KANSAS CITY, Kan. (March 5, 2018)- It may not have been Sporting KC’s most clinical performance of the year, but they wound up with all three points regardless. Daniel Salloi’s strike in the sixteenth minute provided the lone goal for the night as Sporting KC defeat Colorado 1-0.

Sporting KC defeat Colorado Rapids

Sporting KC opened the scoring in the sixteenth minute off a re-cycled set piece. The initial ball in was cleared to Matt Besler who played a searching ball over the top to Ike Opara. His header across the face of goal fell to a flying Khiry Shelton who managed to somehow put the ball off the upright twice with his diving header. The second rebound fell to Daniel Salloi who roofed the ball into the net for his second of the season.

Salloi looked lively the whole night, picking up diagonal balls, running at Colorado’s back line, and it looked like his goal gave him quite a bit of confidence to get moving in the attack. He later hit the crossbar and came close on a number of chances.

Dominique Badji came the closest to scoring for the Rapids, as he burst in on goal all alone with Tim Melia. His strike was on target if he had been aiming for Melia’s water bottle. It went narrowly wide, leaving Badji scratching his head.

Sporting KC held on though and finished the night with a set piece clearance to keep the score 1-0.

Three Things

1. Sporting KC could’ve won by more than a goal. Salloi looked dangerous all night, and had a few golden opportunities. They did a good job of creating good chances against a resolute Rapids defense. The last time they faced a 3-5-2, or some iteration of that, it ended 6-0. They created the chances tonight, just didn’t finish them.
2. The Rapids did a good job of disrupting Sporting KC. They fouled Ilie Sanchez every time they got a chance, and didn’t receive a persistent infringement yellow card until the 88th minute. They did a good job of limiting Russell’s time on the ball as well. Kip Colvey was their main weak link though out wide, and Daniel Salloi ran him ragged.
3. Sporting KC still look the class of the Western Conference. They’ve showed they can finish a lot of the chances that went begging on the night, so most shouldn’t be worried about the fact it only finished 1-0. With Felipe Gutierrez out for some time, it may look like this for Sporting KC on many of the nights ahead.