Great Goals and Defensive Mistakes Highlight Sporting Loss to New England

The penultimate preseason game for Sporting KC didn't go exactly as the club probably would have liked it in Tucson against the New England Revolution. A number of defensive errors helped to allow the Revolution to score six goals against Sporting KC. Five of those six goals were scored against what could be described as the club's second team, as Peter Vermes rested his "starters" until the final 14 minutes. Sporting could only respond with a pair of goals, both very well taken and scored from distance by Jimmy Medranda and Graham Zusi. Unfortunately you can't win the game on style points as KC fell 6-2 to the Revolution.

Things couldn't have started any worse for KC as before a full minute had been played the club was down 1-0 as Andrew Dykstra committed the first of many mistakes by Sporting's defense on the day, not holding a simple low cross and Daigo Kobayashi pounced first poking the ball home to put the Revs up 1-0. Sporting responded by controlling a good portion of the rest of the first half creating a number of chances. Medranda leveled the scoring in the 21st minute as he brought down a long ball from Benji Joya, cut inside and fired a curling shot around Brad Knighton and into the far corner to level the game at 1-1. KC continued the pressure and had the better of the chances in the rest of the first half, the best a back heel by Latif Blessing right on the doorstep, but right at Knighton after New England couldn't clear a corner.

The second half is when things changed though, unlike Sporting who stuck with pretty much the same lineup for the first 76 minutes, New England made full changes at half time, bringing on their starters for the second 45 minutes. It took less than 10 minutes to take advantage of having fresher legs, as KC slowly worked the ball out of the back a Joya pass to Jimmy Medranda was poor and picked off by the Revolution going the other way. With KC on the attack, Igor Juliao was up the field leaving just Joya to cover the right side of defense. Lee Nguyen played a through ball to Juan Agudelo who raced past Joya and put a shot past Dykstra and into the net to put the Revs on top 2-1. Things got worse six minutes later when a Kei Kamara cross to the back post was tapped home by Agudelo as Juliao didn't follow his runner to the back post, a simple tap in for the US international. In the 67th minute Sporting was down 4-1 as more defensive errors led to another Revolution goal. Dykstra came off his line towards the corner of the box to pressure Nguyen who had been played. Nguyen got around Dykstra and played a ball to the back post where Juliao had this time lost Diego Fagundez who easily scored to extend the lead. New England extended the lead to 5-1 on a penalty kick converted by Nguyen after Kamara was fouled in the box. Shortly after the penalty kick goal, Sporting made full changes to the team, bringing on the regular starters for the final 14 minutes. Unfortunately they couldn't stop the bleeding as the Revolution were able to grab a sixth goal. As Fagundez and Nguyen made crossing runs in front of Zusi and Ike Opara, Zusi stayed with Fagundez instead of passing him off to Opara. Opara meanwhile let Nguyen slide out wide leaving two players on Fagundez and no one on Nguyen who Fagundez picked out and Nguyen got around Adrian Zendejas and scored to give New England an even half dozen. KC pulled one more goal back late on another long distance shot, this time by Zusi who fired from close to 30 yards out and Cody Cropper to his near side as the shot hit off the underside of the cross bar and in.

Sporting have one final game in the Desert Diamond Cup, there's been no official announcement yet on the opponent, but some reports out of New York are that it's New York City FC.

Defensive Marking Issues Plague KC in Loss to New England

Sporting Kansas City's playoff hopes took a bit of a hit tonight (at least for an hour or so until the Portland Timbers lost) as they fell 3-1 to the New England Revolution on the road. Sporting KC's defense had issues all night dealing with the New England attack that forced KC into a number of difficult positions. The largest contributor to that was former Kansas City forward, Kei Kamara who had a goal and an assist to help lead the Revolution to the win and keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Revolution struck quickly as in only the fourth minute Juan Agudelo helped Kei Kamara spring the offside trap as Agudelo played a ball behind the KC defense right as Kamara started a run. Replays showed that Saad Abdul-Salaam just barely held Kamara on, but with tons of space on KC's left side, Kamara had all the time in the world to dribble in on goal and beat Tim Mealia 1-1 to put the Revs up 1-0. KC pulled out a formation change themselves, playing more of a 3-5-2 to try to control the midfield and get player forward. The early goal changed the strategy a little bit, but SKC tried to make it work. Unfortunately the Revs continued to have the better of chances, with Melia having to come up with a big save on Kelyn Rowe to keep the game at a one goal deficit while still in the first half. The Revs continued to press but couldn't find a second goal. Late in the half KC had a golden chance to equalize as Paulo Nagamura picked out Dom Dwyer in the box, but Dwyer was hesitant to pull the trigger and allowed the Revolution defenders to recover and snuff out the chance as the teams went into half time with the Revolution up 1-0.

KC made a formation change at half time, bringing on the returning Graham Zusi, who paid almost immediate dividends for Kansas City. Zusi immediately created a corner kick for Kansas City with a chance on goal, and off the corner the ball eventually found Dom Dwyer who turned the ball in to tie the game at 1-1 less than four minutes into the second half. The Revolution though continued to cause problems for the Sporting KC back line throughout the second half and in the 74th, KC paid for it. Kamara again was able to beat Ike Opara one-v-one before playing in a cross. The cross made it all the way through the box to Lee Nguyen, who fired a shot near post on Melia, the shot deflected off the post, across goal, off Kevin Ellis and into the net to put the Revolution back on top 2-1. Minutes later the Revs made it 3-1 as Kamara didn't give up on a corner, beat Opara to a ball and crossed it into the box where Agudelo turned it in put the Revolution up 3-1 on the night. KC couldn't create enough going forward over the final 10 minutes and left part of their playoff chances back up to faith with the loss.

Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Unfortunately his defense left him out to dry on numerous occasions tonight, and he could only make so many saves to keep Sporting in the game.

Player Ratings - Melia 6, Medranda 6, Opara 2, Ellis 2, Abdul-Salaam 4, Coelho 2, Mustivar 3, Nagamura 3, Peterson 3, Dwyer 4, Feilhaber 4. Subs Zusi 5, Rubio NR.

Match Day 32: Last Trip Out of Conference

Sporting Kansas City close out the Eastern Conference portion of their season tomorrow when they will take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. This is the first time the two teams have met since May of last year and the two teams are both going to be fighting for their playoff lives. While Kansas City is currently in a playoff spot, they could put themselves one step closer to qualification with a win tomorrow. Meanwhile the Revolution are below the red line in the Eastern Conference and could see themselves eliminated with a loss and a combination of three other results going against them this weekend.

As mentioned the Revolution are fighting for their playoff lives right now, a surprise in that they have some great attacking talent in the likes of Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo, Kelyn Rowe, Teal Bunbury and the early season addition of former KC forward, Kei Kamara after his falling out in Columbus. The Revs though have actually scored fewer goals than Kansas City has this year while allowing the third most goals in the league this year, with 51. Their defense has been a big struggle for them this year with only really one true center back, Jose Goncalves on their roster. Goncalves missed last week's game and is still listed as questionable for the Revolution tomorrow, which could be a big plus for Kansas City not having to deal with him.

Kansas City's playoff chances are quite a bit better than the Revolution's, but at the same time are far from certain for the club. Sporting sit just two points above the Portland Timbers, who are currently below the line. A win tomorrow to move five points clear would go a long way towards putting Sporting into the playoffs. KC will welcome back Graham Zusi to the team tomorrow after a three game absence due to injury. His presence in the team tomorrow will be welcome and will provide another dynamic for the team going forward. Sporting will have to play tomorrow without their captain, Roger Espinoza though due to yellow card accumulation. He'll certainly be missed on the field, but with Paulo Nagamura healthy his absence may not be felt as much as some.

Peterson - Dwyer - Davis

Feilhaber - Nagamura

Mustivar

Medranda - Coelho - Ellis - Abdul-Salaam

Melia

Number to Remember - 11 - That's the number of league away wins that Kansas City has against the Revolution, the most of any team in MLS, tied with the Columbus Crew. They're one of the few teams that KC has a winning record against on the road. So KC has a history of being able to get all three points in New England, they'll hope to continue that tomorrow.

Key Match Up - KC defense vs Kei Kamara - Two straight weeks Kamara will face one of his old teams, this time one that he left on good terms, and a team where many fans still love him for his time here. He's made his way into MLS's top 20 all time leading goal scorers over his past two seasons. While he hasn't had as good of a 2016 as he had 2015, he's still a major factor that has to be game planned for.

PREDICTION - Of KC's remaining two games, I'd say that this is the most winable of the two. A win tomorrow wouldn't seal KC's place in the playoffs, but it would make them missing much more of a doubt. Given New England's defensive record this season, Sporting KC is going to get their chances in the game tomorrow, even on the road. It'll be a question of whether they can keep up the clinical finishing they had against San Jose and put chances away. If they can, and hold the New England attack in check this is definitely a game KC can win.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Peterson)
NE - 2 (Kamara, Nguyen)

A Pair of Draws for Sporting and the Rangers

Just two weeks before the start of the 2016 MLS season Sporting KC and their USL team, the Swope Park Rangers played their second game in the Desert Diamon Cup.

The Rangers kicked off the first game of the two taking on fellow USL side, Arizona United. The Rangers had some good play in the first half, but it was United that had the better chances, with Jon Kempin having to come up with a good double save to keep the game scoreless in the first half. In the second half United was the better side, pressuring the Rangers but this time it was Zac Lubin who was coming up with the saves in the Rangers net. The Rangers had their own chances in the second half, with Sporting academy player Will Little again creating a good chance from distance after scoring from distance in the club's 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids. The Rangers had to settle for the 0-0 draw with their USL opponent in the game.

Sporting faced off against MLS opposition in the New England Revolution tonight. The Revs came out as the better side from the start of the game, pressuring Kansas City and having Lee Nguyen hit the cross bar in a shot after a short corner. The Revs couldn't score with their early possession and KC made them pay as Sporting scored in their first real trip forward as Jordi Quintilla picked out Graham Zusi with a long ball over the top. Zusi cut in on his defender and curled a shot into the far post to give Sporting a 1-0 lead. After the goal, Sporting seemed to wake up and played better, although goalkeeper Tim Melia was called upon to make some big saves to keep KC up heading into the break.

