Sporting Kansas City will next face the Seattle Sounders in the knockout round of the Major League Soccer Western Conference at the CenturyLink Field. Incidentally, Sporting Kansas City failed to get past the knockout round in each of the last two seasons.
Winger Graham Zusi's goal in the 88th minute sealed a sixth straight playoff berth Sporting Kansas City on Sunday with a 2-0 win over visiting San Jose Earthquakes at Children's Mercy Park last Sunday, Oct. 23. Sporting Kansas City went up 1-0 in the 27th minute after Benny Feilhaber converted a penalty kick, awarded due to a handball called against Cordell Cato in the penalty box.
Sporting Kansas City’s official Twitter account posted a quote from Manager Peter Vermes talking about the team’s commitment to defense against the Earthquakes:
"We played well as a team, took our opportunities and played good defense." @b_feilhaber22 on the to Sunday's win.https://t.co/fPe1ctgRE2
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) October 24, 2016
As it turned out, it wasn't necessary for Sporting Kansas City to get a win to qualify for the playoffs. After all, the Vancouver Whitecaps blasted the defending champion Portland Timber, 4-1.
While he is happy about the six straight years that Sporting Kansas City made the playoffs, Zusi noted that the last two years have been unfulfilling for them and that they ought to get back to making it deep into the playoffs, Kansas City reported. Meanwhile, the Earthquakes (8-12-14, 38 points) ended a dismal season in ninth place in the Western Conference. They weren't able to get a goal out of the three scoring opportunities on breakaways and empty-net opportunities they had in the first 25 minutes.
Earthquakes captain Chris Wondolowski said they cannot execute the final shot every time they are in possession, according to Mercury News. On the other hand, Earthquakes assistant coach Ian Russell praised his team for putting up a fight and giving everything in every game. Nonetheless, he lamented that they weren't able to score every time they get into good areas. Russell added that they'll start planning on Tuesday.
The Sounders earned the right to host the knockout round by edging Real Salt Lake, 2-1. They have a 2-0 record in knockout round games against the Colorado Rapids in 2013 and against LA Galaxy in 2015.
