Game Guide: Sporting KC vs Chicago Fire by Sporting Kansas City

SPORTING KANSAS CITY vs. CHICAGO FIRE CHILDREN’S MERCY PARK, Kansas City, Kan. 7 p.m. CT (FS-KC+; CSN-Chi+)

Saturday, July 29 (Week 21, MLS Game #234)

SPORTING KANSAS CITY 2017 CAREER No. Player Pos Ht Wt Birthdate Birthplace GP GS G A GP GS G A GK 6-5 185 08/30/1995 Chula Vista, CA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Adrian Zendejas DF 6-1 175 04/24/1997 Napoleon, OH 2 2 0 0 12 8 0 0 2 Erik Palmer-Brown 3 Ike Opara DF 6-2 180 02/21/1989 Durham, NC 18 18 2 0 105 79 11 3 4 Kevin Ellis DF 5-9 160 06/30/1991 Kansas City, MO 5 5 0 0 68 58 5 5 5 Matt Besler DF 6-0 170 02/11/1987 Kansas City, MO 17 17 0 3 217 211 3 14 6 Ilie Sanchez MF 5-11 170 11/21/1990 Barcelona, Spain 21 21 0 1 21 21 0 1 7 Gerso Fernandes FW 5-8 140 02/21/1991 Bissau, Guinea-Bissau 21 20 6 1 21 20 6 1 Graham Zusi DF 5-10 160 08/18/1986 Orlando, FL 16 15 0 3 210 170 26 51 8 9 Latif Blessing FW 5-7 140 12/30/1996 Accra, Ghana 13 9 2 0 13 9 2 0 10 Benny Feilhaber MF 5-9 160 01/19/1985 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 19 18 3 3 191 174 32 50 FW 5-11 170 05/15/1993 Santiago, Chile 4 2 1 0 19 5 2 0 11 Diego Rubio 15 Seth Sinovic DF 5-10 170 01/28/1987 Kansas City, MO 21 21 1 1 174 167 1 8 Saad Abdul-Salaam DF 6-4 185 09/08/1991 Charlotte, NC 7 5 1 0 59 41 1 7 17 Cristian Lobato MF 5-11 160 03/07/1989 Esparreguera, Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 21 Andrew Dykstra GK 6-4 195 01/02/1986 Honolulu, HI 0 0 0 0 31 31 0 1 22 Soony Saad FW 5-10 165 08/17/1992 Dearborn, MI 10 5 0 1 68 31 8 7 23 Colton Storm DF 5-10 175 07/06/1994 Mechanicsburg, PA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 Cameron Iwasa FW 5-10 175 07/07/1993 Sacramento, CA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 Roger Espinoza MF 5-11 170 10/25/1986 Puerto Cortes, Honduras 19 19 1 3 179 159 5 23 29 Tim Melia GK 6-1 190 05/15/1986 Great River, NY 21 21 0 0 77 76 0 0 Daniel Salloi FW 6-1 150 07/19/1996 Siofok, Hungary 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 30 39 Cameron Porter FW 6-1 175 05/23/1993 Centerville, OH 1 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 Amer Didic DF 6-4 195 12/28/1994 Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 55 77 Tyler Pasher MF 5-11 160 04/27/1994 Elmira, Ontario, Canada 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 93 Soni Mustivar MF 5-10 170 02/12/1990 Ivry Sur Seine, France 13 1 0 1 63 45 0 3 94 Jimmy Medranda FW 5-8 150 02/07/1994 Mosquera, Colombia 20 15 1 1 61 45 2 3 HEAD COACH : Peter Vermes

11/21/1966 W111 L86 T70

CHICAGO FIRE 2017 CAREER No. Player Pos Ht Wt Birthdate Birthplace GP GS G A GP GS G A GK 6-4 188 08/02/1981 Montevideo, Uruguay 8 8 0 0 8 8 0 0 1 Jorge Bava 2 Matt Polster MF 6-0 170 06/08/1993 Milwaukee, WI 11 10 0 4 68 61 2 6 DF 5-11 175 05/01/1994 Los Angeles, CA 19 19 1 3 45 43 1 6 3 Brandon Vincent 4 Johan Kappelhof DF 5-11 165 08/05/1990 Amsterdam, Netherlands 19 19 0 3 52 50 0 3 5 Michael Harrington DF 6-0 170 01/24/1986 Greenville, NC 9 9 0 0 249 221 5 19 6 Dax McCarty MF 5-9 150 04/30/1987 Winter Park, FL 15 15 0 3 290 260 19 49 MF 5-9 170 07/25/1988 Heemstede, Netherlands 1 1 0 0 25 16 3 4 7 John Goossens 8 Michael de Leeuw FW 5-10 150 10/07/1986 Goirle, Netherlands 19 16 1 5 37 33 8 8 FW 6-0 171 02/16/1991 Buenos Aires, Argentina 19 16 4 3 65 54 9 7 9 Luis Solignac 10 David Arshakyan FW 6-4 190 08/16/1994 St. Petersburg, Russia 3 0 0 0 12 3 0 0 11 David Accam MF 5-9 174 09/28/1990 Accra, Ghana 18 15 11 7 66 57 30 14 12 Arturo Alvarez MF 5-9 170 06/28/1985 Houston, TX 15 7 3 1 227 140 32 29 13 Brandt Bronico MF 5-8 155 06/20/1995 High Point, NC 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 14 Djordje Mihailovic MF 5-10 153 11/10/1998 Jacksonville, FL 7 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 15 Joey Calistri MF 5-10 160 11/20/1993 Deerfield, IL 0 0 0 0 14 2 1 1 16 Jonathan Campbell DF 6-2 190 06/27/1993 Greensboro, NC 12 2 0 0 45 32 1 1 Collin Fernandez MF 5-8 140 02/13/1997 Downers Grove, IL 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 17 18 Drew Conner MF 5-11 165 02/18/1994 Cary, IL 12 3 0 0 12 3 0 0 19 Juninho MF 5-7 145 01/08/1989 San Jose dos Campos, Brazil 15 12 0 2 202 192 18 25 20 Daniel Johnson MF 5-9 140 09/08/1995 Duluth, GA 7 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 Patrick Doody DF 6-0 180 04/22/1992 Naperville, IL 0 0 0 0 7 6 0 1 22 23 Nemanja Nikolic FW 5-11 176 12/31/1987 Senta, Serbia 20 20 16 3 20 20 16 3 GK 6-3 190 09/06/1989 Cleveland, TN 12 12 0 0 39 37 0 0 28 Matt Lampson 30 Stefan Cleveland GK 6-2 185 05/25/1994 Dayton, OH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 Bastian Schweinsteiger MF 6-0 175 08/01/1984 Kolbermoor, West Germany 16 16 2 5 16 16 2 5 33 Matej Dekovic DF 6-1 180 09/19/1993 Zagreb, Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DF 6-1 170 04/30/1987 Setubal, Portugal 20 20 0 1 48 46 0 2 66 Joao Meira HEAD COACH : Veljko Paunovic

08/21/1977 W18 L21 T15

SPORTING KANSAS CITY vs. CHICAGO FIRE

Saturday, July 29; Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kan., 7 p.m. CT REFEREES

2017 SEASON RECORDS Sporting at home

GP W-L-T PTS GF GA 21 8-4-9 33 25 15 10 6-0-4 22 19 5

Fire on road

20 11-4-5 38 38 21 10 2-4-4 10 11 17

REFEREE: Alan Kelly. AR1 (bench): Eric Weisbrod; AR2 (opposite): Mike Kampmeinert; 4th: Alejandro Mariscal TEAM NEWS SUSPENDED: KC: Gerso Fernandes (through July 30) WARNINGS: SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHI: Bastian Schweinsteiger SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: KC: Seth Sinovic, Roger Espinoza

LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD ALL-TIME: Sporting 14 wins (1 shootout), 59 goals … Fire 26 wins (1 shootout), 86 goals … Ties 11

DISABLED LIST: none INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

AT KC: Sporting 10 wins (0 shootout), 37 goals … Fire 8 wins (1 shootout), 38 goals … Ties 9 LAST YEAR (MLS): 7/13: CHI 1, KC 0 (de Leeuw 19)

LAST LEAGUE MATCHES REAL SALT LAKE 1 SPORTING KANSAS CITY 1 Scoring Summary: RSL--L. Silva 1 (Plata 3, Acosta 2) 43 KC--Benny Feilhaber 3 (penalty kick) 59

UPCOMING MATCHES FIRE SPORTING Sat. Aug. 5 New England Sun. Aug. 6 Atlanta Sat. Aug. 12 at Columbus Sat. Aug. 12 at Seattle Wed. Aug. 16 at Montreal Sat. Aug. 19 FC Dallas Sat. Aug. 19 Toronto FC Sat. Aug. 26 at Houston

SPORTING KANSAS CITY--Tim Melia, Saad AbdulSalaam, Kevin Ellis, Erik Palmer-Brown, Seth Sinovic, Roger Espinoza, Ilie Sanchez, Benny Feilhaber, Gerso Fernandes (Daniel Salloi 80), Diego Rubio, Latif Blessing.

WHERE THE GOALS COME FROM FIRE

SPORTING

F A 25 15 76 126

GOALS SCORED MINUTES PER GOAL

F 38 47

A 21 86

28 8 2 0

9 6 6 0

26 6 1 1 4 0 0 0

11 3 3 0 1 1 1 1

6 27 5

5 11 5

HOW SCORED

15 8 2 0

RIGHT FOOT LEFT FOOT HEADERS OTHER

6 4 5 0

TYPE OF PLAY

19 1 1 2 1 0 0 1

4 5 1 0 2 0 3 0

OPEN PLAY CROSS CORNER REBOUND PENALTIES DIRECT FROM FREE KICK FREE KICK (INDIRECT) OWN GOALS

6 13 6

6 7 2

INSIDE GOAL AREA INSIDE PENALTY AREA OUTSIDE PENALTY AREA

NEW YORK CITY FC 2 CHICAGO FIRE 1 Scoring Summary: NYC--Villa 14 (Lewis 1) 47 NYC--Brillant 1 (unassisted) 50 CHI--Accam 11 (unassisted) 54 CHICAGO FIRE--Matt Lampson, Matt Polster (Djordje Mihailovic 54), Johan Kappelhof, Joao Meira, Michael Harrington, Luis Solignac (David Accam 45), Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael de Leeuw (Daniel Johnson 69), Juninho, Arturo Alvarez, Nemanja Nikolic.