Peter Vermes stuck with his starters into the second half, giving them a full hour on the field before making mass substitutions. Unfortunately before those substitutions, KC got hit on the counter as a long ball over the top found Tel Bunbury who had gotten behind Seth Sinovic. The former KC player beat Melia to the far post tying the game at 1-1. After the mass changes in the 60th, both teams had chances to win it but neither side could. KC's best chances came down their left side where Connor Hallisey continued to show well this preseason. He was also able to combine well with Amadou DIa on overlapping runs. In the end KC couldn't find a winner.

Both Sporting and the Rangers will be back in action this coming Wednesday when Sporting will take on the Rapids while the Rangers will be taking on the Columbus Crew.

#TBT Vermes First Win

While yesterday's game didn't turn out to be Sporting KC's Peter Vermes' 100th win in all competitions like I'd originally said, I thought this would be a good thing to look at in this week's Throw Back Thursday. With Vermes just one win away I thought we'd take a look at Vermes' first win as head coach of the then KC Wizards.

It's funny and would have been amazingly poetic if last night had been Vermes' 100th win as Sporting played the exact same opponent, the New England Revolution, that Vermes got his first win against back in 2009. Not only was it the same opponent, but the game finished with the same score as last night's game, 4-2 in favor of KC.

Vermes had been in charge of the Wizards for three games heading into a game at Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution on September 5th, 2009, having taken over as the head coach after firing Curt Onalfo after the 6-0 thrashing in Dallas on August 1st of that year. In the three games he'd been in charge KC was 0-3 and had yet to score a goal. In fact, KC had not won in seven league games since a 3-1 win at home against the same Revolution on June 13th. Add in three SuperLiga games where KC went 0-1-2 and two US Open Cup games where KC went 0-1-1 (advancing on PKs over Minnesota) KC was actually 12 games without a win. KC had scored just one goal since that win over the Revolution, a midfield blast from Claudio Lopez in a 1-1 draw with the Galaxy. Heading into the game against the Revolution, KC had gone 424 minutes without scoring a goal. The team record for a single season was 427 set in 2000, so if KC didn't score in the first three minutes they'd set a new team record. (You can read more of the stats from that horrible winless run in my old entry.)

Two players that started that game in 2009 actually started the game last night in KC, as Matt Besler started at center back with Jimmy Conrad and Brad Knighton started in goal for New England during his first stint with the Revs. Vermes' counterpart last night, Jay Heaps also played a role in the game, starting in the Revolution defense.

I'd mentioned that KC needed to score in the first three minutes to avoid setting a new single season scoreless record, well in the third minute, Josh Wolff muscled Darius Barnes off the ball as KC raced towards goal, Wolff tried to touch the ball away but it deflected into the middle for Lopez who made no mistake scoring to put KC on top in just the third minute and see the team only tie the record for longest single season goalless streak. KC caused plenty of early problems for New England, but the Revs withstood the early push and were able to create chances of their own. KC though caught a break in the 23rd minute when a heavy touch by Sharlie Joseph saw the ball get away from him and Jack Jewsbury step in to try to win it. Joseph came into the challenge with his studs showing and was sent off for his effort as KC was going to get to finish the game with a man advantage. It didn't take long for KC to take advantage of the man advantage, in the 29th, Wolff did a great job of dribbling through two Revolution defenders and before the ball crossed the end line played the ball back into the middle towards Davy Arnaud, but the ball was knocked into the Revolution's own net by their current coach, Heaps. KC went into the break up 2-0.

In the second half it was the Revolution who were able to cut into the lead first, with Edgaras Jankauskas hitting a fantastic volley from outside the box, over Kevin Hartman and into the net to make it 2-1 in the 64th minute. KC almost had the quick response as Lopez got in behind the Revolution defense, but Knighton came off his line well and blocked Lopez's effort. KC made it 3-2 in the 73rd, with Wolff again being involved and this time getting the goal that he deserved for his work on the night as Lopez played him into the box. Knighton was off his line well, but couldn't hold onto the ball and Wolff turned and fired the ball into the net to make it 3-1. The Revolution refused to go away though and in the 81st again brought the game within a goal as Sanna Nyassi played a good cross into the box where Kheli Dube beat Conrad to the ball and headed it past Hartman to make it 3-2. While New England pushed for the equalizer, it was KC that struck again to close the game off as Chance Myers received the ball out wide and played a curling ball to the back post that Wolff fired into the net to make it 4-2 in second half stoppage time as Vermes finally got his first win for KC.

It wouldn't be a pretty end to the season after that win though. KC would win just two of their remaining eight games and finish with just 33 points and ahead of only New York in the conference standings.

Here's how the lineup looked for the team that date and the highlights are below that.
Kevin Hartman, Matt Besler, Lance Watson, Michael Harrington, Jimmy Conrad, Herculez Gomez (Chance Myers  63), Santiago Hirsig, Jack Jewsbury, Claudio Lopez (Graham Zusi  89), Davy Arnaud, Josh Wolff (Zoltan Hercegfalvi  93+).

Undermanned Sporting Quell the Revolution

Sporting KC came from a goal down, and then ran over the New England Revolution on their way to a 4-2 win over their Eastern Conference opponent last night at Sporting Park. While Sporting was undermanned for the game due to injury, New England opted to rest a number of starters ahead of a big game this weekend against DC.

