SKC dominates Loons but only come away with a draw

Sporting Kansas City stays atop the Western Conference with a 1-1 draw at Minnesota United. The visitors dominated most of the match but could not find the game winner and will have to return home feeling they not only could have, but should have taken all three points.

A bright spot for the team was the initial goal in the 8^th minute. It took 24 shots and 11 games but Khiry Shelton found the back of the net off of an inswinging Johnny Russell corner to give Sporting Kansas City the lead. Shelton went up in the air and nodded the ball down past Loon keeper Bobby Shuttleworth from inside the six-yard-box.

Minnesota equalized in the 20^th minute when Darwin Quintero snagged his own rebound after Tim Melia blocked his initial header. Quintero was free in the box and probably should have done better with his initial shot but Melia saved the ball down when it deflected right back to Quintero.

The Loons thought they had grabbed the really early lead when Quintero played a ball into Christian Ramirez but he was offside and the resulting goal nullified.

SKC Manager Peter Vermes brought Seth Sinovic in for Jimmy Medranda in the 36^th minute. Medranda had appeared to be struggling a bit through the first 30 minutes. Vermes confirmed to reporters post-game that Medranda has an injury that they thought he could play through but thought it best to pull him off.

Sporting KC controlled most of the match with 61.4% possession and taking 24 shots and dominating play overall. For Minnesota, they had to rely on counters and if not for several excellent saves by Shuttleworth, Sporting KC would have come home with the full three points.