|
Charles Gooch
The Kansas City Star
In 17 years of existence, Kansas City have never started a season with four-straight wins. Until now, of course.
With its 1-0 win over Chivas USA on Sunday night, Sporting Kansas City stay on top of the Major League Soccer table with 12 points heading into Round 5 of matches.
Compared to last year, Sporting didn't earn its fourth victory until June 25 or its 12th point until June 17th.
Kansas City are 10-2-3 its last 15 games (playoffs and regular season) dating back to last September. In that same span, its record is 3-1-1 with only two goals allowed on the road.
Here are some more leftover stats, notes and quotes from the victory.
• Sporting Kansas City are the only team in MLS with four wins and are the only squad without a loss or draw this season.
• Still on pace for a 102-point season with a mere 30 games remaining.
• The most points ever earned in a single MLS season: 68 by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1998. There were 32 matches that season.
• The most points earned in a 34-match season: 67 by the Galaxy last year.
• KC have a league best +6 goal differential.
• Jimmy Nielsen leads MLS 'keepers with 4 wins and 3 shutouts. (He's tied with Vancouver's Joe Cannon and San Jose's Jon Busch for the league lead in shutouts.)
• Speaking of shutouts, Nielsen earned his 20th in his three-year MLS career. His goals allowed average this season is 0.25.
• The only goal against KC thus far came off a free kick from the foot of Dallas' Ricardo Villar.
• Only Vancouver (0) have allowed fewer goals scored this season.
• The win last night was KC's second on the road in 2012. In 2011, KC's second road win came on June 12 against Dallas -- the 11th road game of the season.
• C.J. Sapong picked up his third goal of the 2012 season, tied for fifth-most in the league.
• KC are 8-0-0 when Sapong scores a goal.
Sapong: "It feels amazing, we probably haven't played to our fullest potential yet, but we're still grinding out those wins and that's a good sign so hopefully we'll just keep riding that and then by the middle of the season be playing our best soccer."
• Graham Zusi picked up his fifth assist on the season, which leads all of MLS. The assist was the seventh game-winning helper of his career and third of the '12 season. He's the only player in MLS with multiple game-winning assists this year.
• Chivas defender Ante Jazic didn't mince his words when asked about the goal: "A weak goal that we shouldn't give up, we were caught in a bad turnover in the middle of the park. We were caught sleeping as a backline when the ball hits the crossbar, just amateur basically."
• Quote of the night from Chivas midfielder Laurent Courtois: "You can't get a goal against us starting from a throw in, that's not possible and this we did again."
• The KC shot parade continued with 19 for KC (10 were on target). Chivas only had 6 (though none on target). It's the fourth-straight game KC has out-shot its opponents by a double-digit margin this season.
• Kansas City have 81 shots on goal this season. The next closest team in MLS is Montreal with 58.
• Kei Kamara -- who leads the league with 28 shots this season -- only had 4 last night.
• On the other side of that ledger, KC's defense didn't allow a single shot on goal. It is the fourth-time in club history that a KC 'keeper faced no shots.
• On the season, Sporting have allowed only 32 shots on goal.
• Former KC midfielder Ryan Smith suffered five fouls last night -- tied for most by a player in an MLS match in 2012. Hmmmmmm.
|