FOXBOROUGH. New England conquered Sporting KC to win 2-1. G. Vrioni was the key for his team after scoring 2 goals. It was New England to strike first with a goal of Giacomo Vrioni at the 32′. Then Giacomo Vrioni scored again for New England in the 35′ minute scoring a double. Eventually, Johnny Russell reduced the distance for Sporting KC (51′). Eventually, that was it, and the result remained 2-1.

Andreu Fontàs received a red card (61′)​. This red card was one of the reason why Sporting KC lost the match.

The match was played at the Gillette Stadium stadium in Foxborough on Saturday and it started at 7:30 pm local time. The referee was Nima Saghafi who was helped by Corey Rockwell and Walter Heatherly. The 4th official was Guido Gonzalez. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was cold at 9.3 degrees Celsius or 48.72 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 88%.​

Match Statistics​

New England

2 - 1

Sporting KC

  • 53 Ball Possession 47
Shots
  • 16 Total 8
  • 9 On Target 3
  • 4 Off Target 3
  • 3 Shots blocked 2
  • 119 Attack 117
  • 35 Dangerous attack 43
  • 87 Ball safe 77
  • 0 Penalties 0
  • 3 Corners 1
  • 1 Off Sides 2
Fouls
  • 4 Total 12
  • 0 Yellow Cards 2
  • 0 Double Yellow 0
  • 0 Red Card 1
Other
  • 4 Substitutions 5

Ball possession

None of the teams was particularly dominant in terms of ball possession. New England was in possession of the ball for 52% of the time vs. Sporting KC that controlled the ball for 48% of the time.

Attitude and shots

Sporting KC was putting more pressure with 43 dangerous attacks and 8 shots of which 3 were on target. Notwithstanding, New England managed to find the solution to win this match.​

New England shot 16 times, 9 on target, 4 off target. On the other side, Sporting KC shot 8 times, 3 on target, 3 off target.

Cards

New England didn’t receive any yellow card. On the other side, Sporting KC received 2 yellow cards (Andreu Fontàs and Robert Voloder).

Also, Sporting KC didn’t end the match with 11 players after Andreu Fontàs (Sporting KC) was sent off after receiving a straight red card in the (61′).

Match Timeline

20'
Andreu Fontàs- Yellow
Giacomo Vrioni(goal)
32'
Giacomo Vrioni(goal)
35'
51'
Johnny Russell (goal)
59'
Andreu Fontàs(var)
61'
Andreu Fontàs- Red
64'
Robert Voloder- sub ->Alan Pulido
64'
Khiry Shelton - sub ->L. Ndenbe
64'
67'
Felipe Hernández- sub ->Róger Espinoza
Ben Sweat- sub ->C. Makoun
74'
74'
86'
C. Rindov- sub ->Erik Thommy
86'
Marinos Tzionis- sub ->Dániel Sallói
89'
Robert Voloder- Yellow
J. Panayotou- sub ->Giacomo Vrioni
90'

Standings

Standings

Eastern Conference

Team
Pts
Pl
Last 5
Cincinnati
69
34
Orlando City
63
34
Columbus Crew
57
34
Philadelphia Union
55
34
New England
55
34
Atlanta United
51
34
Nashville SC
49
34
New York RB
43
34
Charlotte
43
34
CF Montréal
41
34
New York City
41
34
DC United
40
34
Chicago Fire
40
34
Inter Miami
34
34
Toronto
22
34

Western Conference

Team
Pts
Pl
Last 5
St. Louis City
56
34
Seattle Sounders
53
34
Los Angeles FC
52
34
Houston Dynamo
51
34
Real Salt Lake
50
34
Vancouver Whitecaps
48
34
Dallas
46
34
Sporting KC
44
34
SJ Earthquakes
44
34
Portland Timbers
43
34
Minnesota United
41
34
Austin
39
34
LA Galaxy
36
34
Colorado Rapids
27
34

After this match, New England will have 20 points to remain in the 1st place. On the other side, Sporting KC will stay with 3 points like LA Galaxy to hold in the 14th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Major League Soccer, New England will host Philadelphia Union on the 20th of October with a 20-9 head to head stats in favor of Philadelphia Union (8 draws).

Sporting KC will host Minnesota United on the 20th of October with a 8-5 head to head stats in favor of Sporting KC (4 draws).

