KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The last time Sporting Kansas City met Real Salt Lake in the postseason, they gained an epic 2013 MLS Cup victory that was ultimately decided by a 10-round penalty-kick shootout.
Since then, however, RSL have controlled the series, holding a 6-1-4 record against Sporting in MLS play that may make them among the most unsavory of potential opponents for SKC supporters in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. They'll meet again Sunday night at RioTinto Stadium in the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinals (10 pm ET | FS1, FOX Deportes, TSN 5, TVAS).
“Since 2014 our record against them is not good,” Vermes told reporters before training on Friday. “Not to say every one of those performances were poor, but obviously we’re not on the right side of the ledger when it comes to results in those situations. I think we have a really big challenge ahead of us.”
So what has gone wrong for Sporting in those matchups? Defender Graham Zusi attributes it to getting beat physically and not being up to the challenge.
“To be brutally honest, that’s something that they’ve been better at than us,” Zusi told MLSsoccer.com during a phone interview on Friday. “That’s something we’re going to have to be better at this time.”
Sporting will be without Seth Sinovic, with the left back serving his suspension for his red card on Decision Day presented by AT&T. Vermes has recalled Homegrown fullback Jaylin Lindsey from the U-20 US national team and their CONCACAF Championship campaign, after Lindsey played 74 minutes on Wednesday in a 7-1 defeat of Puerto Rico.
Then there's the difficulty of playing at altitude. Rio Tinto Stadium sits at roughly 4,450 feet above sea level. At least SKC know what to expect on that front, playing there once per regular season as well as at the Colorado Rapids, who also play at high elevation.
"The thing for me at least, it’s the first 10 minutes of the game that get you,” Zusi said. “You try and catch your second wind, but as soon as you do, you get past it pretty quickly. Salt Lake is not even as bad as Colorado when it comes to that, so I don’t see it being much of an issue.”
With the two-leg aggregate format, Kansas City could afford to come away from "The RioT" with a draw or even a one-goal defeat. Zusi, though, believes in trying to get an advantage early instead of relying on the home match in the second leg.
“I think it’s important for us not to look at it as really a two-game series where we can rely on that home game to maybe catch up to our first leg away,” Zusi said. “I think it’s important for us to go into this one really looking to get ahead and not just be safe and rely on that game at home to get the job done.”