DISTANCE

(W-L-T) KC CHI

RECORD AT HALFTIME LEAD TIED TRAIL 5-0-1 3-1-5 0-3-3 9-0-2 2-1-2 0-3-1

RECORD WITH FIRST GOAL SCORE ALLOW 8-0-3 0-4-2 11-0-2 0-4-2

THE LAST TIME Home win Road win Home loss Road loss Tie game Shutout for Shutout vs.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY Date Score (Gms since) 6/03/2017 KC 3, MIN 0 6/24/2017 KC 2, LA 1 5/27/2016 KC 0, DC 1 5/27/2017 KC 0, COL 1 7/22/2017 KC 1, RSL 1 6/17/2017 KC 0, SJ 0 6/17/2017 KC 0, SJ 0

(3) (1) (19) (3) (0) (4) (4)

CHICAGO FIRE Date Score (Gms since) 7/01/2017 CHI 4, VAN 0 6/17/2017 CHI 2, NE 1 9/10/2016 CHI 1, TOR 2 7/22/2017 CHI 1, NYC 2 7/05/2017 CHI 2, POR 2 7/01/2017 CHI 4, VAN 0 6/04/2017 CHI 0, ORL 0

GAME-BY-GAME: WON/LOST/TIED Sporting KC TTWTWWLWWLTWLLWTTWTTT Fire TWLTWWLLTWWWWTWWWWTL

(0) (2) (13) (0) (1) (2) (6)

TEAM LEADERS GOALSCORING RECORD SPORTING GOALS SCORED IN GAME G: 6 Fernandes GP 0 1 2 3 4+ TOT AVG A: 3 4 players tied KC 21 8 5 4 4 0 25 1.19 SHT: 48 Fernandes CHI 20 2 6 7 2 3 38 1.90 SOG: 22 Dwyer/Fernandes FC: 35 Dwyer GOALS ALLOWED IN GAME FS: 37 Dwyer GP 0 1 2 3 4+ TOT AVG OF: 10 Dwyer KC 21 9 9 3 0 0 15 0.71 C: 7 Espinoza CHI 20 9 4 5 1 1 21 1.05 E: 1 Espinoza GOALS BY INTERVALS FIRE G: 16 Nikolic GOALS SCORED A: 7 Accam Total 1-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 SHT: 74 Nikolic KC 25 2 3 3 10 3 4 SOG: 38 Nikolic CHI 38 9 8 2 7 8 4 FC: 27 Accam/de Leeuw FS: 35 McCarty GOALS ALLOWED OF: 37 Nikolic Total 1-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 C: 4 Kappelhof/Schweinsteiger KC 15 1 4 3 0 2 5 E: 1 Juninho/Kappelhof CHI 21 2 4 2 4 6 3

2017 SPORTING KANSAS CITY STATISTICS (8-4-9, 33 pts.) UNF 7 14 10 3 9 27 30 94 15 11 17 8 5 6 93 22 39 2 40 4 29 77

POS F F M D F M F F D F D D D M M F F D D D G M

PLAYER Gerso Fernandes Dom Dwyer Benny Feilhaber Ike Opara Latif Blessing Roger Espinoza Daniel Salloi Jimmy Medranda Seth Sinovic Diego Rubio Saad Abdul-Salaam Graham Zusi Matt Besler Ilie Sanchez Soni Mustivar Soony Saad Cameron Porter Erik Palmer-Brown Igor Juliao Kevin Ellis Tim Melia Tyler Pasher Own-goals received Team totals Opponent totals

GP 21 15 19 18 13 19 11 20 21 4 7 16 17 21 13 10 1 2 1 5 21 1

GS 20 14 18 18 9 19 1 15 21 2 5 15 17 21 1 5 0 2 1 5 21 1

MIN 1719 1271 1584 1620 769 1687 230 1324 1889 215 452 1395 1530 1890 197 386 21 180 45 450 1890 45

21 21

1890 1890

G 6 5 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 25 15

A 1 1 3 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 3 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

SHT 48 45 35 12 21 26 10 36 10 5 4 18 4 11 0 13 1 0 2 1 0 0

SOG 22 22 12 4 10 4 3 8 2 1 2 5 1 1 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0

20 18

302 203

102 82

FC 28 35 22 8 19 30 4 8 11 6 7 9 15 10 6 6 0 0 1 4 2 1

FS 30 37 31 7 18 27 3 16 13 8 3 9 8 26 3 8 0 1 2 2 0 0

OFF 5 10 0 1 8 2 1 3 6 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

CK 5 2 75 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 10 0 7 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0

C 4 5 3 2 2 7 0 0 5 0 1 3 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0

E 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

232 268 268 232

39 46

109 75

40 46

1 1

GAME-WINNING GOALS: Ike Opara 2, Dom Dwyer 2, Gerso Fernandes 2, Benny Feilhaber 1 GAME-WINNING ASSISTS: Matt Besler 2, Roger Espinoza 2, Benny Feilhaber 1, Graham Zusi 1, Dom Dwyer 1, Jimmy Medranda 1 PENALTY KICK GOALS/ATTEMPTS: Benny Feilhaber 1-1 SPORTING KANSAS CITY GOALKEEPING UNF 29

POS G

GOALKEEPER Tim Melia Team totals Opponent totals

GP 21 21 21

GS 21 21 21

MIN SHTS 1890 82 1890 82 1890 102

SV 65 65 76

GA 15 15 25

GAA 0.71 0.71 1.19

PG 2 2 1

PA 5 5 1

W 8 8 4

L 4 4 8

T 9 9 9

SO 9 9 8

2017 CHICAGO FIRE STATISTICS (11-4-5, 38 pts.) UNF 23 11 9 12 31 8 3 2 6 4 19 66 13 20 10 14 18 7 16 1 28 5

POS F M F M M F D M M D M D M M F M M M D G G D

PLAYER Nemanja Nikolic David Accam Luis Solignac Arturo Alvarez Bastian Schweinsteiger Michael de Leeuw Brandon Vincent Matt Polster Dax McCarty Johan Kappelhof Juninho Joao Meira Brandt Bronico Daniel Johnson David Arshakyan Djordje Mihailovic Drew Conner John Goossens Jonathan Campbell Jorge Bava Matt Lampson Michael Harrington Own-goals received Team totals Opponent totals

GP 20 18 19 15 16 19 19 11 15 19 15 20 2 7 3 7 12 1 12 8 12 9

GS 20 15 16 7 16 16 19 10 15 19 12 20 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 8 12 9

MIN 1746 1308 1241 546 1356 1335 1710 827 1350 1621 1109 1800 29 112 16 106 422 89 381 720 1080 798

20 20

1800 1800

G 16 11 4 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 21

A 3 7 3 1 5 5 3 4 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

SHT 74 39 24 14 16 19 14 4 6 3 17 4 0 6 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 0

SOG 38 23 10 5 3 7 1 2 1 1 7 2 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

40 17

247 232

104 68

FC 6 27 18 7 20 27 24 14 14 16 10 26 0 2 1 4 7 1 2 0 1 8

FS 16 34 22 17 29 30 11 10 35 2 11 13 0 5 0 2 4 0 4 0 3 9

OFF 37 8 4 1 0 6 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

CK 1 33 0 16 15 0 3 2 0 0 15 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0

C 1 1 1 0 4 2 2 0 2 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 2 0

E 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

235 268 268 235

60 40

90 95

24 37

2 7

GAME-WINNING GOALS: David Accam 4, Nemanja Nikolic 4, Luis Solignac 2, Bastian Schweinsteiger 1 GAME-WINNING ASSISTS: Matt Polster 2, Luis Solignac 2, Bastian Schweinsteiger 2, Michael de Leeuw 2, Nemanja Nikolic 1, David Accam 1, Joao Meira 1, Brandon Vincent 1, Johan Kappelhof 1, Dax McCarty 1 PENALTY KICK GOALS/ATTEMPTS: David Accam 2-2, Nemanja Nikolic 2-3 CHICAGO FIRE GOALKEEPING UNF 28 1

POS G G

GOALKEEPER Matt Lampson Jorge Bava Team totals Opponent totals

GP 12 8 20 20

GS 12 8 20 20

MIN SHTS 1080 37 720 31 1800 68 1800 104

SV 28 20 48 62

GA 9 12 21 38

GAA 0.75 1.5 1.05 1.9

PG 1 0 1 4

PA 1 0 1 5

W L 8 1 3 3 11 4 4 11

T 3 2 5 5

SO 6 3 9 2

SPORTING KANSAS CITY 2017 SCHEDULE DAY Sat. Sat. Sat. Fri. Sun.

DATE Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Apr.

OPPONENT 4 at D.C. United 11 FC Dallas 18 San Jose 31 at Toronto FC 9 Colorado

Sat. Sat. Sat. Wed.

Apr. Apr. Apr. May

15 at Portland 22 at FC Dallas 29 Real Salt Lake 3 New York Red Bulls 7 at Minnesota 13 at Orlando City SC 17 Seattle 20 at Vancouver 27 at Colorado 3 Minnesota 10 Montreal 17 at San Jose 24 at Los Angeles 1 Portland 6 Philadelphia 22 at Real Salt Lake 29 Chicago 6 Atlanta 12 at Seattle 19 FC Dallas 26 at Houston 6 at New York City FC 10 at Columbus 16 New England 24 Los Angeles 30 Vancouver 7 at Minnesota 15 Houston 22 at Real Salt Lake

Sun. May Sat. May Wed. Sat. Sat. Sat. Sat. Sat. Sat. Sat. Thu. Sat.

May May May June June June June July July July

Sat. Sun. Sat. Sat. Sat. Wed.

July Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Sep.

Sun. Sat. Sun. Sat. Sat. Sun. Sun.

Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Oct. Oct. Oct.

RESULT T 0-0 T 0-0 W 2-1 T 0-0 W 3-1

ATT 18268 19117 19282 27909 19249

W-L-T 0-0-1 0-0-2 1-0-2 1-0-3 2-0-3

1-0 0-1 3-0 2-0

21144 15411 18648 18965

3-0-3 3-1-3 4-1-3 5-1-3

L 0-2 T 2-2

17709 25527

5-2-3 5-2-4

2 2

18 MIN: Danladi (22) Ramirez (39) 19 KC: Blessing (9,74); ORL: Larin (16) Santos Leite (26)

W L L W T T W T T T

20139 21020 17648 20361 20334 18000 20140 20933 19240 19316

6-2-4 6-3-4 6-4-4 7-4-4 7-4-5 7-4-6 8-4-6 8-4-7 8-4-8 8-4-9

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

22 KC: Fernandes (56,58,69); 22 VAN: Techera (40) Parker (67) 22 COL: Ford (11) 25 KC: Opara (47+) Medranda (54) Abdul-Salaam (87); 26 KC: Fernandes (24); MTL: Mancosu (82) 27 30 KC: Espinoza (22) Opara (35); LA: Romney (77) 31 KC: Salloi (61); POR: Valeri (26) 32 KC: Rubio (49); PHI: Alberg (69) 33 KC: Feilhaber (59); RSL: Silva (43)

W L W W

3-0 0-2 0-1 3-0 1-1 0-0 2-1 1-1 1-1 1-1

POS PTS NOTES: 7 1 6 2 5 5 KC: Feilhaber (37) own goal (89); SJ: Jungwirth (91+) 5 6 4 9 KC: Sinovic (6) Fernandes (58) Dwyer (85); COL: Doyle (94+) 2 12 KC: Dwyer (53); 4 12 DAL: Figueroa (77) 2 15 KC: Feilhaber (17) Dwyer (51) Fernandes (95+); 1 18 KC: Dwyer (46,68);

CHICAGO FIRE 2017 SCHEDULE DAY Sat. Sat. Sat. Sat.

DATE Mar. Mar. Mar. Apr.

OPPONENT 4 at Columbus 11 Real Salt Lake 18 at Atlanta 1 Montreal

Sat. Sat. Fri. Sat.

Apr. Apr. Apr. Apr.

W W L L

Sat. May

8 Columbus 15 New England 21 at Toronto FC 29 at New York Red Bulls 6 at Los Angeles

Sat. May Wed. Sat. Thu. Sun.

May May May June

Sat. Sat. Sat. Sat. Wed.

