Sporting Kansas City 4 - 1 FC Dallas
Final
  for this game

Sporting hopes for spark against FC Dallas

Jun 11, 2011 - 1:13 AM Frisco, TX (Sports Network) - Sporting Kansas City captain Davy Arnaud was not happy Thursday, even after the club earned a 0-0 draw against the Chicago Fire in a Major League Soccer match it ended with just 10 men.

Kansas City opened its new $200 million Livestrong Sporting Park, and although it was down a man for the last 30 minutes, "to not come away with three points was disappointing for us," Arnaud said.

Sporting (1-6-4) opened the season on a 10-game road trip, and the new stadium was looked at as the opportunity to provide a spark with almost a third of the season already gone.

But now K.C. heads back on the road with just one point from the opener - and with Nielsen suspended - to battle 2010 MLS Cup runner-up FC Dallas (7-3-4) at Pizza Hut Park on Sunday.

Although Kansas City has the luxury of playing 16 of its final 22 games at its impressive new home - "There's not a better place in the world to play a game, bar none," coach Peter Vermes said - it must regroup for Dallas.

Vermes was "proud of the way we played, even with 10 men," and that "it took a lot of courage and energy to at least keep them at a level shot.

"I'm very proud of the guys and how they handled it."

But despite earning its third straight draw during a 10-match winless run, the time has come for Kansas City to start earning three points or its season may start to slip away.

Dallas has regained its impressive form from last season, and enters the match on a nine-game unbeaten streak. During that stretch, Dallas has six wins, with its most recent match a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution.

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman became the first player in MLS history to reach 100 career shutouts in the game and Marvin Chavez scored the lone goal in the 69th minute.

Despite the difference in records this season, Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman knows better than to overlook Kansas City.

"Kansas City is a much better team than their record shows," Hyndman said. "I think their mentality right now is that they are going to turn their season around once they get into that brand-new stadium and start playing some home games."

Hyndman just hopes K.C.'s turnaround doesn't get a jumpstart this weekend.






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