Sporting KC edges Houston in home debut

Remi Walter scored his second career goal for Sporting Kansas City, lifting Sporting to a 1-0 victory Saturday in their home opener against the Houston Dynamo in Kansas City, Kan.

Sporting KC (1-1-0, 3 points) did not have the offensive explosion manager Peter Vermes was looking for, but the 3 points still count. SKC controlled the pace, finishing with nearly a 60 percent advantage in possession and a 15-5 edge in shots.

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The Dynamo (0-1-1, 1 point) played a scoreless draw in their opener and still has not found the net this season.

The two sides are even in their all-time rivalry, with Sporting's victory evening the series at 13-13-13 since Houston's debut season in 2006.

In the 60th minute, Johnny Russell benefitted from an errant pass by the Houston defense, and dribbled deep into the Houston zone before crossing to the middle of the box. Daniel Salloi's shot was blocked, but it rolled to the feet of Walter, who fired it past a diving Steve Clark.

After a sluggish first half, where Sporting KC fashioned the only scoring threat, both sides picked up the pace in the second half. Darwin Ceren picked up a yellow card for a bad foul as tempers got short.

Once Sporting took the lead, Houston become more aggressive, with four second-half shots, but still could not score their first goal of the season.

The first half was dominated by Sporting KC. SKC held almost 70 percent of possession, with a 6-1 shots advantage and the only shot on goal. SKC also had more than double the number of completed passes.

But it didn't add up to anything on the scoreboard, as the teams went to the locker room in a scoreless draw.

Much like in their last match, when they had 13 shots but only two on target, Sporting struggled with its accuracy.