June June June July July

Sat. July Sat. Sat. Sat. Wed. Sat. Sat. Sat. Sat.

July Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Sep. Sep.

Sat. Sat. Wed. Sat.

Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep.

Sun. Oct. Sun. Oct.

RESULT T 1-1 W 2-0 L 0-4 T 2-2

ATT 15023 13024 45922 15103

W-L-T 0-0-1 1-0-1 1-1-1 1-1-2

POS PTS NOTES: 1 1 CHI: Accam (73); CLB: Finlay (17) 2 4 CHI: Nikolic (11) Alvarez (15); 7 4 ATL: own goal (4) Martinez (60,82) Villalba (67) 7 5 CHI: Schweinsteiger (17) Solignac (93+); MTL: Mancosu (61) Tabla (90) 3 8 CHI: Nikolic (22); 3 11 CHI: Schweinsteiger (45) Nikolic (47,73); 3 11 CHI: Accam (88); TOR: Giovinco (28,82) Zavaleta (32) 7 11 CHI: Nikolic (59); NYR: Wright-Phillips (37) Lawrence (71) 6 12 CHI: Accam (13) Nikolic (16); LA: Steres (56) dos Santos (65) 6 15 CHI: Nikolic (25,76) Accam (60) Solignac (73); SEA: Dempsey (28) 4 18 CHI: Nikolic (15,74) Accam (57); 2 21 CHI: Accam (52); 2 24 CHI: Nikolic (3) Accam (9); DAL: Lamah (6) 2 25

1-0 3-0 1-3 1-2

16434 16914 27097 22814

2-1-2 3-1-2 3-2-2 3-3-2

T 2-2

24256

3-3-3

13 Seattle

W 4-1

20153

4-3-3

17 Colorado 20 at D.C. United 25 FC Dallas 4 at Orlando City SC 10 Atlanta 17 at New England 24 Orlando City SC 1 Vancouver 5 at Portland

W W W T

3-0 1-0 2-1 0-0

11244 20618 12584 24469

5-3-3 6-3-3 7-3-3 7-3-4

W W W W T

2-0 2-1 4-0 4-0 2-2

18453 21548 20000 20187 21144

8-3-4 9-3-4 10-3-4 11-3-4 11-3-5

2 2 2 1 1

22 at New York City FC 29 at Sporting KC 5 New England 12 at Columbus 16 at Montreal 19 Toronto FC 26 Minnesota 2 at Montreal 9 New York Red Bulls 16 D.C. United 23 at Philadelphia 27 at San Jose 30 New York City FC 15 Philadelphia 22 at Houston

L 1-2

26025

11-4-5

28 CHI: 31 CHI: 34 CHI: 37 CHI: 38 CHI: (70) 38 CHI:

Solignac (29) Nikolic (70); Nikolic (18) Solignac (61); NE: Mlinar (70) Accam (3,8,63) Nikolic (52); Nikolic (14,18) Alvarez (25) de Leeuw (84); Alvarez (34) Vincent (61); POR: Adi (24) Blanco Accam (54); NYC: Villa (47) Brillant (50)

SPORTING KC INDIVIDUAL HIGH GAMES (2017)

TEAM HIGH GAMES (2017)

Goals 3 Gerso Fernandes Assists 1 20 times Shots 7 Benny Feilhaber Shots on Goal 4 Gerso Fernandes Fouls Committed 6 Dom Dwyer 6 Latif Blessing Fouls Suffered 6 Dom Dwyer 6 Dom Dwyer Offside 3 Dom Dwyer Saves 6 Tim Melia Shots Faced 7 Tim Melia 7 Tim Melia Goals Allowed 2 Tim Melia 2 Tim Melia 2 Tim Melia

Goals 3 04/09/2017 vs 3 04/29/2017 vs 3 05/17/2017 vs 3 06/03/2017 vs Assists 4 04/09/2017 vs Shots 27 06/03/2017 vs Shots on Goal 10 06/03/2017 vs Fouls Committed 18 03/11/2017 vs Fouls Suffered 22 03/04/2017 vs 22 04/15/2017 vs Corner Kicks 14 07/06/2017 vs Offside 5 05/13/2017 vs 5 05/20/2017 vs Saves 6 06/10/2017 vs Shots Faced 7 05/20/2017 vs 7 06/10/2017 vs Goals Allowed 2 05/07/2017 vs 2 05/13/2017 vs 2 05/20/2017 vs

05/17/2017 vs SEA

W 3-0

03/18/2017 vs SJ

W 2-1

05/27/2017 vs COL

L 0-1

05/17/2017 vs SEA

W 3-0

05/03/2017 vs NYR 05/27/2017 vs COL

W 2-0 L 0-1

03/04/2017 vs DC 04/15/2017 vs POR

T 0-0 W 1-0

05/03/2017 vs NYR

W 2-0

06/10/2017 vs MTL

T 1-1

05/20/2017 vs VAN 06/10/2017 vs MTL

L 0-2 T 1-1

05/07/2017 vs MIN 05/13/2017 vs ORL 05/20/2017 vs VAN

L 0-2 T 2-2 L 0-2

COL RSL SEA MIN

W W W W

COL

W 3-1

MIN

W 3-0

MIN

W 3-0

DAL

T 0-0

DC POR

T 0-0 W 1-0

PHI

T 1-1

ORL VAN

T 2-2 L 0-2

MTL

T 1-1

VAN MTL

L 0-2 T 1-1

MIN ORL VAN

L 0-2 T 2-2 L 0-2

FIRE INDIVIDUAL HIGH GAMES (2017)

TEAM HIGH GAMES (2017)

Goals 3 David Accam Assists 2 Michael de Leeuw 2 Matt Polster Shots 7 Nemanja Nikolic 7 Nemanja Nikolic 7 Nemanja Nikolic Shots on Goal 5 Nemanja Nikolic Fouls Committed 4 4 times Fouls Suffered 6 Dax McCarty Offside 4 Nemanja Nikolic 4 Nemanja Nikolic Saves 7 Matt Lampson Shots Faced 9 Jorge Bava 9 Matt Lampson Goals Allowed 4 Jorge Bava

Goals 4 05/13/2017 at 4 06/24/2017 at 4 07/01/2017 at Assists 6 05/13/2017 at Shots 23 07/22/2017 at Shots on Goal 12 07/01/2017 at Fouls Committed 22 06/24/2017 at Fouls Suffered 23 05/25/2017 at Corner Kicks 9 06/04/2017 at Offside 5 03/04/2017 at 5 04/21/2017 at 5 05/06/2017 at 5 05/20/2017 at 5 06/24/2017 at Saves 7 07/05/2017 at Shots Faced 9 04/21/2017 at 9 07/05/2017 at Goals Allowed 4 03/18/2017 at

06/24/2017 at ORL

W 4-0

05/17/2017 at COL 07/01/2017 at VAN

W 3-0 W 4-0

04/29/2017 at NYR 05/20/2017 at DC 06/24/2017 at ORL

L 1-2 W 1-0 W 4-0

04/29/2017 at NYR

L 1-2

05/13/2017 at SEA

W 4-1

04/29/2017 at NYR

L 1-2

03/04/2017 at CLB 05/20/2017 at DC

T 1-1 W 1-0

07/05/2017 at POR

T 2-2

04/21/2017 at TOR 07/05/2017 at POR

L 1-3 T 2-2

03/18/2017 at ATL

L 0-4

TEAM LOW GAMES (2017) 3-1 3-0 3-0 3-0

Shots 7 07/01/2017 vs Shots on Goal 1 04/22/2017 vs 1 07/01/2017 vs Fouls Committed 3 06/10/2017 vs Fouls Suffered 6 05/17/2017 vs Corner Kicks 0 07/01/2017 vs Offside 0 03/31/2017 vs 0 04/15/2017 vs 0 05/27/2017 vs Saves 1 06/03/2017 vs 1 07/06/2017 vs Shots Faced 1 06/03/2017 vs

POR

T 1-1

DAL POR

L 0-1 T 1-1

MTL

T 1-1

SEA

W 3-0

POR

T 1-1

TOR POR COL

T 0-0 W 1-0 L 0-1

MIN PHI

W 3-0 T 1-1

MIN

W 3-0

TEAM LOW GAMES (2017)

SEA ORL VAN

W 4-1 W 4-0 W 4-0

SEA

W 4-1

NYC

L 1-2

VAN

W 4-0

ORL

W 4-0

DAL

W 2-1

ORL

T 0-0

CLB TOR LA DC ORL

T L T W W

POR

T 2-2

TOR POR

L 1-3 T 2-2

ATL

L 0-4

1-1 1-3 2-2 1-0 4-0

Shots 6 03/11/2017 at 6 03/18/2017 at 6 07/05/2017 at Shots on Goal 1 04/21/2017 at Fouls Committed 6 03/04/2017 at Fouls Suffered 7 03/18/2017 at 7 07/01/2017 at 7 07/22/2017 at Corner Kicks 0 06/17/2017 at Offside 0 03/18/2017 at Saves 0 05/06/2017 at 0 05/25/2017 at 0 06/24/2017 at Shots Faced 0 06/24/2017 at

RSL ATL POR

W 2-0 L 0-4 T 2-2

TOR

L 1-3

CLB

T 1-1

ATL VAN NYC

L 0-4 W 4-0 L 1-2

W 2-1

ATL

L 0-4

LA DAL ORL

T 2-2 W 2-1 W 4-0

ORL

W 4-0

HEAD-TO-HEAD

FIRE VS SPORTING KC ALL-TIME REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

Fire

Sporting KC 14 wins, 59 goals Fire 26 wins, 87 goals 11 ties 4/8/1998 6/24/1998 8/29/1998 9/17/1998 3/27/1999 5/22/1999 8/5/1999 8/25/1999 3/25/2000 6/4/2000 10/15/2000 5/19/2001 7/4/2001 8/14/2002 8/31/2002 4/26/2003 6/21/2003 7/26/2003 4/3/2004 5/8/2004 9/1/2004 6/18/2005 8/10/2005 8/19/2005 10/1/2005 5/6/2006 6/17/2006 7/4/2006 8/16/2006 4/21/2007 8/22/2007 8/25/2007 4/20/2008 7/27/2008 10/5/2008 4/18/2009 8/16/2009 5/15/2010 10/12/2010 3/26/2011 6/9/2011 5/12/2012 6/29/2012 9/28/2012 3/16/2013 7/7/2013 8/23/2013 5/18/2014 7/6/2014 10/10/2014 5/3/2015 7/13/2016

KC 1 vs CHI CHI 4 vs KC CHI 3 at KC CHI 1 vs KC CHI 3 at KC CHI 3 vs KC CHI 2 at KC CHI 2 vs KC KC 4 vs CHI CHI 3 vs KC KC 1 vs CHI CHI 2 vs KC CHI 7 at KC CHI 5 vs KC KC 2 vs CHI CHI 3 at KC KC 4 vs CHI CHI 2 vs KC KC 0 vs CHI KC 2 vs CHI CHI 3 vs KC CHI 1 vs KC KC 3 at CHI KC 3 vs CHI CHI 1 at KC KC 1 vs CHI KC 3 vs CHI CHI 1 vs KC CHI 3 vs KC CHI 2 vs KC KC 3 vs CHI CHI 2 vs KC KC 1 at CHI KC 0 vs CHI KC 1 vs CHI CHI 2 vs KC CHI 2 at KC KC 2 vs CHI KC 2 at CHI CHI 3 vs KC KC 0 vs CHI CHI 2 vs KC CHI 1 at KC KC 2 vs CHI KC 0 vs CHI KC 2 at CHI CHI 1 vs KC CHI 2 vs KC KC 1 vs CHI KC 2 vs CHI KC 1 vs CHI CHI 1 vs KC