New England actually came out as the more aggressive side, taking the game to KC from the opening whistle, Diego Fagundez had a header go off the post in just the third minute, but the Revolution midfielder was judged to have been offside. In the ninth minute, Fagundez had another good chance as he found himself with space running down the middle and latched onto a cross from London Woodberry, but his one timer was wide of Tim Melia's post. The early pressured paid off in the 11th minute when Benny Feilhaber gave the ball away at midfield while trying to thread a pass through. Kelyn Rowe intercepted the pass and immediately played a through ball for Juan Agudelo who got behind Kevin Ellis. Agudelo raced to the top of the box, cut past a sliding Ellis and got a shot off right as Matt Besler challenged him that beat Melia and gave the Revolution the deserved early lead. KC really should have been level in the 18th minute after Besler played Jacob Peterson in with a nice ball over the top. Peterson had Revolution goalkeeper, Brad Knighton come and challenge him, leaving the goal wide open as Peterson played the ball back to an on coming Feilhaber. Instead of shooting, Feilhaber touched the ball off to Dom Dwyer who had his effort blocked, a big missed early chance for KC to tie things up. KC thought they should have had a penalty in the 27th as Paulo Nagamura tried to get onto a loose ball in the box, getting knocked away by Revolution midfielder, Scott Caldwell, but referee Allen Chapman made no call and play continued. A couple minutes later though KC was finally level. Some good possession down the right eventually found the ball at the feet of Krisztian Nemeth near the corner of the box. Nemeth played a nice little chip into the middle of the box for Dwyer who was marked by Jermaine Jones. The American international missed on the header as Dwyer popped the ball up with his chest, turned and fired the ball into the opposite corner to tie the game at 1-1.

With the goal KC continued to press forward, controlling much of the game as they kept the Revolution pinned back in their end. In the 39th KC grabbed the lead off a free kick, as Feilhaber curled a ball right into the box where Nemeth was completely unmarked and his flick header beat Knighton to make it 2-1 KC. Three minutes later, KC won a chance to make it three as they were awarded a penalty kick. Dwyer had run onto a long ball played into the box with Revolution defender, Jose Goncalves on his back, Dwyer reaches the ball, first and cuts it back attempting to get Goncalves to run past him. The Revolution defender pulls back on his shoulder as he does, but Dwyer stays on his feet and dribbles away from goal a bit. As the "advantage" on the play is lost, Chapman calls the play back and gave the penalty for the shoulder tug on Goncalves. Feilhaber stepped up and buried the penalty kick to make it 3-1 ahead of the half time break.

As the second half started KC quickly won the ball off the Revolution and Feilhaber played a ball over the top for Jacob Peterson who raced down the wing, knocking Kevin Alston off the ball and immediately squaring it to an open Nemeth who slotted the ball into the corner to make it 4-1 KC less than 30 seconds into the second half. KC kept working and almost got a fifth in the 55th minute after a quick throw from Nemeth found Feilhaber who dribbled the ball into the box and laid it back for Peterson, but his shot went just wide of the near post. The Revolution got themselves a life line in the 64th minute after a good ball down KC's left side, Charlie Davies played the ball back towards the penalty spot for an unmarked Caldwell who beat Melia and made it 4-2 in KC's favor. No one in the midfield had tracked the run of Caldwell who had plenty of time to get his head up and put the ball away.

With the goal the Revolution started to take momentum back as they won a number of free kicks and corner kicks deep in KC's end. Many of them didn't test Melia in goal, but they gave the Revolution a number of good looks at goal that KC has to avoid. They've given away way too many set pieces and way too many goals from set pieces this year. The Revolution's best of their free kicks came in the 82nd when substitute Chris Tierney curled a free kick that bounced right in front of Melia who had to get down and push it away and out for a corner. KC was able to create a couple chances on the counter, the best coming in the 84th when Nemeth picked out an open Connor Hallisey as he raced down the right side. Getting into the box though Hallisey just couldn't beat Knighton who knocked the ball out for a corner. The goal wasn't needed though as KC was able to cruise to the 4-2 win.

Wizards Man of the Match - Krisztian Nemeth - Two goals and an assist for the Hungarian, a good night at the office, was all over the place, and should have had another assist on the Hallisey chance late on.

Honorable Mention - Benny Feilhaber

Player Ratings - Melia 5, Dia 5, Besler 5, Ellis 5, Anibaba 5, Mustivar 6, Nagamura 6, Feilhaber 8, Peterson 7, Dwyer 7, Nemeth 8. Subs Hallisey 5, Carrasco NR, Abdul-Salaam NR.

Match Day 11: Cross Conference Game with a Shortened Lineup

After Saturday's game against Colorado was postponed, Sporting KC will try to get their eleventh game of the season in tomorrow night at Sporting Park against the New England Revolution.  This will be the only meeting between the two teams this year after they met three times last year, with the Revolution winning all three, including a 3-2 win last year at Sporting Park as KC slumped down the stretch.

New England come into tomorrow's game having drawn their last two league games, 2-2 in Orlando and 1-1 against Toronto, both times blowing leads to allow the opposing team to escape with points. Still, the Revolution are a strong team that will cause KC plenty of problems. Their attack is certainly one that KC can cause KC all sorts of problems with pace. From Charlie Davies and Juan Agudelo up top to Teal Bunbury and Diego Fagundez on the wing to Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe in midfield, the Revolution have a number of ways that they can cause KC problems on defense. Like KC though, they have what could be considered a more important game on the weekend when they're scheduled to host DC United in a battle for first place in the East. So while the Revolution won't lay down in KC, they may rest a couple of guys so that they are fresh for the weekend Conference game.

