Colorado Rapids vs Sporting Kansas City
MLS Regular Season, Week 3
March 17, 2019 - 7:00 PM
DICK'S Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City, Colorado

Trio of new Rapids face former team

There will be a sense of familiarity this Sunday as Sporting Kansas City rolls into town. Diego Rubio (2016-18), Kei Kamara (2009-13) and Benny Feilhaber (2013-17), all former SKC players, will face their old club but do so this time donning the home burgundy as opposed to SKC blue. 

This will be the first time Rubio will face Sporting KC. The 25-year-old was acquired via a trade with SKC on December 18 after spending his entire three-year MLS career under head coach Peter Vermes, who once called the striker 'deadly in-and around the box.' In his final game with Sporting, the Chilean started and played 70 minutes in a 3-2 loss to Portland on November 29, assisting Daniel Salloi's opening goal.

Of the trio, Kamara has the longest history with SKC, joining the club when they were still the Kansas City Wizards. The striker featured in 113 regular season games over five years. Since then, Kamara has played for three other MLS teams (Columbus, New England and Vancouver) scoring one goal and three assists when facing SKC.

Feilhaber's five-year span with Sporting KC saw plenty of success. The midfielder won the MLS Cup (2013), US Open Cup (2015), three of SKC Goal of the Year awards (2013-15), was named to the MLS Best XI (2015), SKC MVP (2015) and SKC offensive player of the year (2016) before moving to LAFC in 2018. The 34-year-old will seek his first win against Sporting on Sunday. 

Rapids look to continue good home form against SKC

Sporting Kansas City have not beaten the Rapids at DICK'S Sporting Goods Park since March 2014. Since then, the Rapids have gone 4-0-1 in their last five home games against SKC. The Rapids have the edge in the head-to-head series at home boasting an 18-5-9 overall record.

The last time the two sides met at DSGP was the Rapids first home game of 2018, a game that resulted in a 2-2 draw after SKC, equalized through Diego Rubio's stoppage time goal.

Leaving it late against Sporting

When these two sides meet there's typically some late drama involved. Over the years, the Rapids have scored 17 goals in the final 15 minutes when facing Sporting Kansas City at home. 

One memorable moment in the rivalry involved midfielder Dillon Serna who didn’t waste any time when he came off the bench on May 11, 2016, in the 76th minute. The Homegrown lashed home the winning goal two minutes later against a 10-man Sporting Kansas City. The Brighton native, cut across the field from the right side and fired off his favored left footer from 25 yards. The goal ultimately gave the Rapids a 1-0 win. 

“That’s kind of the job the subs have to do — bring energy into the game,” Serna said. “My job at the top of the box is to clean it up (loose balls), don’t let them counter. I had a look at the goal, and it went in.”

The victory for Colorado kept their perfect mark at home intact, at 6-0-0, and extended their overall unbeaten streak to six games (five wins, one draw).