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SBI MLS Team of the Week: Sporting Kansas City

KamaraBunbury (Getty Images)

There really is no place like home when it comes to Kansas.

After getting 10 road games under its belt before opening play in Livestrong Sporting Park, Sporting Kansas City has made a dramatic U-turn to vault all the way to second place in MLS' Eastern Conference. On the strength of two more home victories this past week — including one over rising contender D.C. United — Sporting K.C. earned SBI's MLS Team of the Week honors.

SKC dominated the Portland Timbers last Wednesday, getting two goals from Graham Zusi and jumping out to a 3-0 lead before conceding a late goal and settling for a 3-1 scoreline. On Sunday, Kei Kamara netted a fantastic goal to lift the club to a 1-0 victory over D.C., which entered the game with the best road record in the conference and could have surpassed SKC in the standings with a victory. Instead, SKC improved its record after its 1-6-3 start to 8-1-6 (and 9-7-9 overall) and is challenging for the conference crown.

SKC edged out Seattle, Columbus and Houston, who each came up with big victories, to take home this past week's honor.

What did you think about Sporting Kansas City's week? Do you think the club is a true contender for MLS Cup?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’m not forgetting any games. #2 vs #3 was the biggest game in MLS league play this week. Seattle beating Monterrey (in Monterrey) was the biggest MLS-involved team win this season.

    I didn’t say Monterrey should be MLS club of the week so your point is silly.

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  2. LOL thanks for the laugh. Bitter much? Maybe if Bravo played clean and didn’t go in with BOTH cleats up, he wouldn’t have gotten a red card. Now you blame it on a race thing? Wow. Not even sure what to say to that.

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  3. when the frenchman collin and jeferson get back (not to mention arnaud), SKC will be very strong. my dream lineup – sinovic besler collen myers; zusi jeferson espinoza; bravo sapong kamara

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  4. Truth.

    “the sounders were clearly beaten” the card was given in the like 60th minute. The Sounders weren’t playing well but clearly beaten is nowhere near the case.

    Statistics on red cards? Profiling? Rediculous. The man went in for a rash tackle, a tackle which has been widely excepted as deserving of red by most respected soccer media including KCs MLS beat writer, and got punished accordingly.

    If you believe it was deserving of a yellow, his feigned headbutt is surely enough to get the other yellowcard out. But that’s just conjecture because he got the red.

    “Sounders got Lucky”. Either that or KCs defense choked. I’m not disputing that Kc was playing better, but that’s not how soccer works. KC lost because they conceded two goals late. They’re a great team, on a great run of form who were unfortunate to drop all three points. Saying they would have won is just as possible as they would have lost if bravo stayed on or sent off. There’s no way of knowing. One thing we can know, which as an fan of MLS os evident, is that I want challenges like Bravos to be red every time, whether it be for or against the Sounders.

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  5. Bravo jumps into a rash challenge like that and you expect the ref to consider his race and past red card statistics? Ever refed a game at any level? I’m an Omar fan from way back, though he’d do better at Deportivo, but his behavior was very disappointing. MLS is cracking down on plays like his- for good reason. But I’m glad to see SKC play well recently, past history shows they could take it all in the end.

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  6. Yes, after the Flounders were clearly beaten the ref had to step in and give a red card to throw the Flounders a life line.

    The league couldn’t even be subtle about it and card someone like Roger Espinoza who at least has a reputation for red cards. No they carded Omar Bravo a man who in the 314 club games he’d played prior to joining MLS had a total of 5 red cards. In now 17 MLS games he has 2. Breaking if down into percentages Omar received a red card in 1.5% of the games he played before MLS. In MLS he receives a red card in 11.7% of his games.

    There is something wrong with this picture. Every other DP in the league seems to be treated with kid gloves but not if they’re from KC. So much for MLS’s Hispanic outreach.

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  7. Heh heh.

    To Murphy: SKC plays in Kansas City, Kansas. However, like the Chiefs and Royals (in Kansas City, Missouri), they are a metro-wide team.

    And SKC is probably the best sports option to watch outside the NFL, as long as you don’t like heartbreak (Jayhawks) or decades of bottom-dwelling (Royals).

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  8. wrong sir, Except the Refs, 3 injured players, down 2 men with 5 minutes left, it was a gift to the sounders. Sure we should of hold on for the last two, and atleast not let a second goal with 1 minute. The sounders got lucky.

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  9. before this season Bunbury looked like one of the USA’s top 5 forward options.. some how this season he fell off that list

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  10. Agreed. Anyone who has watched any SKC game in the past 3 months would say Zusi, Sapong, Besler, or Sinovic are much more deserving of a call-up than Bunbury.

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  11. Are you talking about the same Bunbury who has been crap all season and who has the first touch of a 3 year old? Sapong is more deserving of a call-up at this point.

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