After last week’s scorcher at CM Park against the Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kansas City seemed due for a second with another July afternoon kick off against the Portland Timbers. As luck would have it, a storm rolled in and while the temperature cooled, the game heated up. These two teams have always had close results. This week, all three points went to SKC for manager Peter Vermes’ 100th win with the club thanks to Jacob Peterson.
Both sides were missing key players due to injuries and suspensions. Notably for the Timbers was Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgewell. Borchers is a solid presence on both ends of the field. Without those two, Portland’s back line was weak and unaccustomed to playing together.
SKC had to make a surprise goalkeeping change after local hero Tim Melia suffered back spasms yesterday. Alec Kann praised his time with USL side Swope Park Rangers to prepare him for this game. Ike Opara said he wasn’t worried about Kann handling the goal. “When you have a guy that cool and confident behind you, you’re not worried about where the ball is going.” Opara himself came off with an injury, but it was nothing serious.
Kann had one huge save early in the first half that kept the momentum with Sporting. Vermes said that effort changed the game. It wasn’t long after that when Benny Feilhaber lined up over a dead ball and sent it in behind the line to Jacob Peterson. It was the only goal of the game and Peterson’s second in two for the first time since 2006.
Peterson has always been a force in the box for Sporting, but he’s been more controlled in his placement and runs and the results have been game winning.
Sporting travel to Portland next week in what Timbers coach Caleb Porter equated to a playoff series. “You learn from this game and their previous games and it’s just like the playoffs with a home and away series…It is most definitely a chess match.”