Right now KC wishes they could have the luxury of resting players for their weekend class against the Seattle Sounders. With all the injury news that came out today and the announcement that Saad Abdul-Salaam was recalled from his loan, KC will be lucky if they'll be able to dress a full 18 for the game tomorrow. With those injuries though, KC should only have to make two changes from the originally submitted lineup for the game against Colorado. Seth Sinovic is out as the team is treating the illness/injury that forced him to be a late scratch against Colorado as a potential concussion and he will miss out. The other is a change not forced by injury, but by national team duty, as Erik Palmer-Brown left for Australia to join the US U20 team in their preparations for this summer's U20 World Cup. Kevin Ellis is the obvious choice to slide back into the starting 11 at center back with Matt Besler.

Melia

Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - Dia

Mustivar

Feilhaber - Nagamura

Peterson - Dwyer - Nemeth

Number to Remember - 6 - That's how many points over the last two weeks these two teams have left on the table. KC's 1-1 draw with DC, while New England had the 2-2 draw with Orlando and 1-1 draw with Toronto.

Key Match Up - Matt Besler and Kevin Ellis vs Charlie Davies/Juan Agudelo - With the weekend game it's a little hard to predict who will be up top for New England, but both Davies and Agudelo will cause KC's back line plenty of problems. It'll be a big test especially on Ellis who will be looking to reestablish himself at the center back position after being disposed by Palmer-Brown before his departure.

PREDICTION - Both teams have games that more important on the weekend against conference rivals, so both likely will hold back just a little in tomorrow's game. For the game itself though, I just feel like even with an eye towards the weekend, New England just has too much attacking power either in the starting 11 or on the bench for KC's back line to really contain. This is going to have to be another game where the offense is really going to have to show up for KC to take points from this one, and I'm just not fully confident in the offense to do that yet.

SKC - 1 (Nemeth)
NE - 2 (Rowe, Bunbury)

Sporting Allow Three at Home Again

Sporting KC continued their free fall in the standings last night, falling for the fifth time in six games and for the third straight time at home, 3-2 to the New England Revolution. KC has now allowed nine goals in the last three league games played at Sporting Park and haven't recorded a shutout at home in league play since May.

Kansas City had a chance early on as Dom Dwyer curled a fourth minute free kick just wide of Bobby Shuttleworth's far post. That was really the only chance early on for either side, but in the 22nd minute, the Revolution were the ones that got on the board first. Kevin Alston and Teal Bunbury combined down the Revolution's right before Alston played a ball across the box that made it through to an unmarked Kelyn Rowe at the back post who just one timed the ball back across goal and into the net to make it 1-0 for New England. Things got worse for the home side in the 35th minute. New England center back, Jose Goncalves won the ball off Paulo Nagamura in the Revolution half of the field. The center back dribbled half the field with next to no pressure from any KC player. Finally near the top of the box Goncalves took a low shot that beat Eric Kronberg inside the far post to double New England's lead. In the 40th the Revolution had another opportunity to add to their lead as Chris Tierney curled a free kick towards goal that Kronberg had to punch clear. KC really struggled to create chances in the first half never really testing Shuttleworth outside of Dwyer's early free kick.

The second half saw KC come out quickly, looking to find a way back into the game. In the 54th minute it paid off. Kevin Ellis played a nice through ball from the back onto Nagamura who had floated off the shoulder of Goncalves. Nagamura dribbled into the box and fired a shot into the roof of the net to pull Kansas City within one goal. Two minutes later, Sporting KC were level. Toni Dovale received the ball out wide on the left. With a chance to get his head up, Dovale curled a cross to the back post where Nagamura won the ball, heading it back across goal. Dwyer had made a run towards the opposite post and was able to head the ball into the open net for his 20th of the season. With the game level, KC looked the better side, pressuring the Revolution and looking for a goal to take the lead. In the 69th Kevin Ellis had a header saved from point blank range by Shuttleworth after an Igor Juliao shot was deflected into his path after a corner. Ellis though was offside on the play and the goal wouldn't have counted. In the 85th though KC gave the game away. Lee Nguyen played a short pass to Jermaine Jones in the middle of KC's half of the field. Jones, with no mark on him dribbled up and fired a low shot that beat Kronberg who was well out of position, leaving the lower corner open for Jones to fire the shot in. A number of mistakes and break downs defensively cost KC on that goal. KC was unable to find a way back and fell for the third time this season to the Revolution.

Wizards Man of the Match - Paulo Nagamura - Tried to carry KC to a win with his play last night, especially in the two goals.

Player Ratings - Kronberg 3, Juliao 4, Besler 3, Ellis 4, Sinovic 4, Claros 4, Nagamura 6, Feilhaber 4, Zusi 3, Dwyer 5, Dovale 4. Subs Saad 4, Sapong NR.

Match Day 30 - Battle for Second

Sporting Kansas City head back to league play tomorrow after having last weekend off between their two home Champions League games. And they return to action in a big game against the New England Revolution at Sporting Park. The Revolution sit just three points behind second place KC at the moment. Meanwhile KC sits just three points behind first place DC as the Eastern Conference playoff race gets tighter.