0 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0

CHI SOW

(KC) (SF) (KC) (SF) (KC) (SF) (KC) (SF) (KC) (SF) (DC) (SF) (KC) (NC) (KC) (KC) (KC) (NC) (KC) (KC) (SF) (SF) (SF) (KC) (KC) (KC) (KC) (TP) (TP) (TP) (KC) (TP) (TP) (CA) (CA) (TP) (CA) (CA) (TP) (TP) (SP) (TP) (SP) (SP) (SP) (TP) (TP) (TP) (SP) (SP) (SP) (TP)

Category Goals Shots Shots on Goal Fouls Offsides Corner Kicks

1 44 311 135 366 73 106

2 42 313 137 360 88 131

Sporting KC

OT 0 0 0 0 0 0

Tot 86 624 272 726 161 237

1 29 309 133 330 50 114

2 30 360 132 360 46 143

OT 0 0 0 0 0 0

Tot 59 669 265 690 96 257

GOALS SCORED IN 15-MINUTE INTERVALS: CHI KC

1-15

16-30

31-45

46-60

61-75

76-90

Total

14 10

12 7

15 11

15 7

14 11

16 13

0 0

86 59

CAREER COACHING RECORDS: Peter Vermes Veljko Paunovic

vs. CHI vs. KC

5-7-4 1-0-0

(1.19 pts./game) (3 pts./game)

ALL-TIME SERIES LEADERS: Goals Assists Shots Shots on Goal Fouls Committed Fouls Suffered Wins Losses Shutouts Saves Goals Allowed

5 10 43 18 38 40 3 6 3 40 24

Sporting KC Sealy/Wolff Preki Davy Arnaud Josh Wolff Kerry Zavagnin Davy Arnaud 3 times Tony Meola Jimmy Nielsen Tony Meola Tony Meola

9 8 48 20 45 42 15 4 8 94 26

Fire Ante Razov Justin Mapp Ante Razov Ante Razov Gonzalo Segares Justin Mapp Zach Thornton Zach Thornton Zach Thornton Zach Thornton Zach Thornton

ALL-TIME SERIES GAME HIGHS:

Fouls Suffered Shutouts Saves

Sporting KC 6 players tied Preki (06/21/03) Kei Kamara (06/29/12) 4 players tied Alex Zotinca (04/03/04) 6 6 players tied 1 10 players tied 9 Tony Meola (07/26/03)

Goals Allowed

7 Bo Oshoniyi (07/04/01)

Goals Assists Shots Shots on Goal Fouls Committed

2 3 8 4 6

2 2 9 4 6

Fire 7 players tied 10 players tied Damani Ralph (07/26/03) 6 players tied 4 players tied

7 Blanco/Ralph 1 18 players tied 10 Zach Thornton (06/21/03) 4 Sutton/Thornton

W-L-T Breakdowns: Sporting Kansas City W-L-T At Halftime: Leading Tied Trailing First Goal: Allowed Scored Goals Scored: 0 goals 1 goals 2 goals 3 goals 4 goals Goals Allowed: 0 goals 1 goals 2 goals 3 goals 4 goals

Streak (started)

Chicago Fire W-L-T

Streak (started)

5-0-1 3-1-5 0-3-3

1 Ws 2 Ts 2 Ts

(06/24/2017) (06/17/2017) (07/01/2017)

9-0-2 2-1-2 0-3-1

6 Ws (05/17/2017) 1 Ls (07/22/2017) 3 Ls (03/18/2017)

0-4-2 8-0-3

2 Ts 1 Ts

(07/01/2017) 0-4-2 (07/06/2017) 11-0-2

1 Ls (07/22/2017) 8 Ws (05/13/2017)

0-4-4 1-0-4 3-0-1 4-0-0 0-0-0

1 Ts 4 Ts 1 Ws 4 Ws 0-

(06/17/2017) (06/10/2017) (06/24/2017) (04/09/2017) -

0-1-1 2-3-1 4-0-3 2-0-0 3-0-0

1 1 1 4 3

Ts Ls Ts Ws Ws

(06/04/2017) (07/22/2017) (07/05/2017) (08/20/2016) (05/13/2017)

5-0-4 3-2-4 0-2-1 0-0-0 0-0-0

1 Ts 3 Ts 1 Ls 1 Ls 0-

(06/17/2017) (07/01/2017) (05/20/2017) (10/01/2016) -

8-0-1 3-0-1 0-2-3 0-1-0 0-1-0

3 3 1 5 5

Ws Ws Ls Ls Ls

(06/10/2017) (05/13/2017) (07/22/2017) (07/16/2016) (03/06/2016)

SPORTING KC CAREER SCORING VS. FIRE (14-26-11) PLAYER

MIN

Josh Wolff Scott Sealy Preki Graham Zusi Mo Johnston Dom Dwyer Chris Klein Davy Arnaud Jose Burciaga Jr. Kei Kamara Sasha Victorine Teal Bunbury Jimmy Conrad Chris Henderson Jack Jewsbury Michael Harrington Dario Fabbro Benny Feilhaber Gary Glasgow Eddie Johnson Matt Besler Chris Brown Mark Chung Bobby Convey Francisco Gomez Carlos Marinelli Pete Marino Miklos Molnar Paulo Nagamura Igor Simutenkov Alex Zotinca Claudio Lopez Diego Gutierrez Paul Rideout Kerry Zavagnin Jalil Anibaba Jake Dancy Kevin Ellis Roger Espinoza Herculez Gomez Brian Johnson Chance Myers Uche Okafor Ryan Raybould Brian Roberts Refik Sabanadzovic C.J. Sapong Seth Sinovic Ryan Smith Vitalis Takawira Team totals Opponent totals

17 10 17 13 10 7 20 22 13 7 13 8 20 6 18 12 3 8 2 6 14 11 4 1 9 2 2 1 6 5 7 3 9 3 22 1 1 4 13 3 7 10 6 3 3 4 9 8 1 5 51 51

17 7 15 10 10 5 18 22 13 7 12 4 20 5 11 9 2 8 1 6 13 4 4 1 4 0 0 1 5 5 6 3 7 2 21 1 0 3 11 2 3 9 6 3 1 3 6 8 1 5 51 51

1448 605 1339 933 858 470 1583 1927 1125 594 1090 411 1791 451 1089 920 170 636 117 523 1194 472 339 78 415 68 66 80 465 329 498 261 641 187 1857 90 45 293 930 194 340 815 540 206 116 286 569 707 90 368 4590 4590

5 3 5 2 4 10 4 2 4 0 3 0 2 5 2 4 2 4 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 0 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 59 68 87 104

SHT GOALKEEPER

MIN

35 11 37 17 18 24 34 43 19 26 12 20 14 4 15 5 3 9 2 13 4 10 7 1 13 1 3 2 8 7 6 8 10 5 14 0 0 2 14 5 6 9 1 1 2 1 18 3 5 1 669 624

1 2 1 10 3 8 3 11 11 2 2 51 51

90 180 90 877 202 720 270 982 818 180 180 4590 4590

Andy Gruenebaum Tim Melia William Hesmer Jimmy Nielsen Eric Kronberg Kevin Hartman Mike Ammann Tony Meola Bo Oshoniyi Chris Snitko David Winner Team totals Opponent totals

SHT

GAA

6 6 0.00 5 4 0.50 3 2 1.00 40 30 1.03 11 5 1.34 47 36 1.38 15 9 1.67 65 40 2.20 58 35 2.31 12 7 2.50 10 5 2.50 272 179 1.69 265 197 1.16

0 0 0 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 7 2

FIRE CAREER SCORING VS. SPORTING KC (26-14-11) PLAYER

MIN

Ante Razov Justin Mapp Peter Nowak Diego Gutierrez Hristo Stoichkov Josh Wolff Mike Magee Chad Barrett Dema Kovalenko Brian McBride Marco Pappa Chris Rolfe Cuauhtemoc Blanco Roman Kosecki Andy Williams Thiago Andy Herron Nate Jaqua Damani Ralph Lubos Kubik Jesse Marsch Jerzy Podbrozny Evan Whitfield DaMarcus Beasley Jamar Beasley Carlos Bocanegra Lubos Reiter Eric Wynalda Mike Banner C.J. Brown Craig Capano Calen Carr Diego Chaves Jim Curtin Sergi Daniv Michael de Leeuw Sebastian Grazzini Hunter Jumper Julio Martinez Dominic Oduro Orlando Perez Gaston Puerari Dasan Robinson Dipsy Selolwane Chris Armas Ivan Guerrero Kelly Gray Patrick Nyarko Logan Pause David Vaudreuil Jalil Anibaba Razvan Cocis Wilman Conde Alex Sam George Frank Klopas Ritchie Kotschau Jeff Larentowicz Andrew Lewis Tony Sanneh Gonzalo Segares Zach Thornton Michael Videira Brandon Vincent Team totals Opponent totals

14 20 11 19 6 9 4 9 6 4 7 18 6 5 5 8 5 10 6 9 20 8 10 9 1 4 2 2 3 29 3 8 2 14 2 1 1 2 1 5 5 2 10 1 21 10 8 15 29 2 7 1 4 7 4 4 3 6 6 4 20 23 2 1 51 51

13 19 11 18 5 5 4 5 6 2 6 17 6 4 5 7 2 7 5 9 16 6 9 7 1 4 1 1 0 29 0 1 1 14 1 1 1 1 1 3 4 2 8 0 21 9 6 11 25 0 7 1 3 5 3 2 2 6 3 2 20 22 2 1 51 51

1134 1476 953 1606 336 503 360 415 539 270 506 1273 530 325 426 621 288 615 474 810 1485 568 815 640 90 360 80 100 70 2536 36 209 108 1260 71 89 80 101 45 300 368 145 724 19 1878 825 549 1002 2250 35 630 90 297 361 252 189 180 540 338 201 1764 1995 173 90 4590 4590

SHT

GOALKEEPER

9 6 4 8 4 5 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 1 4 0 3 2 3 0 2 4 2 4 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 3 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 87 104 59 68

48 28 21 18 18 17 11 22 9 6 24 31 11 10 14 13 7 17 22 11 14 13 5 10 4 2 2 3 2 5 1 3 2 5 2 1 4 2 1 6 4 2 7 2 5 4 5 13 5 0 1 1 2 4 1 2 3 6 0 0 10 0 1 0 624 669

David Mahoney Sean Johnson Jon Busch D.J. Countess Henry Ring Zach Thornton Matt Pickens Andrew Dykstra Paolo Tornaghi Greg Sutton Team totals Opponent totals

1 12 7 1 2 23 3 2 1 1 51 51

MIN SHTS 90 1080 630 90 180 1995 165 180 90 90 4590 4590

GAA

2 2 0.00 52 41 0.83 36 29 1.00 3 2 1.00 10 7 1.00 123 94 1.17 10 6 1.64 18 12 2.00 2 0 2.00 9 4 4.00 265 197 1.16 272 179 1.69

