KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Dom Dwyer’s scoring touch and Sporting Kansas City’s overall goal production are both hitting their stride, just as the center forward insisted they would.
After scoring in SKC’s 3-0 home win against Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, Dwyer now has three goals in Kansas City’s last four matches heading into Wednesday's home match against the New York Red Bulls (8:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
Sporting, who were shut out in the first two matches of the year, have rung up nine goals in six matches and seven in their last four. And after being shut out in three of their first four matches, they’ve only been blanked once since.
“We have a quality team,” Dwyer said after Saturday night’s win. “We want to prove that goals can come from everywhere. Previous years, they’ve said we’re a bit one-dynamic, and I think we’re starting to show that we can score goals from many different places.”
And the more Sporting balance the scoring – as they did on Saturday with goals from playmaker Benny Feilhaber and winger Gerso bracketing Dwyer’s right-footed strike from distance – the more things open up for Dwyer.
“The way Dom works up there, it's always going to open up some spaces,” Feilhaber said, “and now he has got some guys to work around him. Gerso is a guy that is flying all over the place and he gives that little bit of fear in the defense to have to drop. He can get in behind. I think the offense is coming along but as always, there is room for improvement and I think we can get better."
Dwyer, Sporting’s leading scorer in each of the last three seasons, agreed.
“We’ve got a few more things to work on in training,” he said. “We can definitely be better. But you know, it was a decent result for us. We played well. We’ll keep scoring, and we’ve got one of the best teams in the league defensively.”
That defense – conceding a miniscule .375 goals per match – has enabled Sporting to go 4-0-0 this year when scoring at least once. And as the team continue to make offensive tweaks, opportunities for Dwyer and other scorers should come more easily as opponents can’t just collapse on the center forward in the area.
Sporting have been both willing to and effective at having a go from distance, and Gerso – acquired in the offseason as a Designated Player – is taking on more of the scoring role that manager Peter Vermes envisioned for him. His speed and that of fellow winger Jimmy Medranda force opponents to account for them on runs in and through the area, and give Feilhaber a target-rich environment from the playmaker’s spot.
“I know Dom really well,” Feilhaber said. “Gerso is the guy that's new on the team but the way he runs off the ball, it's easy to find where he wants it. Jimmy is a guy that we know as well. I don't think it's too much finding each other out. We knew each other pretty well, but it's something that with more games, and the further the season goes along, the better the communication becomes and the better the understanding becomes.”
