Sporting Kansas City is back for a fourth consecutive time to the MLS Playoffs and they are ready to take on the Portland Timbers. Two teams that are coming in on hot streaks find a tough challenge on one another if they want to continue in the fight for the MLS Cup.
Sporting Preview
Sporting KC hosts this match in a city that wants to celebrate two professional of its professional teams winning a championship around the same time. Their baseball team is currently leading the World Series 2-0 in a best of seven
With a big 2-1 win over Steve Gerrard's LA Galaxy, Sporting KC clinched the last available spot in the Western Conference. They only have 90 minutes to set the record straight against Portland or they are out. The team really believes they have what it takes to eliminate the Timbers.
Their record during the regular season against their next rival was not good but not great. In three matches, Kansas only won once and tied twice. Portland was not able to score even once against Kansas during the three games. The last time the Timbers were able to score against Kansas was back in 2013.
KC is hyped up for this game
One game. Win or go home. Are you ready, SKC Nation? @Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs #MadeInKC https://t.co/dWYrgR3mWZ
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) October 29, 2015
Good luck tonight to @SportingKC on their quest for a championship!! Let's go fellas! #MLSCupPlayoffs
— Henry Lake (@lakeshow73) October 29, 2015
One of the best players that the team has seen this season is MLS MVP candidate Benny Feilhaber. The outstanding midfielder scored ten goals and tallied 15 assists during the season. Along with a striker like Dom Dweyer, they can be deadly. Dweyer has the third most amount of goals in the MLS since joining last year.
Portland Preview
The Timbers are heated up and ready to go in this MLS Playoffs. They hit a rough patch close to the end of the regular season but finished it off with a bang in the last three games. After only scoring seven goals in nine games, something clicked and scored ten in their last three.
Their hot streak was reflected in the Western Conference standings by adding 12 out of 15 possible points in their last five games. That also helped them rise up to the third spot in the conference. The winner of this series has to be prepared to face FC Dallas, the second best team of the entire league.
One of Portlands strengths throughout the whole season was their goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey. He was one of the two MLS stoppers that recorded a total of 13 clean sheets during the regular season. Up front, the team has the help of Darlington Nagbe who finished off hot in the regular season with three goals in the last two games.
Some people like what they see from Nagbe
Enjoying the form of @darlingtonnagbe right now. #FunToWatch
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) October 26, 2015
Portland fans are ready for the occasion
.@timbersarmy out EARLY this morning ready for tonight's @MLS Cup #playoff showdown between @TimbersFC & @SportingKC pic.twitter.com/Di2PUBK5KX
— Drew Carney (@DrewCarney) October 29, 2015
Injury and Disciplinary Report
Ike Opara and Roger Espinoza will not be playing for Kansas City due to injuries. For the Timbers, Will Johnson is questionable ahead of the game due to a leg injury and Diego Valeri is out with a yellow card accumulation.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
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