0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 7

CURRENT SPORTING KC VS. FIRE (14-26-11) PLAYER

MIN

Graham Zusi Benny Feilhaber Matt Besler Ike Opara Kevin Ellis Roger Espinoza Seth Sinovic Saad Abdul-Salaam Andrew Dykstra Jimmy Medranda Tim Melia Soni Mustivar Erik Palmer-Brown Soony Saad Team totals Opponent totals

13 11 14 4 4 13 9 1 1 1 2 2 1 7 51 51

10 10 13 2 3 11 8 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 51 51

933 861 1194 258 293 930 728 90 90 90 180 166 64 171 4590 4590

GOALKEEPER

MIN

Tim Melia Andrew Dykstra Team totals Opponent totals

2 1 51 51

180 90 4590 4590

SHT

CURRENT FIRE VS. SPORTING KC (26-14-11) A

SHT

PLAYER

MIN

4 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 59 68 87 104

17 14 4 4 2 14 3 0 0 2 0 1 0 10 669 624

Dax McCarty Arturo Alvarez Michael de Leeuw Luis Solignac Juninho Brandon Vincent David Accam Jonathan Campbell John Goossens Michael Harrington Johan Kappelhof Matt Lampson Joao Meira Matt Polster Team totals Opponent totals

18 14 1 5 8 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 1 2 51 51

15 8 1 4 8 1 2 1 0 3 0 2 1 2 51 51

1391 709 89 346 657 90 179 90 22 255 1 180 90 180 4590 4590

GAA

5 4 0.50 7 6 1.00 272 179 1.69 265 197 1.16

0 0 7 2

GOALKEEPER

Matt Lampson Team totals Opponent totals

2 51 51

MIN SHTS 180 4590 4590

SHT

1 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 87 104 59 68

10 14 1 9 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 624 669

GAA

9 5 2.00 265 197 1.16 272 179 1.69

1 2 7

GAME NOTES

WWW.SPORTINGKC.COM/MEDIA-GUIDE

SPORTING KANSAS CITY vs. CHICAGO FIRE

2017 REGULAR SEASON TEAM STATS SPORTING KANSAS CITY

Saturday, July 29, 2017 Kickoff: 7 p.m. CT Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, KS) MLS Regular Season Game 22 Sporting Kansas City 8-4-9, 33 points (6-0-4 home; 2-4-5 away) 2nd place in Western Conference Chicago Fire 11-4-5, 38 points (9-0-1 home; 2-4-4 away) 2nd place in Eastern Conference

8-4-9 (33 pts.) 21 2nd in West 25 1.19 20 15 0.71 +10 301 (102) 33.9% 231 268 40 1

English TV: FOX Sports Kansas City + English Radio: Sports Radio 810 WHB Spanish Radio: La Grande 1340 AM Referee: Assistant ref: Assistant ref: 4th official:

Alan Kelly Eric Weisbrod Mike Kampmeinert Alejandro Mariscal

SPORTING KANSAS CITY ROSTER

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 15 17 19 21 22 23 24 27 29 30 39 55 77 93 94

Pos. GK DEF DEF DEF DEF MID FWD DEF FWD MID FWD DEF DEF MID GK FWD DEF FWD MID GK FWD FWD DEF DEF MID MID

Name Adrian Zendejas Erik Palmer-Brown Ike Opara Kevin Ellis Matt Besler Ilie Sanchez Gerso Fernandes Graham Zusi Latif Blessing Benny Feilhaber Diego Rubio Seth Sinovic Saad Abdul-Salaam Cristian Lobato Andrew Dykstra Soony Saad Colton Storm Cameron Iwasa Roger Espinoza Tim Melia Daniel Salloi Cameron Porter Amer Didic Tyler Pasher Soni Mustivar Jimmy Medranda

Pronunciation zen-DAY-haas

CHICAGO FIRE

RECORD GAMES PLAYED CONFERENCE POSITION GOALS GOALS/GAME ASSISTS GOALS ALLOWED ALLOWED/GAME GOAL DIFFERENTIAL SHOTS (ON GOAL) ON GOAL % FOULS COMMITTED FOULS SUFFERED CAUTIONS EJECTIONS

11-4-5 (38 pts.) 20 2nd in East 38 1.90 40 21 1.05 +17 249 (105) 42.2% 235 268 24 2

2017 REGULAR SEASON INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

oh-PAR-ah

SPORTING KANSAS CITY

BEEZ-ler ILL-ee-eh JER-soh gram ZOO-see FAIL-hob-ber sin-OH-vick sahd ab-DOOL sa-LAHM loh-BAH-toe SOO-nee sod

EE-wah-sah MEE-lia shallow-EE

Gerso Four Players Gerso Dwyer, Gerso Three Players Besler, Espinoza Dom Dwyer Dom Dwyer Roger Espinoza Roger Espinoza

CHICAGO FIRE

6 GOALS 3 ASSISTS 48 SHOTS 22 SHOTS ON GOAL 2 GAME-WINNING GOALS 2 GAME-WINNING ASSISTS 35 FOULS COMMITTED 37 FOULS SUFFERED 7 CAUTIONS 1 EJECTIONS

Tim Melia 1890 Tim Melia 0.71 Tim Melia 8 Tim Melia 9 Tim Melia 65

GK MINUTES PLAYED GOALS AGAINST AVG. WINS SHUTOUTS SAVES

16 7 74 38 4 2 27 35 6 1

Nemanja Nikolic David Accam Nemanja Nikolic Nemanja Nikolic Accam, Nikolic Four Players Accam, de Leeuw Dax McCarty Kappelhof, Schweinsteiger Juninho, Kappelhof

1080 Matt Lampson 0.75 Matt Lampson 8 Matt Lampson 6 Matt Lampson 28 Matt Lampson

uh-MEER JIDD-itch SOH-nee MOO-stuh-var muh-DRAHN-dah

COACHES - REGULAR SEASON

2017 MLS REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS

PETER VERMES

Eastern Conference 1. Toronto FC 2. Chicago Fire 3. New York City FC 4. Atlanta United FC 5. New York Red Bulls 6. Columbus Crew SC 7. Orlando City SC 8. Philadelphia Union 9. Montreal Impact 10. New England Revolution 11. D.C. United

Pts 40 38 37 33 32 31 29 26 24 23 18

W L T 11 3 7 11 4 5 11 6 4 10 7 3 10 8 2 10 11 1 8 8 5 7 9 5 6 7 6 6 9 5 5 13 3

GD +15 +17 +13 +13 +2 -4 -8 +5 -2 -1 -20

GP 21 20 21 20 20 22 21 21 19 20 21

Western Conference 1. FC Dallas 2. Sporting Kansas City 3. Houston Dynamo 4. Portland Timbers 5. Seattle Sounders FC 6. Vancouver Whitecaps FC 7. San Jose Earthquakes 8. Real Salt Lake 9. LA Galaxy 10. Colorado Rapids 11. Minnesota United FC

Pts 34 33 32 30 30 27 26 24 22 20 19

W L T 9 3 7 8 4 9 9 7 5 8 8 6 8 7 6 8 8 3 7 9 5 7 12 3 6 10 4 6 11 2 5 12 4

GD GP +13 19 +10 21 +7 21 +1 22 +1 21 -3 19 -11 21 -14 22 -6 20 -8 19 -20 21

9th season 111-86-70 9th season (.547) 111-86-70 (.547)

VELJKO PAUNOVIC

MLS EXPERIENCE MLS RECORD YEAR WITH TEAM RECORD WITH TEAM

2nd season 18-21-15 (.472) 2nd season 18-21-15 (.472)

SPORTING KANSAS CITY INJURY REPORT As of Thursday, July 27 QUESTIONABLE: • Ike Opara (Concussion) OUT: • None

Sporting KC Game Notes | July 29, 2017 vs. Chicago Fire | SportingKC.com/Game-Notes #SKCvCHI: HEAD-TO-HEAD

#SKCvCHI: BY THE NUMBERS

Sporting Kansas City returns home to face the high-flying Chicago Fire riding a 19game home unbeaten streak in MLS play - the longest active home unbeaten run in the league. Sporting KC is also unbeaten in their last five matches at Children’s Mercy Park against the Chicago Fire, going 3-0-2 since their last home defeat to the Fire on June 29, 2012. The two sides met once in 2016, with Chicago snapping a three-game winless streak against Sporting KC with a 1-0 victory at Toyota Park. Dom Dwyer had an early goal controversially ruled out for offside before Michael de Leeuw scored the only goal of the game in equally debatable fashion, as referee Nima Saghafi blew his whistle during the play that led to the goal but did not stop the match as confusion reined. Sporting KC has gone 14-26-11 all-time against the Chicago Fire, but holds a slight edge at home, posting a 10-8-9 record in the Kansas City area. #SKCvCHI: Recent Meetings (CHI leads 26-14-11 in regular season) Date

07/13/2016 05/03/2015 10/10/2014 07/06/2014 05/18/2014

Score

KC 0 at CHI 1 KC 1 vs CHI 0 KC 2 vs CHI 0 KC 1 vs CHI 1 KC 1 at CHI 2

Sporting KC Team Stats • SKC’s 15 goals allowed through 21 games in the 2017 MLS season are the fewest conceded in the league, comfortably ahead of FC Dallas’ 19. SKC also has the best goals against average with 0.71, ahead of FCD’s 1.00, and the club’s nine shutouts are tied for the league lead. • SKC is third in MLS with 14.38 shots per game while facing a league-low 9.67 shots per game. They also rank sixth with 4.86 shots on target per game. • SKC leads MLS in dribbles attempted with 424 and ranks second in dribbles completed with 193. • SKC is fourth in MLS with 10.48 chances created per game and second with 9.24 chances created from open play per game. • SKC leads MLS in passes (10,800), successful passes (8,985) and passing accuracy (83.19) while ranking second in average possession (57.32).

Result Details L W W T L

Sporting KC Player Stats • Goalkeeper Tim Melia has the best goals against average in MLS at 0.71, conceding just 15 goals in 21 games this season and posting a league-high nine shutouts. In addition, his 81.25 save percentage leads the league among players to play in two or more games. Melia also leads MLS with three penalty saves on five faced in 2017. • Midfielder Ilie is second in MLS with 1,476 passes attempted and is second in the league in passes completed with 1,261. • Matt Besler is second among MLS defenders in passes attempted (1,201) and passes completed (1,033). • Defender Graham Zusi leads all MLS defenders with 31 chances created and 24 chances created from open play. • Midfielder Benny Feilhaber is sixth in MLS in chances created per game with 2.53. • Winger Gerso is tied for third in MLS with 90 dribbles attempted and third with 42 dribbles completed.

de Leeuw scores controversial lone goal of the game SKC wins it late behind Nagamura’s 75th-minute goal Zusi and Dwyer score in 80th minute or later Dwyer opens scoring before Magee equalizes in first half Magee nets two penalty kicks before Dwyer pulls one back

#SKCvCHI: PLAYER HISTORY • Sporting KC defender Graham Zusi leads the current roster with four goals and two assists against the Chicago Fire. He had both goals in a 2-0 home win Sept. 28, 2012 before adding the game-winner on July 7, 2013. He recorded another game-winning goal and added an assist on Oct. 10, 2014 before setting up Paulo Nagamura’s game-winner on May 3, 2015. • Midfielder Benny Feilhaber has two goals and two assists against the Chicago Fire. He had a goal and an assist for the New England Revolution in a 2-0 home victory on June 2, 2012. He then added a goal for Sporting KC in a 2-1 road win on July 7, 2013 before recording an assist in a 2-1 loss at Toyota Park on May 18, 2014. • Defender Matt Besler has one goal against the Chicago Fire, coming in a 3-2 road defeat at Toyota Park on March 26, 2011. • Defender Ike Opara scored his first-ever MLS goal against the Chicago Fire as a member of the San Jose Earthquakes with the game-winner on April 10, 2010. • Midfielder Roger Espinoza has recorded one assist against the Fire, coming on Bobby Convey’s goal in a 2-1 road defeat on May 12, 2012. • Defender Kevin Ellis has one assist against Chicago, setting up Graham Zusi’s game-winner in a 2-0 home win on Oct. 10, 2014. • Defender Seth Sinovic has one assist against the Fire, coming on Graham Zusi’s game-winner in a 2-1 road win on July 7, 2013. • Goalkeeper Tim Melia is 1-1-0 all-time against Chicago, posting a shutout in a 1-0 home win on May 3, 2015 before suffering a 1-0 road defeat on July 13, 2016. • Goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra is 1-0-0 all-time against the Chicago Fire, posting a 3-1 win while with D.C. United on June 3, 2015.

