KANSAS CITY, Kan. – They're still waiting for their first victory of the season, but Sporting Kansas City say their first clean sheet of the year is a sign that things are headed in the right direction.
“Obviously, a draw at home is not what you want,” midfielder Benny Feilhaber told reporters after Saturday night's scoreless draw against Portland, which dropped Sporting to 0-1-2 on the year. “You always want to get the wins. But having said that, it's still early in the season. I think it's more important at this point in the season to improve, and I think we did that.”
Manager Peter Vermes, who earlier this week said his club had to rein in the defensive lapses that marred last weekend's 3-1 away loss to FC Dallas, also was more pleased to see the Timbers kept off the board than he was worried about Sporting's inability to score despite a 16-7 advantage in shots.
“I am always more concerned when you don't make chances,” Vermes said in his postmatch news conference. “I have lot of confidence in our team in regards to scoring goals. I really do.”
RECAP:
Sporting Kansas City get second point of 2015
Portland put three shots on target all night with only one of them really testing Kansas City goalkeeper Luis Marin, as Sporting kept plenty of pressure on the Timbers' dangerous Darlington Nagbe throughout the match.
“I felt like that was my No. 1 goal defensively, and it's a team effort,” Feilhaber said. “You can't defend a guy like that 1-on-1 the whole field, and so a lot of people were aware of where he was on the field, and when he got the ball we had numbers behind the ball and I did whatever I could whenever I got around him to make his life difficult – whether it was trying to poke a ball or nudge him, create difficult situations for him to get out of. He's a great player, and the more you can get him off his game, the better.”
That sort of defensive tenacity was good to see, Vermes said, but it wasn't the only thing he liked about his club's effort.
“I thought we were very good on both sides of the ball,” he said. “I thought we were excellent on our set pieces and very dangerous. We could have scored an easy two or three goals on the set pieces. Sometimes they don´t go in, but to play like that, I like where we are at. I like the way we are progressing as a team. I like the way we are starting to understand how to play. I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Still, center back Ike Opara – who narrowly missed scoring on two open headers, one in each half – acknowledged mixed emotions between helping record the shutout and failing to get a match-winner.
“In one regard, we tightened up defensively,” Opara told reporters. “We did a really good job of stopping their counterattack. I thought we did a very good job of dealing with situations. We didn't give chances away, obviously, with the clean sheet. We just couldn't find the net to capitalize for a win.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com