New England – Formation

New England
G
Djordje Petrovic 99.Serbia
6.2
D
Andrew Farrell 88.United States
7.4
D
Dave Romney 2.United States
6.3
D
Christian Makoun 6.Venezuela
7.2
74'
D
Brandon Bye 15.United States
6.8
M
Carles Gil 10.Spain
7.3
M
Emmanuel Boateng 18.Ghana
7.9
74'
M
Matt Polster 8.United States
7.0
M
N. Buck 29.England
7.3
M
E. Bajraktarević 47.United States
6.8
64'
F
Giacomo Vrioni 9.Albania
8.0
90' 32', 35'
Substitutes
G
Earl Edwards Jr. 36.United States
D
Ben Sweat 44.United States
6.2
74'
D
Mikolaj Luczak 3.United States
M
J. Panayotou 22.United States
90'
M
Damián Rivera 72.Costa Rica
6.1
74'
F
J. Bolma 16.Ghana
F
Justin Rennicks 12.United States
6.8
64'

New England started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

The manager Bruce Arena decided to play with the following team: Đorđe Petrović (6.2), Brandon Bye (6.8), Andrew Farrell (7.4), Dave Romney (6.3), Christian Makoun (7.2), Matt Polster (7.0), Noel Buck (7.3), Esmir Bajraktarevic (6.8), Carles Gil (7.3), Emmanuel Boateng (7.9) and Giacomo Vrioni (8.0).

The home team had on the bench: Joshua Bolma, Ben Sweat (6.2), Jack Panayotou, Damian Rivera (6.1), Justin Rennicks (6.8), Earl Edwards Jr. and Omar González.

Substitutions

New England made 4 changes: E. Bajraktarevic for Justin Rennicks (64′), C. Makoun for Ben Sweat (74′), Emmanuel Boateng for D. Rivera (74′) and Giacomo Vrioni for Jack Panayotou (90′).

Best player: Giacomo Vrioni​

The most impressive player for New England was Giacomo Vrioni.

His rating is (8.0) with 2 goals, 11 passes (54% accurate) and 1 key pass. He was won 6 duels out of 13.

Sporting KC – Formation

Sporting KC
G
Tim Melia 29.United States
8.0
D
Andreu Fontàs 3.Spain
5.8
20' 61'
D
Dany Rosero 5.Colombia
6.4
D
Logan Ndenbe 18.Belgium
6.1
64'
D
Cameron Duke 28.United States
5.9
M
Róger Espinoza 15.Honduras
6.4
67'
M
Rémi Walter 54.France
7.0
M
Erik Thommy 26.Germany
7.0
86'
F
Johnny Russell 7.Scotland
7.2
51'
F
Alan Pulido 9.Mexico
6.4
64'
F
Dániel Sallói 20.Hungary
7.2
86'
Substitutes
G
John Pulskamp 1.United States
D
Robert Voloder 4.Germany
6.3
64' 89'
D
C. Rindov 82.United States
6.4
86'
M
Gadi Kinda 10.Israel
M
D. Flores 31.United States
M
Jake Davis 17.United States
M
Felipe Hernández 21.Colombia
6.4
67'
F
Khiry Shelton 11.United States
6.4
64'
F
Marinos Tzionis 77.Cyprus
6.6
86'

Sporting KC started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).

Peter Vermes played with: Timothy Melia (8.0), Cameron Duke (5.9), Daniel Rosero Valencia (6.4), Andreu Fontàs (5.8), Logan Ndenbe (6.1), Róger Espinoza (6.4), Rémi Walter (7.0), Erik Thommy (7.0), Johnny Russell (7.2), Alan Pulido (6.4) and Dániel Sallói (7.2).

They had on the bench: Khiry Shelton (6.4), Gadi Kinda, Luis Flores, Robert Voloder (6.3), Jacob Davis, Marinos Tzionis (6.6), Chris Rindov (6.4), John Pulskamp and Felipe Hernández (6.4).

Substitutions

Sporting KC made 5 changes: Alan Pulido  for Robert Voloder (64′), L. Ndenbe for Khiry Shelton (64′), Róger Espinoza for Felipe Hernandez (67′), Erik Thommy for Chris Rindov (86′) and Dániel Sallói for Marinos Tzionis (86′).

Best player: Timothy Melia​

The player that probably impressed the most for Sporting KC was the goalkeeper: Timothy Melia. His rating is 8.04. He performed 7 saves.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Major League Soccer.​