Chicago Fire Team Stats • CHI is third in MLS with 38 goals scored in 2017, two behind NYC and ATL. • CHI is 15th in MLS in shots but fourth in shots on goal, hitting the target with 104 of their 247 shots. • CHI has been caught offside more than any other side in MLS, being flagged 60 times. • CHI has engaged in the fewest tackles in MLS (314) and has also won the fewest tackles (236). • CHI is tied for third in MLS with a 1.05 goals against average. Chicago Fire Player Stats • Forward Nemanja Nikolic leads MLS with 16 goals scored in 20 appearances this season. Nikolic also leads MLS wth 38 shots on goal and four multi-goal games. • Forwards David Accam and Nemanja Nikolic are both tied for second in MLS with four game-winning goals apiece. • Goalkeeper Matt Lampson has the second best goals against average in MLS with 0.75, trailing SKC’s Tim Melia’s 0.71.

#SKCvCHI: PLAYER/COACH CONNECTIONS

NOTEWORTHY MILESTONES

• Chicago Fire defender Michael Harrington was a long-time member of Sporting KC, making 170 appearances for the club from 2007-2012. • Goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra made 17 appearances for the Fire between 2009-2010. • Defenders Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, along with midfielder Benny Feilhaber have all played with Chicago midfielder Dax McCarty with the U.S. Men’s National Team. • Defenders Matt Besler and Graham Zusi faced Chicago midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 2014 FIFA World Cup when Germany topped the U.S. 1-0 on June 26, 2014. • Forward Latif Blessing and Chicago’s David Accam are both from Accra, the capital of Ghana. • Forward Daniel Salloi and Chicago forward Nemanja Nikolic are the only two active Hungarian players in MLS. • Goalkeeper Tim Melia played with the Fire’s Arturo Alvarez at Real Salt Lake in 2011. Alvarez also played with defender Ike Opara at the San Jose Earthquakes in 2010. • Defender Colton Storm played collegiate soccer with Chicago defender Jonathan Campbell at the University of North Carolina from 2013-2015. • Goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas was in Club Tijuana’s Academy while Chicago midfielder Juninho played for the first team in 2016. • Defender Tyler Pasher briefly played alongside Chicago goalkeeper Matt Lampson at the USL’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds in 2015.

• Defender Matt Besler is one start away from hitting 250 in all competitions. He is also one shy of his 225th MLS start (including playoffs). • Defender Seth Sinovic is one start away from reaching 150 in the regular season for Sporting KC. • Midfielder Benny Feilhaber is one shy of reaching 175 regular season starts in his MLS career. • Defender Saad Abdul-Salaam is one start shy of reaching 50 in all competitions for the club. • Midfielder Ilie is in line to make his 25th appearance & start in all competitions.

SPORTING KC SOCIAL MEDIA PROPERTIES Web SportingKC.com SportingKC.com/news SportingKC.com/media-recap SportingKC.com/social-media SportingKC.com/gameon SportingKC.com/videos SportingKC.com/media-guide YouTube.com/sportingkansascity Storify.com/sportingkc Flickr.com/sportingkc

Social Media Twitter @SportingKC (English) Twitter @SoySporting (Spanish) Twitter @SKCMatchday Twitter @SKCAcademy Twitter @SportingKC_SCN Twitter @cmpark Twitter @SportingStyle Facebook.com/SportingKC Facebook.com/SportingParkKC Facebook.com/SoySporting instagram.com/sportingkc google.com/+sportingkansascity

Sporting KC Game Notes | July 29, 2017 vs. Chicago Fire | SportingKC.com/Game-Notes UNBEATEN STREAKS CONTINUE

SPORTING KANSAS CITY NEWS AND NOTES Among keepers with at least two games played, Melia sits at No. 1 in save percentage at 81.25. His 65 total saves rank fifth, while his 38 saves from shots inside the box rank fourth. He also leads the league with three penalty kick saves, denying 60 percent of the five penalties he has faced this season - earning his side two points in the process as he saved potentially game-changing penalties in a 0-0 draw at D.C. United on March 4 and in 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers on July 1.

Sporting Kansas City enters Saturday’s match against the Chicago Fire in the midst of two concurrent unbeaten streaks. The side is unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions, going 2-0-5 in MLS play since their last defeat on May 27 and 3-0-0 in the U.S. Open Cup as Sporting KC advanced to the Semifinal stage with wins over Minnesota United FC, the Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas.

Melia is currently on track to shatter the all-time record for goals against average in a 34-game season, set in 2012 by Sporting KC when Jimmy Nielsen manned the goal and conceded just 27 goals in 34 games for a goals against average of 0.79.

In addition, Sporting KC are riding a 19-game home unbeaten streak in MLS action that stretches all the way back to last summer. Sporting KC last tasted defeat in the regular season at Children’s Mercy Park when the side fell to a 1-0 loss against D.C. United on May 27, 2016. Since then, Sporting KC has gone 13-0-6 in regular-season play at Children’s Mercy Park, and is 16-1-6 in all competitions in that time. The lone setback in the last 14 months came in a 2-1 defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage on Sept. 13, 2016.

BESLER AND ZUSI RAISE CONCACAF GOLD CUP

Defenders Matt Besler and Graham Zusi concluded a successful month with the U.S. Men’s National Team on Wednesday, raising the CONCACAF Gold Cup after both started and played the full 90 minutes in the final that saw the U.S. emerge as 2-1 victors over Jamaica. Besler (44 caps) and Zusi (53 caps) have been staples of the U.S. National Team in recent years, as Besler earns his second Gold Cup medal after helping the side to glory in 2013, while Wednesday’s victory represents Zusi’s first international honor.

The club’s 19-game home unbeaten streak is the longest in club history and is tied for the sixth longest in MLS history. The Houston Dynamo holds the current record for the longest home unbeaten streak, having gone 30 home games without a loss from July 9, 2011 through April 28, 2013 - a streak that was shattered by Sporting KC with a 1-0 win on May 12, 2013.

Besler and Zusi each started four games in the tournament, all alongside one another on the U.S. backline. The pair started the group stage opener - a 1-1 draw with Panama - before earning another start as the U.S. beat Nicaragua 3-0 in the third and final group game to seal first place in Group B, with Zusi assisting the third goal that secured the first-place finish over Panama.

The club’s seven-game unbeaten streak in MLS play is the longest active undefeated streak in MLS and has only been bettered all year by the Chicago Fire (11), FC Dallas (9), LA Galaxy (8) and Toronto FC (8).

DWYER DEPARTS

The U.S. then took on El Salvador in the Quarterfinals, earning a 2-0 victory last Wednesday to book a spot in the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals, though neither Besler nor Zusi featured in that match. The duo were back in the lineup for the Semifinal clash against Costa Rica last Saturday, helping the side to another 2-0 shutout victory that clinched a spot in Wednesday’s final against Jamaica.

After six seasons with Sporting Kansas City, forward Dom Dwyer was this week traded to Orlando City SC in a record-setting deal. Sporting KC received up to $1.6 million in allocation money in exchange for Dwyer which is more than double the highest amount of allocation money ever traded in Major League Soccer history. Sporting KC will receive $400,000 in General Allocation Money, $500,000 in Targeted Allocation Money as well as up to $700,000 in future Allocation Money based on Dwyer’s performance. Tuesday’s deal shatters the previous record set earlier this year when Minnesota United sent $650,000 in allocation money to Orlando City SC in exchange for creative midfielder Kevin Molino.

Jozy Altidore put the U.S. ahead in the first half with a stunning free kick from 25 yards, only for Je-Vaughn Watson to equalize early in the second period when Jordan Morris lost him at a corner. Morris atoned for his error, lashing the winning goal in the top corner in the 88th minute to seal the United States’ sixth all-time Gold Cup triumph.

HEY GRAHAM, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR

Dwyer scored 67 goals in all competitions during his six-year stint with Sporting Kansas City, second-most in team history. The 26-year-old joined the club as the 16th pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft out of the University of South Florida and appeared in 157 competitive matches. He helped Sporting KC lift the 2013 MLS Cup and 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Sporting KC defender Graham Zusi was named to the MLS All-Star Gameday Roster last Tuesday. Zusi will join a 24-man squad as Major League Soccer’s best players square off with Spanish giants Real Madrid in the 2017 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target. The summer showcase at Soldier Field in Chicago will kick off on Wednesday, Aug. 2.

He previously spent part of 2013 on loan with Orlando City SC when the Florida club competed in USL PRO, now the United Soccer League. During his time with the Lions, Dwyer notched a then-USL PRO record 15 goals in 13 regular season games before scoring four times in the USL PRO Championship victory over the Charlotte Eagles.

The MLS All-Star Gameday Roster consists of the All-Star Fan XI, announced on July 7, as well as two Commissioner’s Picks and 11 additional players selected by All-Star head coach Veljko Paunovic of the Chicago Fire. Zusi was one of three defenders voted to the Fan XI, as the full roster is a mix of 16 All-Star veterans as well as eight All-Star newcomers, representing 13 MLS clubs and hailing from 13 different countries, the most diverse group in All-Star history. Additionally, 20 of the 24 players named to the roster have represented their countries at the senior national team level.

GERSO SUSPENDED

Sporting Kansas City winger Gerso will miss Saturday’s match against the Chicago Fire after he was handed a one-game suspension by MLS for a challenge on Luke Mulholland in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. He was initially shown a yellow card for the tackle in the 77th minute.

Zusi, 30, earns MLS All-Star recognition for the fifth time in his career, tied with current teammate Matt Besler for third-most in club history. The right back previously received All-Star accolades every year from 2012-2015, a period that saw Sporting KC win an MLS Cup and two Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups.

Gerso has played in all 24 games this season for Sporting KC, starting 23. He suffered a dislocated shoulder in the 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers on July 1 and did not start the ensuing match against the Philadelphia Union on July 6, but still appeared off the bench late in the game. Gerso leads the team with six goals in MLS play and eight goals in all competitions in his first year with the club, while he’s also added two assists on the year.

