The MLS Cup final will require penalties, with 120 minutes not being enough to separate Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake, who played to a 1-1 draw.
MLS Cup final goes to penalties: Follow live
KC were the aggressors in the first half of extra time, pushing much harder for a winner than RSL. Nick Rimando was forced into a big save on Graham Zusi in the 98th minute, tipping his shot from 10 yards over the crossbar. KC also had a late penalty shout, but Hilario Grajeda thought C.J. Sapong went down too easily under a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge. Just before halftime in extra time, Alvaro Saborio thought he'd scored, but he was correctly flagged for offside.
While the first 15 minutes of extra time were a bit wild, both teams were more measured in the second half of extra time. There were no real scoring chances as both teams looked more worried about conceding than they were willing to take risks to score.
The penalty shootout will be updated live below.
SKC: Claudio Bieler SCORES, powerful shot to Nick Rimando’s right
RSL: Alvaro Saborio MISSES, over the crossbar
SKC: Paulo Nagamura SCORES, placed to Nick Rimando’s left
RSL: Ned Grabavoy MISSES, Jimmy Nielsen saves to his right
SKC: Matt Besler MISSES, Nick Rimando saves to his left
RSL: Kyle Berckerman SCORES, beats Jimmy Nielson down the middle
SKC: Benny Feilhaber SCORES, over Nick Rimando’s hands down the middle
RSL: Joao Plata SCORES, incredible penalty top corner to Jimmy Nielsen’s right
SKC: Graham Zusi MISSES, over the bar, the shootout continues
RSL: Javier Morales SCORES, stutter step and down the middle.
Now sudden death.
SKC: Seth Sinovic SCORES, to Nick Rimando’s right
RSL: Chris Schuler SCORES, powered down the middle
SKC: C.J. Sapong SCORES, to Nick Rimando’s right
RSL: Tony Beltran SCORES, barely in off the post to Jimmy Nielsen’s right
SKC: Lawrence Olum MISSES, wide to Nick Rimando’s right
RSL: Sebastian Velazquez MISSES, Jimmy Nielsen saves to his left
SKC: Chance Myers SCORES, chipped finish
RSL: Nat Borchers SCORES, down the middle
SKC: Aurelien Collin SCORES, brilliant penalty into the side netting to Nick Rimando’s left
RSL: Lovel Palmer MISSES, off the crossbar
Sporting Kansas City has won MLS Cup!
See More:
