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And for a few minutes there, it was all going so well.
Sporting Kansas City started somewhat sluggish out of the gate, spending most of the time in their own half defending or clearing and looking somewhat disjointed. The Colorado Rapids racked up a bunch of early corners and things only got worse with Chance Myers leaving the match early, seemingly holding his hamstring. After the first thirty or so minutes Sporting started to play a bit better and maintain a bit more possession, but at the half time whistle Colorado looked the better side.
Maybe Peter Vermes said the right things at half time, or maybe Krisztian Nemeth just wanted to make sure he leaves for the Hungarian national team on a high note, but with some fancy footwork and a good pass to Dom Dwyer, who finished far post to give Sporting the lead in the 47th minute.
Colorado fought back quick with Vicente Sanchez finding Maynor Figueroa just a few minuets later. The game was somewhat back and forth form them, but Sporting never looked to be the controlling team they have been this season and the Colorado goal, which felt like Sporting would be lucky to avoid, came in 75th minute courtesy of Kevin Doyle.
To the ratings then?
| Colorado Rapids | |
| Clint Irwim | 5.5 |
| Sean St. Ledger | 5 |
| Drew Moor | 4.5 |
| Axel Sjoberg | 4.5 |
| Maynor Figueroa | 7 |
| Dillon Powers | 4.5 |
| Lucas Pittinari | 4.5 |
| Marcelo Sarvas | 4.5 |
| Juan Ramirez | 4.5 |
| Sam Cronin | 4.5 |
| Nick LaBroicca | 4.5 |
| Vicente Sanchez | 9 |
| Kevin Doyle | 7 |
| Dominique Baji | 4.5 |
| Team Average | 5.5 |
| Sporting Kansas City | |
| Tim Melia | 4.5 |
| Matt Besler | 4.5 |
| Kevin Ellis | 5 |
| Saad Abdul-Salaam | 4 |
| Seth Sinovic | 4 |
| Chance Myers | 4 |
| Benny Feilhaber | 4.5 |
| Graham Zusi | 5.5 |
| Jacob Peterson | 4.5 |
| Paulo Nagamura | 4.5 |
| Jordi Quintilla | 4.5 |
| Mikey Lopez | 4.5 |
| Krisztian Nemeth | 6 |
| Dom Dwyer | 7 |
| Team Average | 5 |
Nothing too exceptional. Overall it was largely an average game with a sub average result, with Sporting losing their third straight, and the second on the road. The bye week will be welcome, especially with Besler, Nemeth, and de Jong getting called up by their National teams, along with Erik Palmer-Brown going away to play in the U20s Stevan Vilotic-Cele Tournament. That said, the call ups will make for an interesting defensive make up for the September 9th match again Portland. Do we see the return of the 3-5-2? Magic Eight Ball says..... Probably not.