A veteran of the U.S. Men’s National Team, Zusi has started 15 of 16 MLS appearances this season for a Sporting Kansas City side that has kept nine clean sheets and boasts a league-low 0.71 goals against average. In addition to contributing to a stout backline, Zusi has assisted four goals in all competitions and leads MLS defenders with 31 chances created. Zusi has collected 53 caps for the U.S. MNT since debuting in 2012. He tallied two assists at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil before competing at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup and 2016 Copa America Centenario. Zusi most recently lifted the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup alongside Besler.

The 26-year-old’s one-game ban is the first retroactive suspension handed down to Sporting KC by the MLS Disciplinary Committee this season. Roger Espinoza has missed two games through suspension this year - one after receiving two cautions and one for yellow-card accumulation - while former striker Dom Dwyer also missed one game for yellow-card accumulation. Seth Sinovic will miss the side’s upcoming U.S. Open Cup Semifinal after he was shown a straight red card in the Quarterfinal win over FC Dallas on July 11.

PATH TO THE FINAL

Sporting Kansas City will host the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals. The match at Children’s Mercy Park will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 7:30 p.m. CT.

MELIA’S IMMACULATE SEASON CONTINUES

Numerous statistics suggest that Tim Melia has been the best goalkeeper in Major League Soccer this season. At the forefront, Sporting KC’s gloveman leads MLS with nine shutouts, while his 0.71 goals against average is also the best rank in the league. He is narrowly ahead of Chicago’s Matt Lampson’s 0.75 — who has played 12 games compared to Melia’s 21.

U.S. Soccer held an official draw to determine hosting priorities for both semifinal matchups as well as the tournament Final. Should Sporting KC defeat San Jose, the club will also host the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, currently scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Sporting KC Game Notes | July 29, 2017 vs. Chicago Fire | SportingKC.com/Game-Notes SPORTING KANSAS CITY NEWS AND NOTES In the other semifinal pairing, either Miami FC (NASL) or FC Cincinnati (USL) will host the New York Red Bulls. The quarterfinal contest between Miami FC and FC Cincinnati was slated for Wednesday, July 12, but dangerous weather in South Florida postponed the match. The makeup date for that game is Aug. 2 at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami.

PLAYOFF STREAK

Sporting Kansas City is seeking the club’s fourth U.S. Open Cup championship, having previously hoisted the title in 2004, 2012 and 2015. None of the other four teams remaining in the 2017 field have won the Open Cup. The 2017 U.S. Open Cup winner will receive $250,000 in prize money and a berth in the 2019 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, the premier club competition in North America.

LONGEST MLS PLAYOFF STREAKS Club Seasons LA Galaxy 10 (1996-2005) LA Galaxy 9 (2009-2016) *active Seattle Sounders FC 9 (2009-2016) *active New York Red Bulls 8 (2010-2016) *active NE Revolution 8 (2002-2009) Real Salt Lake 7 (2008-2014) Sporting KC 6 (2011-2016) *active

Sporting KC is looking to become the sixth club in MLS history to make at least seven straight trips to the postseason, while Manager Peter Vermes would be just the fourth coach to lead the same team to seven straight playoff appearances.

Next month’s clash with San Jose will be Sporting Kansas City’s fifth appearance in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. The club has won each of its last three semifinal meetings, claiming victories in 2004, 2012 and 2015 en route to lifting the tournament title on each occasion.

LONGEST MLS PLAYOFF STREAKS BY A COACH WITH THE SAME TEAM Coach Club Years Seasons Bruce Arena LA Galaxy 8 2009-2016 Steve Nicol NE Revolution 8 2002-2009 Sigi Scmid Seattle Sounders 7 2009-2015 LA Galaxy 6 1999-2004 Peter Vermes Sporting KC 6 2011-2016 (active) Jason Kreis Real Salt Lake 6 2008-2013

EPB NAMED No. 2 ON USL 20-UNDER-20 LIST

On Thursday afternoon, the United Soccer League announced that Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown came in at No. 2 on the league’s annual 20-Under-20 list that ranks the top young talent in the league - compiled with input from every USL club’s coaching and technical staff. Palmer-Brown made five appearances for Sporting KC’s USL affiliate, the Swope Park Rangers, earlier this year to make him eligible for selection on the list.

VERMES VERBATIM

In his five games with the Rangers, Palmer-Brown amassed 17 clearances and 13 interceptions while winning 87.5 percent of his tackles and completing 92.2 percent of his passes — the best mark among USL players with at least 30 pass attempts. It’s the second year running that an SPR player has come in at No. 2 on the list, with midfielder Kevin Oliveira earning the same honor in 2016.

Below are Manager Peter Vermes’ remarks on Sporting KC’s 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 22, 2017. On applying pressure to RSL’s back line... “I think we did it a lot better in the second half. In the first half I thought we were organized up front to pressure the ball but I don’t think we had the kind of energy we needed in the first half and I don’t think we competed as much as we needed to. I thought in the second half it was a much different story and I think that’s one of the reasons why we got the penalty kick. We were on the front foot, winning a lot of balls, turning them over like 30-40 yards away from goal, which then led to the ball in the box and Silva, I think, came across kind of from a bad angle and, you know, the referee’s decision. Say whatever you want about it but I think we were on the front foot at that point and were turning them over so it was much better in the second half. But if I have to look at the game all-in-all I think both teams probably deserved a point from this game because there were a few chances we had, a few chances they had, and the goalkeepers made some good saves. And in the end, it ended off being a point.”

Palmer-Brown captained the U.S. Under-20 National Team to CONCACAF Championship glory in March - receiving the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament - before leading the side to the Quarterfinals of the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in June as the side fell to runners-up Venezuela in a 2-1 extra-time thriller. The 20-year-old has since returned to Sporting KC and has started each of the side’s last three games in all competitions, notably marshalling the backline to a shutout in a dramatic 3-0 U.S. Open Cup victory over FC Dallas on July 11. He has made 16 appearances for the club since signing as a Homegrown player in 2013 and spent the 2016 season on loan with FC Porto’s B team in Portugal’s second division.

BESLER AND SINOVIC RENEW PARTNERSHIP

After helping Sporting KC record nine shutouts in the opening 20 games on the left side of the defense to open the 2017 MLS season, center back Matt Besler and left back Seth Sinovic have now posted 47 total shutouts in just 122 games where both have started in the regular season. Besler and Sinovic have started 17 of the club’s 21 regular-season games together this season, posting all nine shutouts.

On the depth of his back line... “I think for the most part they played very well and I think at the end of the game those guys started getting tired because they don’t play 90 minutes all the time. You get tired and you start to lose your concentration a little bit and I think we started to get a little bit unorganized. Kind of changed our formation a tad there at the last, like, 5-10 minutes but I think all-in-all those guys did a pretty good job.”

Since Sinovic made his first appearance for the team on May 28, 2011 after being waived by the New England Revolution earlier in the year, Sporting KC leads all of MLS with 77 shutouts - 14 more than the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake in second. Besler and Sinovic have started 122 of the 217 games since the trade, posting 47 of the club’s 77 shutouts alongside one another.

On the rivalry... “I don’t really think the game was all that bad tonight. I actually think the referee did a pretty good job, I really do. I think he had two bad situations, one for us, one for them, meaning I don’t think he should have called the yellow card on Roger Espinoza in the first half. I think he went up for a head ball, you know, it is what it is and you know, whatever. I think he (the referee) did well tonight, I don’t think he was a problem in the game and I don’t think the game was all that chippy. I mean I always think it’s funny because it’s grown men playing a sport that - it’s tough. It’s a tough sport. There’s going to be contact and to think that there’s not going to be is kind of ridiculous.”

Individually, Besler leads the league in shutouts since Sinovic joined the club with 63, while Sinovic is second with 56. Prior to the 1-1 draw with Montreal on Saturday, June 10 where Belser was with the U.S. National Team in Mexico, Besler and Sinovic had started each of Sporting KC’s previous 17 regular-season games, conceding just 10 goals - a rate of 0.59 per game.

Sporting KC Game Notes | July 29, 2017 vs. Chicago Fire | SportingKC.com/Game-Notes ALL-TIME REGULAR SEASON RESULTS

ALL-TIME REGULAR SEASON SERIES LEADERS

Sporting KC MLS record vs. Chicago Fire: 14-26-11 Home games: 10-8-9 (37 GF, 38 GA) Road games: 4-18-2 (22 GF, 48 GA) Date 04/08/1998 06/24/1998 08/29/1998 09/17/1998 03/27/1999 05/22/1999 08/05/1999 08/25/1999 03/25/2000 06/04/2000 05/19/2001 07/04/2001 08/14/2002 08/31/2002 04/26/2003 06/21/2003 07/26/2003 04/03/2004 05/08/2004 09/01/2004 06/18/2005 08/10/2005 08/19/2005 10/01/2005 05/06/2006 06/17/2006 07/04/2006 08/16/2006 04/21/2007 08/22/2007 08/25/2007 04/20/2008 07/27/2008 10/05/2008 04/18/2009 08/16/2009 05/15/2010 10/12/2010 03/26/2011 06/09/2011 05/12/2012 06/29/2012 09/28/2012 03/16/2013 07/07/2013 08/23/2013 05/18/2014 07/06/2014 10/10/2014 05/03/2015 07/13/2016

Score KC 1 vs CHI 0 KC 1 at CHI 4 KC 2 vs CHI 2 KC 0 at CHI 1 KC 0 vs CHI 3 KC 1 at CHI 3 KC 1 vs CHI 2 KC 0 at CHI 2 KC 4 vs CHI 3 KC 2 at CHI 3 KC 0 at CHI 2 KC 0 vs CHI 7 KC 1 at CHI 5 KC 2 vs CHI 1 KC 2 vs CHI 3 KC 4 vs CHI 2 KC 0 at CHI 2 KC 0 vs CHI 0 KC 2 vs CHI 2 KC 1 at CHI 3 KC 1 at CHI 1 KC 3 at CHI 2 KC 3 vs CHI 0 KC 0 vs CHI 1 KC 1 vs CHI 1 KC 3 vs CHI 2 KC 0 at CHI 1 KC 0 at CHI 3 KC 1 at CHI 2 KC 3 vs CHI 2 KC 0 at CHI 2 KC 1 at CHI 0 KC 0 vs CHI 0 KC 1 vs CHI 1 KC 2 at CHI 2 KC 0 vs CHI 2 KC 2 vs CHI 2 KC 2 at CHI 0 KC 2 at CHI 3 KC 0 vs CHI 0 KC 1 at CHI 2 KC 0 vs CHI 1 KC 2 vs CHI 0 KC 0 vs CHI 0 KC 2 at CHI 1 KC 0 at CHI 1 KC 1 at CHI 2 KC 1 vs CHI 1 KC 2 vs CHI 0 KC 1 vs CHI 0 KC 0 at CHI 1

