Sporting KC beats Montreal 3-0, takes sole possession of first place

With a record-breaking offensive performance and stifling defense Saturday, Sporting Kansas City shut out the Montreal Impact for the second time this season and moved into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference.

Sporting KC took an early advantage when Montreal lost a player with a red card in the 17th minute. Dom Dwyer knocked in the resulting penalty kick before leading Sporting KC to a 3-0 victory at Stade Saputo with his second multiple-goal game of the season. With the victory, Kansas City improved to 5-2-2 and took a 4-3-1 lead in the series against Montreal.

“People think that it’s very easy to play a man up in a game and it is actually very difficult most of the time because it galvanizes a team,” coach Peter Vermes said. “For the first few minutes with a man up we were still trying to drive forward fast and were forcing the game a little bit but then we started to move the ball a little better and after that I thought that we were absolutely excellent in possession.”

Sporting finished the match with 803 passes which is the most in a game since Major League Soccer started keeping track in 2011. The previous record was 673. Oriol Rosell also set the individual record with 160 passes. Kyle Beckerman of Real Salt Lake had 135.

“We were patient, but at the same time we had a purpose with the way that we went forward and we did a great job on the defensive end not giving anything away,” Vermes said.

In the

17th minute, there was a skirmish by the Montreal goal and the ball went in but was called back and Collen Warner was given a red card. Dwyer then knocked in a penalty kick in the 18th minute for his first goal of the game.

“There was a good ball into the box and a very patient move in that situation,” Vermes said. “We were able to kick it in and the guy handled the ball twice, maybe three times. It was definitely deserved and he got a red card and then Dom finished the penalty kick well.”

Paulo Nagamura added another goal in the 34th minute off an assist from Chance Myers.

It was Nagamura’s first goal of the season.

By halftime, Sporting KC already had 349 passes and a 2-0 lead. Dwyer added his second goal in the 64th minute off an assist from Antonio Dovale

“He’s a very hungry forward and he is relentless when it comes to being around the box,” Vermes said. “He found some very good opportunities and the second goal he finished was a fantastic finish. Good movement by him, and an excellent pass by Antonio Dovale.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2014 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Sporting KC beats Montreal 3-0, takes sole possession of first place."