MLS Cup 2013, the 18th edition of Major League Soccer's championship match, was a soccer match which took place on Saturday, December 7, 2013 between Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. The soccer match was to decide the winner of the 2013 season. Sporting KC were making their third appearance in the competition's final, having won in 2000 and losing in 2004. RSL were appearing in their second final, having won their only other in 2009.

MLS Cup 2013
EventMLS Cup
After extra time
Sporting Kansas City won 7–6 on penalties
DateDecember 7, 2013
VenueSporting Park, Kansas City, Kansas, US
Most Valuable PlayerAurélien Collin
(Sporting Kansas City)[1]
RefereeHilario Grajeda
Attendance21,650[2]
WeatherSunny, 20 °F (−7 °C)[3]
2012
2014

It was the first MLS Cup final to be held at Sporting Park and the second time the championship match was not held at a predetermined neutral site. Sporting Kansas City won the right to host the match by besting Real Salt Lake in the regular season standings. This was the first time Kansas City hosted an MLS Cup final and the second final hosted at Sporting Park, the other being the 2012 U.S. Open Cup final.

The game was the coldest MLS match ever and was tied 1–1 after regulation time and extra time.[4] The penalty shootout was won 7–6 by Sporting Kansas City, ending with the longest shootout in MLS Cup history at ten rounds.[3]

Road to the final

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Both teams qualified for the playoffs by finishing in the top five of their respective conferences at the end of the regular season. Sporting Kansas City then beat New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo to reach the final, while Real Salt Lake knocked out defending champions Los Angeles Galaxy and Portland Timbers.

Sporting Kansas City Round Real Salt Lake
Eastern Conference
Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts.
New York Red Bulls 34 17 9 8 58 41 +17 59
Sporting Kansas City 34 17 10 7 47 30 +17 58
New England Revolution 34 14 11 9 49 38 +11 51
Houston Dynamo 34 14 11 9 41 41 0 51
Montreal Impact 34 14 13 7 50 49 +1 49
Regular season
Western Conference
Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts.
Portland Timbers 34 14 5 15 54 33 +21 57
Real Salt Lake 34 16 10 8 57 41 +16 56
Los Angeles Galaxy 34 15 11 8 53 38 +15 53
Seattle Sounders FC 34 15 12 7 42 42 0 52
Colorado Rapids 34 14 11 9 45 38 +7 51
Opponent Result Legs Playoffs Opponent Result Legs
New England Revolution 4–3 1–2 away; 3–1 home Conf. Semifinals Los Angeles Galaxy 2–1 0–1 away; 2–0 home
Houston Dynamo 2–1 0–0 away; 2–1 home Conference Finals Portland Timbers 5–2 4–2 home; 1–0 away

Preparations

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The 2013 Cup was the first-ever small media market cup, with both Kansas City and Salt Lake City outside of the Top 10 media markets in the US (Kansas City is #28 and Salt Lake City is #32).[5] The tickets for the match were the highest price for the MLS Cup in the past five years, coming in at an average of $302 on the secondary market. This made it the highest priced sports event in the Kansas City area in four years, with the exception of the 2012 MLB All-Star Game.[6]

Match

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Details

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Sporting Kansas City1–1 (a.e.t.)Real Salt Lake
  • Collin   76'
Report
Penalties
7–6
Attendance: 21,650
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sporting Kansas City
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Real Salt Lake
GK 1   Jimmy Nielsen (c)
RB 7   Chance Myers
CB 78   Aurélien Collin   35'
CB 5   Matt Besler
LB 15   Seth Sinovic
RM 6   Paulo Nagamura
CM 20   Oriol Rosell   8'
LM 10   Benny Feilhaber   103'
RW 8   Graham Zusi
CF 14   Dom Dwyer   72'
LW 17   C. J. Sapong
Substitutes:
GK 18   Eric Kronberg
MF 37   Jacob Peterson
DF 23   Federico Bessone
FW 16   Claudio Bieler   72'
DF 3   Ike Opara
FW 9   Teal Bunbury
DF 13   Lawrence Olum   8'
Manager:
  Peter Vermes
GK 18   Nick Rimando
RB 2   Tony Beltran
CB 6   Nat Borchers
CB 28   Chris Schuler
LB 17   Chris Wingert   24'   72'
DM 5   Kyle Beckerman (c)   100'
RM 21   Luis Gil   87'
LM 20   Ned Grabavoy
AM 11   Javier Morales
ST 15   Álvaro Saborío   44'
ST 10   Robbie Findley   112'
Substitutes:
DF 7   Lovel Palmer   72'
DF 44   Brandon McDonald
GK 24   Jeff Attinella
MF 12   Cole Grossman
FW 8   Joao Plata   112'
MF 26   Sebastián Velásquez   87'
FW 13   Olmes García
Manager:
  Jason Kreis

MLS Cup MVP:
  Aurélien Collin (Sporting Kansas City)[1]

Assistant referees:
Paul Scott (United States)
Bill Dittmar (United States)
Fourth official:
Ismail Elfath (United States)

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

Statistics

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Overall[4]
Sporting Kansas City Real Salt Lake
Goals scored 1 1
Total shots 24 12
Shots on target 5 2
Saves 1 4
Corner kicks 9 1
Fouls committed 19 21
Offsides 4 3
Yellow cards 2 3
Red cards 0 0

Post-match

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As MLS Cup finalists, both teams were supposed to be qualified for the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League. Sporting Kansas City (the champion) was to be placed in pot A, and Real Salt Lake (the runner-up) was to be placed in pot B. However, on December 13, 2013, CONCACAF accepted the US Soccer/MLS proposal to change the qualification rules, so that the spot reserved for the MLS Cup runner-up is instead awarded to the regular season conference winner that is not the Supporters' Shield champion, the Portland Timbers. Sporting Kansas City was not affected by this change.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Aurelien Collin named Volkswagen MLS Cup MVP after scoring equalizer, netting in shootout". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  2. ^ McDowell, Sam (December 7, 2013). "Sporting KC captures franchise's second MLS Cup in thrilling penalty-kick shootout". The Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Sporting Kansas City vs. Real Salt Lake". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Kaplan, Jonathan. "Recap: MLS Cup champions Sporting KC prevail in 10-round penalty shootout after 1–1 draw". Sportingkc.com. Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  5. ^ Borg, Simon. "SmorgasBorg: First-ever small-market MLS Cup a badge of honor for league, supporter5". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  6. ^ Lawrence, Jesse. "Sporting KC Tickets For MLS Cup Are Most Expensive Cup Tickets In Last Five Years". Forbes.com. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  7. ^ "Portland Timbers headed to 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League after USSF rule change approved". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved December 14, 2013.