KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Once again, the scoring opportunities were there for Sporting Kansas City. And once again, they just wouldn't go in the net.
Sporting had to settle for a scoreless draw with unbeaten Real Salt Lake on Saturday night despite dominating the stat sheet and outshooting the visitors 12-4 on the night. Kansas City (2-1-3) also saw Ike Opara, who missed almost all of last season with a broken right ankle, go down with a leg injury in the 82nd minute.
Opara, Sporting's leading scorer with two goals this season, landed awkwardly after trying to head a long corner kick and had to be stretchered off – although he later was up and walking gingerly under his own power – and replaced by Kevin Ellis.
Real are 2-0-3 after taking the road point in Western Conference play. Kansas City did stay unbeaten both at home and in their last four matches – but their record at Sporting Park dropped to 1-0-3, and in those three draws they have scored just once.
It didn't look like a match destined to finish 0-0 through the first hour, though.
Sporting came out pressing hard and intercepting a series of hopeful balls out of the visitors' end, winning 62 percent of their duels and owning 57 percent of the possession in the first 45 minutes. But they couldn't turn their 6-2 edge in shots into an advantage at the break.
Jalil Anibaba had perhaps the best opportunity of the half in the sixth minute, when Opara cut the ball to him in space near the six-yard box before Nick Rimando got down to stop the right back's low shot.
Both of Salt Lake's first-half shots were blocked before they could threaten Luis Marin's goal, although Marin did have to collect one looping deflection off of Kyle Beckerman's attempt in the 27th minute.
Krisztian Nemeth nearly put Sporting up 1-0 in the first minute after the break, but he put a cross from Benny Feilhaber off the right post and Jacob Peterson pushed the rebound just wide. That was the first in a flurry of near-misses for the hosts.
In the 55th minute, the confetti cannons went off when Dom Dwyer slid to poke Feilhaber's long through ball past Rimando – only to see Dwyer ruled offside on the play. And in the 61st, after Kenny Mansally brought down Dwyer just to the right of the area, Roger Espinoza shot wide left on Feilhaber's short restart.
Sporting next travel to Los Angeles on Saturday to take on the defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy, while RSL are at home to the West-leading Vancouver Whitecaps.
