Both Sporting Kansas City and Chicago Fire entered Sporting Park Friday night with scoreless draws at their back. In fact, Chicago Fire’s last draw officially earned the team the title of Draw Kings and many other variations of the same. The Fire held true to all the nicknames until the 80th minute of the game.
Sporting KC earn playoff spot with win over Chicago Fire
It was a cold night, but both sides put on pressure immediately. Matt Watson of Chicago Fire was given a yellow card in the fourth minute for one of the many tackles that happened in midfield. SKC’s Benny Feilhaber was taken down in the box by Lovel Palmer, giving Sporting the penalty kick at 11 minutes.
Dominic Dwyer set up the PK but fired the shot just over the top of the net, giving the Fire hope to defend their title.
Fire had plenty of chances to score around the 20th minute, but Andy Gruenebaum proved he earned his spot in the starting lineup with save after save. In the 22nd minute of the game, Sean Johnson took his turn making some great saves on the Fire’s end.
Quincy Amarikwa got a great shot off but once again Gruenebaum knocked it out, giving the Fire their second corner kick of the game. At 27 minutes, it was starting to look like this would end up in another scoreless draw. Feilhaber had a chance to put Sporting up at 29 and it really looked like it would happen that time. Johnson got a hand on the ball, but it kept going and hit the post, almost creeped in but Johnson grabbed it.
Sporting had a lot of control until Amarikwa made a fancy run down the field, but once again, his shot was blocked. Toni Dovale sent a shot just wide of the posts. Fire had another chance with with Patrick Nyarko, but his shot was wide, too. Neither side could put a number on the board.
From the 33rd minute until half, this game was played strictly in midfield. Possession changed, but no one could get the ball down the field. Both teams were fighting for it and the whistle was blown with 0-0 on the scoreboard.
The weather, almost in attempt to add despair to the crowd at Sporting Park, took a turn right as the second half was to begin. Rain started pouring down on the field as the ball was set.
Five minutes into the second half and Feilhaber takes another shot that’s once again saved by Johnson. After more battles in the midfield, Florent Sinama-Pongolle got a shot off at 54, but his sailed high over Gruenebaum’s goal. Dwyer, in an attempt to redeem himself from the earlier PK miss, sent a shot by Johnson, but it was wide. He tried again a minute later, but was taken down by Jeff Larentowicz. Larentowicz earned a yellow card and once again, no one could get the ball in the net.
Chicago earned a few corners, but Sporting did some good defending and got the ball out of the area each time. Sporting had a few shots, but Johnson stepped up. At the 67th minute, C.J. Sapong was subbed on for Dovale, hoping to make a difference. Sanna Nyassi came on for Nyarko in the 69th minute for the Fire, but the game wasn’t looking any different.
Matt Besler earned a yellow, the first for Sporting this game, for a bad tackle in the midfield. Graham Zusi took his turn taking a wide shot in the 74th minute. Jacob Peterson sent a ball in the area and even though it was deflected, Sporting remained in control and it finally looked like something could happen.
80 minutes into the game and Zusi booted the ball from outside the box and it flew straight into the back of the net. The rain was still falling on Sporting Park, but no spirits were dampened in the supporters section.
Both teams made more substitutions before the game ended, with the Fire hoping to pull another draw, and Sporting hoping to keep their lead. Grant Ward came on for Harrison Shipp in the 83rd minute for the Fire. Mikey Lopez and Soony Saad replaced Jacob Peterson at 86 and Zusi at 90, respectively.
Four minutes of stoppage time was added to the clock, but right away Dwyer headed a cross home and put Sporting up 2-0.
With this win, Sporting Kansas City has clinched their spot in the playoffs. The rain ended, the players gave brief interviews, clearly on cloud nine, and even Peter Vermes was struggling to speak without his voice shaking from excitement. Vermes is looking forward saying, “it’s very intense, and we have to be ready for that.”
Gruenebaum said after the match that the team “can’t take anything for granted…We have a lot of work to do to really make sure we have a good run, and hopefully we can do that.” Yes, hopefully you can.
Despite Chicago’s loss, Johnson had some words of wisdom that apply to every team out there: “We have everything to play for, especially the crest on our chest.”
Magic has been happening all over Kansas City and MLS playoffs are just around the corner.
Thank you for reading. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter –@LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands at r/football.