SPORTING KANSAS CITY GOALS ASSISTS SHOTS SHOTS ON GOAL FOULS COMMITTED FOULS SUFFERED

5 Sealy, Wolff 10 Preki 43 Davy Arnaud 18 Josh Wolff 38 Kerry Zavagnin 40 Davy Arnaud

Result Location W Arrowhead Stadium L Soldier Field SOL Arrowhead Stadium L Soldier Field L Arrowhead Stadium L Soldier Field L Arrowhead Stadium L Soldier Field W Arrowhead Stadium L Soldier Field L Soldier Field L Arrowhead Stadium L Cardinal Stadium W Arrowhead Stadium L Arrowhead Stadium W Arrowhead Stadium L Cardinal Stadium T Arrowhead Stadium T Arrowhead Stadium L Soldier Field T Soldier Field W Soldier Field W Arrowhead Stadium L Arrowhead Stadium T Arrowhead Stadium W Arrowhead Stadium L Toyota Park L Toyota Park L Toyota Park W Arrowhead Stadium L Toyota Park W Toyota Park T CommunityAmerica Ballpark T CommunityAmerica Ballpark T Toyota Park L CommunityAmerica Ballpark T CommunityAmerica Ballpark W Toyota Park L Toyota Park T Livestrong Sporting Park L Toyota Park L Livestrong Sporting Park W Livestrong Sporting Park T Sporting Park W Toyota Park L Toyota Park L Toyota Park T Sporting Park W Sporting Park W Sporting Park L Toyota Park

3 6 3 40 24

CHICAGO FIRE Ante Razov Justin Mapp Ante Razov Ante Razov Gonzalo Segares Justin Mapp

WINS LOSSES SHUTOUTS SAVES GOALS ALLOWED

Three Players Tony Meola Jimmy Nielsen Tony Meola Tony Meola

Zach Thornton 15 Zach Thornton 4 Zach Thornton 8 Zach Thornton 94 Zach Thornton 26

ALL-TIME REGULAR SEASON GAME HIGHS SPORTING KANSAS CITY

CHICAGO FIRE

2 Six Players 3 Preki (6/21/03) 8 Kei Kamara (6/29/12) 4 Four Players 6 Alex Zotinca (4/3/04) 6 Six Players

GOALS ASSISTS SHOTS SHOTS ON GOAL FOULS COMMITTED FOULS SUFFERED

Seven Players 10 Players (7/26/03) Damani Ralph Six Players Four Players Blanco, Ralph

2 2 9 4 6 7

9 Tony Meola (7/26/03) 7 Bo Oshoniyi (7/4/01)

SAVES GOALS ALLOWED

(6/21/03) Zach Thornton

10 4

Sutton, Thornton

ALL-TIME REGULAR SEASON SERIES STATS SPORTING KANSAS CITY Category Goals Shots Shots on Goal Fouls Offsides Corner Kicks

1 2 OT 29 30 0 309 360 0 133 132 0 350 360 0 50 46 0 113 141 0

Total 59 669 265 690 96 254

CHICAGO FIRE Category Goals Shots Shots on Goal Fouls Offsides Corner Kicks

1 2 OT 44 42 0 311 313 0 135 137 0 366 360 0 73 88 0 106 131 0

Total 86 624 272 726 161 237

GOALS SCORED IN SERIES BY INTERVAL 1-15

16-30

31-45

46-60

61-75

76-90

Total

KC 11 7 11 6 11 13 0 59 CHI 15 11 18 13 14 15 0 86

CHILDRENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MERCY PARK BY THE NUMBERS

19,428

CONSECUTIVE MLS SELLOUTS Dating back to April 2012 (including postseason)

ALL-TIME AVERAGE MLS ATTENDANCE 118 MLS matches since 2011 (including postseason)

SPORTING KC MATCHES PLAYED 112 MLS regular season, 6 MLS postseason, 16 Open Cup, 7 CCL, 5 friendlies

PERCENT CAPACITY IN MLS MATCHES 118 MLS matches since 2011 Seating capacity: 18,467

146

9 8 48 20 45 42

105.2 5

SPORTING KC MATCHES WON

not including penalty shootout victories in 2012 U.S. Open Cup and 2013 MLS Cup finals

245

SPORTING KC GOALS SCORED in 146 matches played at the stadium

Sporting KC Game Notes | July 29, 2017 vs. Chicago Fire | SportingKC.com/Game-Notes SPORTING KANSAS CITY TRANSACTION TRACKER Players In

Players Out

Tyler Pasher (signed from SPR - 12/2/16)

Brad Davis (retired - 10/23/16)

Adrian Zendejas (signed from SPR - 12/2/16)

Nuno Coelho (out of contract - 11/23/16)

Igor Juliao (loan - 12/23/16)

Chance Myers (out of contract - 11/23/16)

Gerso Fernandes (transfer - 1/4/17)

Jacob Peterson (out of contract - 11/23/16)

Latif Blessing (transfer - 1/9/17)

Ever Alvarado (option not exercised - 11/23/16)

Christian Volesky (trade - 1/9/17)

Emmanuel Appiah (option not exercised - 11/23/16)

Cameron Iwasa (signing - 1/10/17)

Connor Hallisey (option not exercised - 11/23/16)

Andrew Dykstra (signing - 1/10/17)

Jon Kempin (option not exercised - 11/23/16)

Ilie Sanchez (signing - 1/13/17)

Justin Mapp (option not exercised - 11/23/16)

Soony Saad (signing - 1/30/17)

Paulo Nagamura (retired - 12/12/16)

Colton Storm (SuperDraft - 2/24/17)

Alec Kann (Expansion Draft - 12/13/16)

Amer Didic (signed from SPR - 5/31/17)

Lawrence Olum (trade - 2/3/17)

Cristian Lobato (signing - 6/29/17)

Benji Joya (waived - 2/27/17) Christian Volesky (waived - 2/27/17) Igor Juliao (waived - 6/29/17) Dom Dwyer (trade - 7/25/17)

SPORTING KANSAS CITY TRANSACTION TIMELINE DATE IN/OUT DETAILS Oct. 23: OUT Sporting KC midfielder Brad Davis retires Nov. 16: Sporting KC signs M Benny Feilhaber and D Ike Opara to new contracts Nov. 23: OUT D Nuno Coelho, D Chance Myers and F Jacob Peterson leaves Sporting KC out of contract. Sporting KC declines options on D Ever Alvarado, M Emmanuel Appiah, M Connor Hallisey, GK Jon Kempin and M Justin Mapp Dec. 2: IN Sporting KC signs D/M Tyler Pasher and GK Adrian Zendejas from Swope Park Rangers (USL) Dec. 12: OUT Sporting KC midfielder Paulo Nagamura retires Dec. 13: Sporting KC signs D Kevin Ellis, GK Alec Kann and D/M Jimmy Medranda to new contracts Dec. 13: OUT Sporting KC goalkeeper Alec Kann selected in Expansion Draft by Atlanta United FC (MLS) Dec. 23: IN Sporting KC signs D Igor Juliao on loan from Fluminense FC (Brazil) Jan. 4: IN Sporting KC signs F Gerso Fernandes as a Designated Player Jan. 9: IN Sporting KC signs F Latif Blessing from Ghana Jan. 9: IN Sporting KC signs F Christian Volesky in trade with Portland Timbers (MLS) Jan. 10: IN Sporting KC signs GK Andrew Dykstra and F Cameron Iwasa Jan. 13: IN Sporting KC signs M Ilie Sanchez Jan. 30: IN Sporting KC re-acquires F Soony Saad Feb. 3: OUT Sporting KC trades M Lawrence Olum to the Portland Timbers (MLS) Feb. 24: IN Sporting KC signs SuperDraft selection D Colton Storm Feb. 27: OUT Sporting KC waives M Benji Joya and F Christian Volesky May 31: IN Sporting KC signs D Amer Didic from Swope Park Rangers (USL) June 29: IN/OUT Sporting KC signs M Cristian Lobato from Gimnastic de Tarragona (Spain) and waives on-loan D Igor Juliao July 25: OUT Sporting KC acquires up to $1.6 million in allocation money from Orlando City SC in exchange for F Dom Dwyer

CONSTRUCTING SPORTING KANSAS CITY Year

MLS SuperDraft

2009

Matt Besler (8th) Graham Zusi (23rd)

Signings

2011 2013 2015

Jimmy Medranda (8/9/13) Saad Abdul-Salaam (12th)

2016 2017

Homegrown Players

Seth Sinovic (5/10/11)

Kevin Ellis (2/18/11)

Benny Feilhaber (12/11/12) Ike Opara (12/12/12)

Erik Palmer-Brown (8/2/13)

Cameron Porter (7/12/16)

Daniel Salloi (1/13/16)

MLS Re-Entry Draft

Tim Melia (12/23/14) Roger Espinoza (1/6/15) Soni Mustivar (2/16/15) Diego Rubio (3/8/16)

Colton Storm (14th)

Trades

Tyler Pasher (12/2/16) Adrian Zendejas (12/2/16) Gerso Fernandes (1/4/17) Latif Blessing (1/9/17) Cameron Iwasa (1/10/17) Ilie Sanchez (1/13/17) Soony Saad (1/30/17) Amer Didic (5/31/17) Cristian Lobato (6/29/17)

Andrew Dykstra (Second Round)

Sporting KC Game Notes | July 29, 2017 vs. Chicago Fire | SportingKC.com/Game-Notes SPORTING KANSAS CITY 2017 SCHEDULE AND RESULTS DATE

OPPONENT

COMPETITION

TIME (CT) / RESULT

TV / SCORERS

Saturday, March 4

at D.C. United

MLS

0-0

SATURDAY, MARCH 11

FC DALLAS

MLS

0-0

SATURDAY, MARCH 18

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

MLS

2-1

Feilhaber, Own Goal

Friday, March 31

at Toronto FC

MLS

0-0

SUNDAY, APRIL 9

COLORADO RAPIDS

MLS

3-1

Sinovic, Gerso, Dwyer

Saturday, April 15

at Portland Timbers

MLS

1-0

Dwyer

Saturday, April 22

at FC Dallas

MLS

0-1

SATURDAY, APRIL 29

REAL SALT LAKE

MLS

3-0

Feilhaber, Dwyer, Gerso

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3

NEW YORK RED BULLS

MLS

2-0

Dwyer (2)

Sunday, May 7

at Minnesota United FC

MLS

0-2

Saturday, May 13

at Orlando City SC

MLS

2-2

Blessing (2)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 17

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

MLS

3-0

Gerso (3)

Saturday, May 20

at Vancouver Whitecaps FC

MLS

0-2

Saturday, May 27

at Colorado Rapids

MLS

0-1

SATURDAY, JUNE 3

MINNESOTA UNITED FC

MLS

3-0

Opara, Medranda, Abdul-Salaam

SATURDAY, JUNE 10

MONTREAL IMPACT

MLS

1-1

Gerso

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14

MINNESOTA UNITED FC

U.S. OPEN CUP

4-0

Opara, Gerso, Dwyer, Salloi

Saturday, June 17

at San Jose Earthquakes

MLS

0-0

Saturday, June 24

at LA Galaxy

MLS

2-1

Espinoza, Opara

Wednesday, June 28

at Houston Dynamo

U.S. Open Cup

2-0

Opara, Gerso

SATURDAY, JULY 1

PORTLAND TIMBERS

MLS

1-1

Salloi

THURSDAY, JULY 6

PHILADELPHIA UNION

MLS

1-1

Rubio

TUESDAY, JULY 11

FC DALLAS

U.S. OPEN CUP

3-0 (AET)

Blessing (2), Salloi

Saturday, July 22

at Real Salt Lake

MLS

1-1

Feilhaber (PK)

SATURDAY, JULY 29

CHICAGO FIRE

MLS