Omar Bravo comes up huge for KC

Sporting KC’s Omar Bravo came through with a penalty kick goal in stoppage time to secure a 2-2 tie against the Western Conference leading LA Galaxy in front of a record crowd at Sporting Livestrong Park.

With KC down one and the game winding down, LA’s Frankie Hejduk was was whistled for a handball in the box on Julio César’s cross. Bravo calmly stepped in and drilled his second stoppage time equalizer of the season and his eighth goal overall.

Sean Franklin scored two goals for the Galaxy (14-3-10) and César scored the other goal for KC.

With the tie, KC (9-8-10) remains in second place in the Eastern Conference.

Sporting KC plays the final game of its nine-game homestand at 3:00 p.m. Saturday against Houston.

KC won for the fourth time in six games Sunday night, topping DC United 1-0 in the sixth game of a nine-game homestand to improve to 9-7-9 overall and move to second place in the Eastern Conference.

Forward Kei Kamara scored his seventh goal of the season in the 19th minute and it was all Sporting would need.

KC is 8-1-6 since openig their new stadium and their defense has been a big reason why, recording five shutouts during the stretch.

Josh Wolff, who played eight seasons in KC, made his first trip to Kansas City’s Sporting Livestrong Park as captain of DC United.

Sporting continutes its homestand against Dallas at 7:30 Saturday.

Graham Zusi scored twice in the first half. The first was a bullet from 25 yards out. Fifteen minutes later he knocked in his fifth goal of the year.

MLS All-Star and former Sporting KC and Kickapoo high school midfielder Jack Jewsbury made his first appearance in KC with another uniform on.

Soony Saad put KC up 3-0 in the 70th minute with his first goal of the year. The Timbers got on the board when Bright Dike put a cross into the back of the net, but it was too little to late.

Sporting KC continues it’s homestand Sunday night against DC United.

KC's Kei Kamara scored his 6th goal

The Seattle Sounders scored two late goals to steal a 2-1 victory from Sporting KC, snapping Sporting’s unbeaten streak at 14 matches.

In the 20th minute, Kei Kamara put KC up 1-0 with his sixth goal of the season.

KC was in control of the game until the very end. In the 90th minute, Teal Bunbury nearly put the game out of reach but his shot went just wide of the far post.

On Seattle’s next possession, Mauro Rosales netted the equalizer and two minutes later Lamar Neagle stunned the crowd with the game-winner.

It was KC’s first MLS loss at Sporting Livestrong Park. They will try to rebound Wednesday against Portland at Sporting Livestrong Park.

Struggling forward Teal Bunbury came off the bench on his bobblehead give-away night, but with KC down 1-0 to the New England Revolution in the 89^th minute, Bunbury buried a shot in the back of the net to save a point for Sporting, set the club record for consecutive games without a loss and keep his team unbeaten at home.

Rajko Lekic got New England on the board in the 38^th minute when a long clearing from goalie Matt Reis bounced over the KC defense and he beat Sporting goalie Jimmy Nielsen.

Sporting has come back to score in the 85thminute or later to preserve a tie three times during their streak.

It was their first game without defender Aurélien Colin, who is expected to miss the next six weeks with a back injury.

Sporting KC (6-6-9) is within two points of the New York Red Bulls for third place in the Eastern Conference. KC is at home again Wednesday against Real Salt Lake at 7:30.

My prediction, Jack Jewsbury will score Wednesday night in the All Star game!

Springfield native Jack Jewsbury will be making his first Major League Soccer All-Star game appearance in his 9 years in the league. The team will be playing against Manchester United. As captain for the Portland Timbers, he has started in 19 games this season and leads the team in goals and assists. To many this may be a surprise. It has been comical to listen to the ESPN and Fox Soccer announcers talk of how surprised they were that he could score…

From an early age many people in Springfield grew up watching Jack hit the back of the net. First the old days with me on the Titan Soccer Club, to his days at Kickapoo High School where he has the Missouri state record for most goals in a season. He has always found a way to score. Jack has always had an ability with the ball and a mental toughness just faster then the rest of us.

Now after 9 seasons in the league he has been rewarded for his hard work. He was transferred to a great new expansion team in the league, started every game, taken every set piece and look what happens! He is scoring goals and is one of the best set piece takers in the league. He has also been selected as one the top 11 players in the league by the fans.

On Wednesday night in New York, 7:30 central time, Jack will take the field with some of the greatest players in the world. He will be playing along side David Beckham and Thierry Henry. The opponent Manchester United with Wayne Rooney, Nani, Ferdinand, and the legendary Ryan Giggs. This is an honor well deserved and I congratulate him on such a great career.

Based on the years of following Jack, if he can get a set piece away from Beckham, there will be a goal for sure! So tune in to ESPN2 to find out. Check out sgfsoccer for an interview with Jack about his experiences at the All Star game.

        After not scoring before the 90^th minute in their last two games, Sporting coach Peter Vermes said his team needed to start this game well.

“We talked about having the desire to get on the scoreboard first,” Vermes said. “Against this team we wanted to get a goal early and we wanted to then keep coming because we thought the game would really open up, and obviously it did.”