The Revolution head into tomorrow night's game having lost their five game winning streak last weekend in Columbus, the 1-0 loss ended the streak that included a 3-1 win over Sporting in New England earlier this month. They did it without Teal Bunbury who was suspended for the game due to yellow card accumulation. He'll be available for tomorrow's game though. The Revolution have already won the season series with KC, winning both of the games played at Gillette Stadium by a combined 5-1 scoreline. A bit of a surprise considering Kansas City's traditionally good history there. But the Revolution at the moment look to be a team in good form at just the right time of the season to make a playoff run.

Kansas City for there part could very well be rounding themselves into form as well. After four straight losses, three of them by multiple goals, KC has now won three straight in all competitions, winning all of them by multiple goals. Tomorrow though will be tougher than those previous games have been for KC. There may be some tired legs after the midweek game against Real Esteli that saw KC play a number of players you'd expect to start tomorrow. One player that looks set to miss out tomorrow is Aurelien Collin who said today that he's not sure if he'll be able to go tomorrow. If Collin can't go that puts KC in a corner when it comes to their center back position because the team will also be without Lawrence Olum who is suspended for tomorrow's game for picking up his fifth yellow card of the season. That means that either Kevin Ellis or Erik Palmer-Brown are likely to partner Matt Besler in the center of defense. In a big game like this, it'll be a challenge for either one to step up into Collin's position.

Kronberg
Juliao - Ellis - Belser - Sinovic
Claros - Nagamura
Feilhaber
Zusi - Dwyer - Dovale

Number to Remember - 3 - That's the number of points separating these two teams. A loss would see Kansas City fall to third in the conference behind the Revolution and allow DC to further distance themselves from KC.

Key Match Up - Jorge Claros vs Lee Nguyen - Nguyen is having himself an MVP like season for the Revolution, leading the team with 13 goals and adding four assists. He's been playing extremely well for them this year. Being able to shut him down is key for Kansas City if they want to get a result tomorrow. That job is likely to fall on Claros defensively, with Paulo Nagamura helping out as well. Nguyen will try to operate in the space between Claros and KC's center backs, so the Honduran will need to be mindful of where he's at defensively.

PREDICTION - This should be a very good game tomorrow night. Both teams having been playing well the last few games. KC has a bit of a point to prove after the Revolution beat them 3-1 a few weeks ago. While New England is going to be looking to move up the table. The last few games Graham Zusi has been getting himself more involved in the play, if he can get involved and go at defenders like he has been lately, it'll create space for Toni Dovale and Dom Dwyer to work in up top. KC's defense will certainly be tested without Collin, but the team's play the last few games lifted morale heading into the stretch run and I think KC walks out with a close win.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Zusi)
NE - 1 (Davies)

Three Losses and Another Three Goals Conceded

Sporting Kansas City lost their third straight game for the first time since early 2012, and once again gave up three goals. This time on the road to the New England Revolution. It's the first time since 2009 that Sporting has allowed nine goals in three games (that streak was helped by a 6-0 loss in Dallas that cost then coach, Curt Onalfo, his job). KC is still comfortably in a playoff spot right now, but the growing issues with the team have to be a concern. They haven't gotten a shutout in 11 games, the longest streak since 2007, the injuries and different lineups continue to add up, and really Kansas City hasn't looked good since their 2-1 win over LA (a stretch of eight games, nine with the loss to City in there as well).

Things started brightly for Kansas City though as they took the lead in just the 9th minute. Matt Besler threw a long throw-in into the near post in the box. It was flicked on by New England Revolution midfielder, Jermaine Jones to the back post. Sporting KC's Soony Saad was there to head the ball into the net to give KC the early lead. KC would continue the early push and Seth Sinovic had an opportunity on goal in the 16th as he cut inside his defender and fired on goal, but right at Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Unfortunately that would be KC's last shot on goal all game. Slowly the Revolution started to control the game and started to get Lee Nguyen more involved in the play. KC did a good job early of limiting his looks on goal in the first half. Unfortunately for KC, the Revolution found a way back into the game just before half time. A beautiful cross field ball by Jones found Teal Bunbury matched up 1v1 with Sinovic. Bunbury brought the ball down and touched the ball over Sinovic as he came to mark up. Sinovic had been playing Bunbury physically to try to negate his pace. He'd picked up a yellow earlier in the half that caused him to be more cautious. In doing so, Bunbury was able to easily get by him. Matt Besler stepped up to pressure as Bunbury took a shot that deflected off Besler and past Andy Gruenebaum at his near post as Gruenebaum had started to dive towards the far post.

As good as the first half started, that's as bad as the second half started, as a turnover at midfield led to a counter for the Revolution. And while KC had contained Nguyen in the first half they lost him on the counter as Kelyn Rowe picked out Nguyen as he raced up field. Nguyen curled the ball into the far corner putting the Revolution in front. Nguyen had another opportunity in the 55th, dribbling through a few KC players before taking a rip from the top of the box. KC really had limited chances in the second half even while they tried to push the game. Saad pushed a free kick from about 35 yards out just wide of the post in the 58th minute. KC continued to throw numbers forward, but really couldn't really create much offensively. It did open gaps in the back though and New England almost exploited them a few times. In the 86th, Patrick Mullins challenged Lawrence Olum for a header. Olum won the ball, but didn't get the ball far enough clear. Mullins turned and fired a shot that Gruenebaum had to push wide for a corner. In stoppage time the Revolution finished off KC. After a short goal kick, Olum dribbled the ball up field before attempting to fire a ball up field towards the forwards. His forward pass was blocked by Nguyen into the path of Mullins. In a 2v2 situation, Mullins controlled the ball and got it back wide to Nguyen as Olum committed to Mullins. Nguyen did not delay as Besler tried to cross over to cut down the angle. Nguyen immediately fired a shot on goal past Gruenebaum and into the net making it 3-1. KC now heads to New York really desperate for points and to end this losing streak.

