A strike from the penalty spot from Benny Feilhaber was enough for Sporting Kansas City to record a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders.
The visitors were the first to threaten as Lamar Neagle found space to fire an effort at goal from distance, but Tim Melia was on hand to divert the ball behind for a corner. From the resulting cross, Melia denied Neagle again as he headed at goal from close range.
Sporting came close to taking the lead as Marcel de Jong collected a pass from Graham Zusi and drilled a strike towards the bottom corner, but Stefan Frei was on hand to make the stop.
Connor Hallisey should have put Kansas City ahead in the 34th minute when he latched onto a dangerous cross from De Jong, but he lost his composure at the vital moment as he blasted his strike over the bar.
The Sounders threatened again as Neagle directed the ball towards goal from close range, but Melia made an impressive reaction stop and punched the ball clear on the rebound.
In the second half, Melia came to the home side's rescue again as Marco Pappa weaved his way through the Kansas City defence, but the keeper rushed out to make the block and deny the midfielder.
Sporting were handed the chance to take the lead when Dominic Dwyer chased down a ball over the top and was brought down in the area by Frei. Feilhaber stepped up from the spot and sent the keeper the wrong way to put his side ahead.
Seattle made a late push to earn a point, but the home side held out for the win to close the gap to the Sounders at the top of the Western Conference to two points.
Simon Sinclair