Sporting midfielder Kei Kamara wasn’t sure if he was going to play when he woke up Saturday with a sore ankle.

“The trainer kept telling me that I should rest it and I said no way, I just have a feeling about this game,” Kamara said.

In the 28^th minute, Kamara his proved that his intuition was right. After Omar Bravo’s corner kick was deflected toward the top of the box, Kamara turned and scissor kicked the ball into the back of the net.

Kamara scored again five minutes later when he headed in a beautiful cross from Roger Espinoza.

With the win, KC extended it’s ubeaten streak to 12 games. The team is also undefeated at Livestrong Sporting Park in MLS play and that is good news since Saturday’s game was the first of a nine-game homestand for Sporting KC.

“The team is clicking really well and this is the best time of the year for a team to click, which is the second half of the season,” Kamara said.

One reason for  KC’s sudden scoring outburst could be the addition into the lineup of newly acquired Brazilian midfielder Jéferson.

With KC up 2-0, Jéferson threaded a lead pass between two defenders to put the ball on Bravo’s foot with only the goalie to beat. The MLS All-Star juked the goalie to  put KC up 3-0.

A few more goals in the net were welcome news to Sporting goalie Jimmy Nielsen and he said he is expecting big things from Jéferson.

“He’s extremely good offensively, we know he’s good to make that final pass,” Nielsen said.  “I’m sure he’ll just get better and better when we get to know him and he gets to know us.”

Jéferson ended up having to play the entire game. Vermes said that was not his intention but when Aurélien Collin went down with an injury in the 62^nd minute, Vermes was forced to put in Daneil Cyrus and didn’t have anymore subs for Jéferson.

“He probably played 20 -25 minutes too long, we were going to make a substitution with him but with the injury to Collin we had to leave him,” Vermes said.

It was Cyrus’ MLS debut, and though he was not expecting to play he said he always tries to stay sharp on the sidelines.

“Mentally I wasn’t sure that I was going to play, but I always keep in mind anything is possible,” Cyrus said. “Somebody could go down and I would have to go in, so I always have it in my mind to be ready to play.”

Cyrus misplayed a ball that led to a goal by Toronto FC’s Ryan Johnson, but Vermes said that overall, Cyrus had a decent performance.

“If he’s going to learn something, it’s better in a game like this where were up four goals than when it’s really tight,” Vermes said.

Toronto’s Danny Koevermans scored on a header in the 50^th minute, but KC answered when Chance Myers sent a perfect cross to Bravo who scored for the second time. By the time Johnson capitalized on Cyrus’ gaffe, the game was already out of reach for Toronto who remain winless on the road this season.

Sporting KC can savor this one for a while, their next game is not until next week, at home against New England.

Aurelien Collin came up big Saturday night

Sporting KC ran its MLS unbeaten streak to 11 in dramatic fashion Saturday night. Aurelien Collin scored in the 90th minute to save a 1-1 tie on the road against the Houston Dynamo.

Sporting KC fought uphill all game after Houston’s Brad Davis scored in the 8th minute. KC dominated possession in the second half after two Houston players were ejected, but they couldn’t break away.

Sporting attempted a season-high 24 shots, but didn’t score until Collin found the back of the net for his third goal of the season.

Defense has not been an issue for KC (5-6-8), during their unbeaten streak, sporting has allowed only seven goals.

The offense should get a boost with the addition of Brazilian midfielder Jéferson, who joins the team this week as a designated player. Jéferson is an attack-first player, which should mesh well with the core that KC has in place.

The All-Star First XI, as determined by the fans, will be announced during the ESPN broadcast of of the game Sunday. Jewsbury was listed in the Top 7 midfielders with one week remaining in the Fan voting. Hopefully we’ll hear that he made the list. He was included on the Second Team of Soccer By Ives.

The All-Star game is being played on Wednesday July 27th and will feature Manchester United vs the MLS All-Stars. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.

Sporting KC held on for the draw and extended its unbeaten streak to nine straight MLS games. Sporting  (5-6-6) is also undefeated at Sporting Livestrong Park.

The Rapids (5-5-9) are the reigning MLS Cup champs, they jumped on KC early when Conor Casey settled a free kick in the box and snuck the ball by Sporting goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen.

CJ Sapong, who came in for Teal Bunbury in the 59th minute, nearly gave KC all three points with a shot in the 94^th minute but Colorado made the tough save.

Sporting is home again Saturday night against Chivas USA.

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With the win, KC is now 4-6-5 and has moved into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Rookie CJ Sapong was the hero for KC, he scored in the 15^th minute and assisted Aurelien Collin on the team’s other goal four minutes later.

Just before halftime, Portland’s Darlington Nagbe turned in the goal of the year thus far when he juggled the ball twice just outside the box before firing a bullet just inside the far post.

From there, the Sporting defense stepped up and shut out the Timbers in the second half. Defense has been the story for KC, they have allowed only three goals in their past seven games.

This match marked the first time that KC has faced their former teammate, Kickapoo star Jack Jewsbury, now a defender for the Timbers. Jewsbury nearly ruined the night for KC, but his shot in the 89^th minute was just wide of the post.

Sporting returns home Wednesday to take on the Colorado Rapids.