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So I''ll admit that I haven't watched a replay yet, but is it just me or did that seem like an awfully soft handball call to give SKC the penalty and the win? In any case, I'll for sure take it, and it's hard to argue that Sporting didn't deserve the win. Outside of a good first 15 minutes from San Jose and a couple of scary moments, Kansas City largely controlled that game with some superb defending and good control of the midfield. Not sure how I felt about Graham Zusi out left, but statistically, he had a good game, and it looked like really he wasn't playing entirely on the left side, just starting there and given the freedom to roam. Benny Feilhaber played great, which, unfortunately, didn't show up in the stats, and is a big shortcoming of a stats based rating system...
Dom Dwyer's penalty was superbly taken and I hope that gives him the confidence to bag a bunch more. He's a bulldog up top (can we call him the British Bulldog? Please?) and I love his energy, but he really needs to start netting for us like he did for Orlando City.
The defense had another great game with maybe one mental lapse that Chris Wondowlolwowlowoski luckily and uncharacteristically put wide.
All that said, here's the numbers.
| San Jose Earthquakes | |
| Busch | 4.7 |
| Bernardez | 4.7 |
| Francis | 4.7 |
| Goodson | 4.3 |
| Salinas | 4.7 |
| Cato | 4.7 |
| Pierazzi | 4.7 |
| Cronin | 3.9 |
| Koval | 3.9 |
| Wondolowski | 4.3 |
| Harris | 4.3 |
| Gordon | 3.9 |
| Lenhart | 3.9 |
| Team Average | 4.3 |
| Sporting Kansas City | |
| Krongberg | 5.5 |
| Collin | 6.6 |
| Olum | 6.6 |
| Opara | 7.0 |
| Olum | 6.6 |
| Ellis | 5.8 |
| Feilhaber | 5.5 |
| Zusi | 5.8 |
| Zizzo | 4.7 |
| Nagamura | 4.3 |
| Dwyer | 6.2 |
| Sapong | 3.9 |
| Team Average | 5.7 |
High marks for the whole back line, and Opara gets the slight nod on the high rating. Good to see Eric Kronberg get a clean sheet, he deserves one and I hope its a confidence boost for him as well after getting shelled in Mexico City.
Think we'll see Claudio Bieler any time soon? I would note I'm very worried about our lack of run of play goals... set pieces and PKs will only get us so far this year I fear, but only time will tell... until then, on to Denver!