On the sound of the final whistle, Sporting Kansas City defender Ike Opara sat motionless on the field. His teammate, striker Dom Dwyer, buried his head into his hands.
In a Chicago suburb late Wednesday, the signs of frustration stemmed not strictly from the result — a 1-0 defeat to last-place Chicago — but rather the manner in which it came. Sporting KC outshot the Fire 19-3. It held 67 percent of the possession. But it earned nothing from the match.
If it sounds familiar, well, it probably should. Several weeks ago, Sporting KC endured a stretch that included only one victory in 11 matches, despite out-possessing all 11 opponents and recording more shots than 10 of them.