Sporting KC lets 3 points slip away in Portland

Sporting Kansas City’s chances at making the playoffs took a hit when the Portland Timbers scored twice in the last ten minutes to take the win 2-1.

Benny Feilhaber opened the scoring when he sent a seeking ball into the box that caught Portland keeper Steve Clark off guard. Feilhaber’s cross ended up dropping into the far corner to put Sporting KC up 1-0 in the 65^th minute.

“I’m sure a lot of people would claim the shot, but I tried to cross it, miss-hit it and I think I got hurt in the process also. Frustrating night all around,” Feilhaber explained.

Everything went wrong in the 83^rd when the Timbers sliced through Sporting KC’s defense with the ball ending up on Jeremy Ebobisse’s foot for an easy tap in to level the match.

With Sporting KC fighting to hold on to salvage a point, the Timbers pressed for the win. Tomás Conechny nutmegged Graham Zusi to get the ball to Diego Valeri who drove the ball to the endline before crossing the ball. Brian Fernández slipped between defenders to head the ball right on the line for the winning goal.

“Just disappointing,” Vermes stated. “Tough place to play. We got a goal to go up and were not able to come away with anything, so it’s disappointing. We’re in a position where we have to get points every game and obviously today we had the chance there late and we weren’t able to come up with anything.”

Sporting KC has the chance to be tied for 8^th with Portland and just 3 points out of a playoff spot but ended up staying in 9^th place and needing at least 7 points for a playoff chance. They will have a chance to earn points on the road again next Sunday versus the LA Galaxy.