Wizards Man of the Match - Soony Saad - Was really KC's only offensive threat in the game, and scored the lone goal for KC.

Player Ratings - Gruenebaum 5, Sinovic 4, Olum 3, Besler 4, Juliao 4, Claros 4, Lopez 4, Zusi 4, Saad 5, Bieler 4, Sapong 3. Subs Zizzo 4, Steuble NR.

Match Day 27 - Trying to Right the Ship

Sporting Kansas City head on the road for the beginning of a three game road trip, starting tomorrow night in New England. Kansas City will be looking to end their two game winless run after allowing six goals in their last two games, both at home. The hope has to be that going on the road where KC is 8-5-4 this year will help Kansas City to right the ship.

Unfortunately KC has to do it in New England against a Revolution side that is starting to find some form. The Revs come into the game having won their last two games, including a 3-0 win on the road last weekend against a struggling Toronto FC side.  They recently welcomed US international, Jermaine Jones to the team, winning the "blind draw" with the Chicago Fire for the services of the World Cup veteran. He came on as a substitute against TFC, but with Scott Caldwell suspended due to yellow card accumulation could see his first start on Wednesday.

Kansas City has some suspensions of their own to deal, both bigger than New England missing Caldwell. Dom Dwyer and Benny Feilhaber both will have to miss Wednesday's game due to yellow card accumulation from cards picked up in the loss to Houston. Replacing those two will be a hard task, as the two combined have scored 20 of KC's 37 goals this year and have been a part of 25 of those 37 goals. Replacing both of them will be extremely tough. Claudio Bieler could finally come out of the wasteland and get his first league start since Chicago on May 18th in replacing Dwyer. Replacing Feilhaber will be different. Graham Zusi dropping back into midfield again seems to be the likely way to fill Feilhaber's role. That leads KC to inserting the likes of Soony Saad, Sal Zizzo, or Toni Dovale in the wing position. Another question would be how KC lines up behind Zusi in the midfield. Lawrence Olum had a poor game against the Dynamo, and Peter Vermes could replace him with Jorge Claros, or he could play both players in midfield to give KC a bit more help defensively against the Revolution. Another option would be to insert Mikey Lopez or let Martin Steuble get his second start. Then there's the goalkeeper question, where Andy Gruenebaum is nearing his return, but is he fit enough to play. The questions are all over the field for KC.

Kempin

Ellis - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Claros - Olum

Zusi

Sapong - Bieler - Saad

Number to Remember - 8 - That's the number of wins that KC has on the road at Gillette Stadium against the Revolution. The only other away location that KC has more wins is Columbus Crew Stadium, where KC has played four more games than the 18 KC has played at Gillette.

Key Match Up - Claudio Bieler vs Jose Goncalves - There will be a lot of pressure on Bieler to produce in the absence of Dwyer. The DP needs to live up to that expectation, and he really hasn't since Kei Kamara returned from his loan at Norwich. He has a chance tomorrow to at least give KC another option in place of Dwyer up top.

PREDICTION - The two teams are going in opposite directions, KC picked up just four points in the month of August this year. The Revolution have only picked up seven, but those seven points have come in their last three games. In that time the Revs have jumped to third place in the East and sit nine points behind KC. I'm not sure that KC can keep the Revolution from closing that gap further without the likes of Dwyer and Feilhaber on the field for KC. And the defense has looked like a far cry from the one that even started this season. They've gone 10 games now without a shutout, the longest stretch since an 11 game stretch in 2010-2011, which included all but the final game of KC's road trip to start the 2011 season. I just can't see KC ending their losing streak tomorrow.

SKC - 0
NE - 2 (Bunbury, Fagundez)

Insult to Injury - Sporting Fall to New England Late

It was not a good night for Sporting KC in the Northeast. Not only did the team lose on the road 2-0 to the New England Revolution, but in the process lost two players to injury as well, as both Toni Dovale and Sal Zizzo both left before the hour mark with injuries.

Neither team really came out lighting things of fire, the Revs had the best chance early on in the 14th minute as a ball was put through for Jerry Bengtson. There were shouts for an offside call from Sporting, but the flag stayed down. 1v1 with Eric Kronberg though Bengtson pushed his shot wide of the post. While KC had possession, the Revs continued to have the better of the chances as Matt Belser blocked a shot by Teal Bunbury wide of the net. KC had a good chance in the 26th as KC patiently built the play up before it made it wide to Sal Zizzo. With space on the right Zizzo fired over the bar instead of testing Bobby Shuttleworth. The Revolution had another chance through Bunbury in the 32nd. After Kronberg knocked away a cross the ball fell to Bunbury who cut into the middle and after the ball appeared to hit his hand, fired a shot that Kronberg palmed over the goal. Just before half time, KC suffered their first injury blow, as Toni Dovale, in his first start for KC, went down injured and had to be subbed off before half time.

