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Streaking Sporting set to square off with Sounders

Jun 5, 2015 - 8:36 PM Kansas City, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Sporting Kansas City will shoot to extend its unbeaten streak to seven matches on Saturday when the club welcomes Seattle Sounders FC to Sporting Park.

It's been a bit of an adjustment for SKC in the Western Conference this season, but Peter Vermes' club has clicked into gear, most recently with an impressive 4-0 destruction of FC Dallas last time out.

Sporting KC opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Graham Zusi sent a free kick into the box. Kevin Ellis headed a pass to an open Krisztian Nemeth, who headed the ball past Dallas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.

The hosts doubled the advantage in the 51st minute through Benny Feilhaber, and Ellis got on the end of a cross from Zusi in the 57th minute to make it 3-0.

Sporting put an exclamation point on the rout in the 64th minute as Connor Hallisey's back pass gave Zusi room to bury a right footed shot in to the back of the net.

"The guys are in good form, and I think more importantly we are defending very well," said Vermes. "We didn't give away anything big, and I think it all resulted in the way we started to counter. We had great movement of the ball. We had four goals, and we probably should have had six or seven, but we'll take it."

Seattle, meanwhile, is looking for a fifth straight win following a 2-1 triumph over Red Bull New York at CenturyLink Field last Sunday.

New York found the score-sheet first through forward Lloyd Sam, as the Red Bulls attacker headed home a deflected free-kick from teammate Bradley Wright- Phillips.

But Seattle battled back to equalize in the 70th minute as Marco Pappa slalomed past New York defender Chris Duvall before firing a shot over Red Bull netminder Luis Robles at his near post.

Sounders FC continued applying pressure down the stretch, culminating in a dramatic stoppage-time winner from forward Chad Barrett.

In the 91st minute, fullback Tyrone Mears served a cross from the right flank, finding an advancing Clint Dempsey. The Sounders FC Designated Player got his left foot to the ball, redirecting it across Robles' goalmouth. Barrett was there at the far post to get a touch on the ball, sealing an emphatic 2-1 victory.

"He is a player who is very talented. Sometimes I want him to be higher up on the field to expose his talents by getting in," Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said of Pappa. "He is doing that better. He is getting more touches in the opponents end of the field, and thats what we look for. Now hes got a couple of goals, and he already has a career high in assists. We need him to continue to play that way."