' plus-9. It wasn't the prettiest win Sporting has put together this season, but pretty isn't a requirement for collecting three points.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH
: Croizet's finish marked the 13th time a substitute has come off the bench in a major way. He scored 90 seconds after stepping on to the pitch. 

MAN OF THE MATCH
: Melia's eight saves were vital in keeping the clean sheet of an otherwise evenly matched game.

Next Up

• Sporting: Saturday, September 1 at Seattle (4 pm ET | UniMas, UDN - Full TV & streaming info)
• Minnesota: Wednesday September 12 at D.C. United (7:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info)