KANSAS CITY, Kansas (AP) – The second-place teams in each conference square off in a critical midweek contest as Sporting Kansas City hosts the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night at Children’s Mercy Park.
Sporting KC (4-1-3, 15 points) is fresh off a convincing 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Goalkeeper Tim Melia leads MLS in nearly every significant keeper stat, including clean sheets (five), goals allowed (three), goals allowed per game (0.38) and save percentage (83.3).
New York (5-3-1, 16 points) is carrying a three-match winning streak into the contest. In their recent three-game homestand, the Red Bulls did not trail at any point and claimed all nine points available, allowing only one goal. They extended their home unbeaten string to 19 matches (16-0-3), including 12 clean sheets.
Fortunately for Sporting, this match is in Kansas City, where it has a club-record 13-match unbeaten streak (10-0-3).
“It’s always nice to play at home,” Sporting manager Peter Vermes said. “At the same time, it’s always incumbent on the home team to be the aggressors. New York is a very good team. From front to back, they’re a tough team to play against. You have to keep your concentration for 90-plus minutes.”
The comments about the opposition sound pretty much the same from both sides.
“It will be a big test,” Red Bulls midfielder Felipe said. “Our team will be up for the challenge.
“Kansas City is very competitive. They will fight throughout the whole game. It will be a good test for us, because we’re used to it. We train every day with high intensity.”
The match figures to be a low-scoring contest. Only four Red Bulls have scored, led by Bradley Wright-Phillips’s four goals. Goalkeeper Luis Robles is third in MLS with 28 saves and fifth with a 1.11 goals-against average.
Dom Dwyer leads Sporting KC with three goals, all coming in the last four games. It was his first with his off-right foot and only the seventh right-footed goal in his 55 career MLS goals.
Benny Feilhaber and newcomer Gerso Fernandes each have scored twice.
The Red Bulls and Sporting KC are deadlocked 20-20-13 all-time, but Sporting owns a 14-9-5 advantage at home.
Former Sporting KC defender Aurelien Collin is not expected to make the trip. He missed the Red Bulls’ last match with a groin strain.