The second half saw Kansas City continue to try to find a way into the game. During one of those attempts though, KC picked up their second injury of the night. On a long ball over the top, Zizzo tried to get onto the end of the ball but couldn't quite reach it. In the process, Zizzo picked up a groin strain and had to be replaced by Jacob Peterson as another Sporting player went down with injury. In the 59th minute, KC had a good chance to take the lead. After some work on the left, the ball broke free for Alex Martinez on the right. Instead of taking the shot first time, Martinez cut back in and forced a corner kick from Shuttleworth, but the argument could be made that a first time effort with the right would have been better. Seconds later, Martinez had another effor that he did string first time, but fired wide. KC's efforts to get something out of the game got harder in the 74th minute. As the Revolution came forward, Aurelien Collin went in for a tackle on Diego Fagundez. Collin didn't get the ball and Fagundez went down. Referee Alan Kelly immediately went to the back pocket and gave Collin the red card. As a bias observer, I thought the red was harsh, but with the way that MLS referees have called games this year it's also not a surprising card. Immediately off the Revs restart KC won the ball and attacked the other way. Dom Dwyer picked out Benny Feilhaber in the middle. Feilhaber cut around his defender, but from the top of the six yard box fired a shot well over and wide of the goal to keep the game scoreless. While down a man, KC continued to have the better of position for much of the rest of the half but really didn't make much of it. As the game entered stoppage time the Revolution got more of the possession and pushed forward. In Stoppage time the Revolution finally made the extra man count as a cross from Darrius Barnes was knocked in by Teal Bunbury. Kronberg made a failed attempt to come for the ball, missing it, setting up the chance for Bunbury. KC tried to push forward and find an equalizer, but it's the Revs that ended up striking again. Off a cleared corner, the Revs broke the other way against KC's defense. Fagundez got in behind KC's defense, but Kronberg ended up making the save, the rebound fell back to Fagundez who headed a ball towards goal, but Oriol Rosell knocked the ball away with his hands, leading to a penalty kick. Lee Nguyen stepped up and buried the PK as Kronberg was frozen to the spot and the Revs went up 2-0. Seconds after the restart, the referee blew for full time and KC fell for the second time on the season (both times on turf).

Wizards Man of the Match - Matt Besler - Held the back line together through most of the match. In stoppage time on the Bunbury goal it appeared that Kronberg called Besler of the play, leading him to side step the cross.

Player Ratings - Kronberg 4, Sinovic 6, Belser 6, Collin 3, Myers 4, Rosell 4, Feilhaber 4, Dovale 3, Zusi 5, Dwyer 3, Zizzo 5. Subs Martinez 4, Peterson 4, Olum 4.

Match Day 7: A Playoff Rematch

Sporting Kansas City travel to the East Coast this weekend for a rematch of the Eastern Conference semifinals with the New England Revolution. Gillette Stadium has been a friendly face for Kansas City to visit throughout the history of the stadium. KC is 8-3-6 there in league play, and 8-4-7 in all competitions. Sporting did lose their last trip there though, falling 2-1 in the first leg before winning the second leg in extra time 3-1.

New England comes into this game with a little bit of trouble depth wise. The team is without a number of potential starters for this game. Kevin Alston is suspended after picking up a red card at the end of the Revolution's 1-1 draw in Chicago. They'll also be without captain Jose Goncalves and midfielder Kelyn Rowe are both injured and will miss the game. Along with that, forward Saer Sene has been given leave this week from the team. On top of all that, the Revs teenage star, Diego Fagundez could miss the game with a back injury. That's five potential starters, almost half of the Revs starting lineup that could be missing, a big blow for the Revs. They will have former KC forward Teal Bunbury leading the line, although he's yet to score this season.

Kansas City will welcome back Oriol Rosell to the team after he sat out the 4-0 win over Montreal after his red card. He'll likely go right back into the starting lineup. The question will be who for. Is it a straight like for like switch with Lawrence Olum making way. Or does Olum drop back to partner Matt Besler in central defense? That question arises depending on the health of Aurelien Collin who left the win over Montreal early with a hamstring. Peter Vermes has said that Collin would be available, but with a very busy month of May ahead that will include losing Besler when he joins the US team, resting Collin to make sure he doesn't hurt his hamstring worse may be a good idea. Dom Dwyer's two goal performance against the Impact earns him another start ahead of designated player, Claudio Bieler.

Kronberg
Myers - Olum - Besler - Sinovic
Nagamura - Rosell
Feilhaber
Zizzo - Dwyer - Zusi

Number to Remember - 1 - Both KC's goals against average and New England's goals scored average is under the number 1. KC is averaging .67 goals against per game after picking up 3 shutouts. All those shutouts have come at home though, they've given up three in their two away games although two were PKs. The Revs are averaging .71 goals per game.

Key Match Up - Matt Besler vs Teal Bunbury - Bunbury hasn't scored for the Revs since his trade, but his pace is something that has caused problems throughout his time with Kansas City. Besler and the rest of the KC defense can't allow Bunbury to get in behind them tomorrow.

PREDICTION  - With the goal scoring record of the Revolution, their home defense which has yet to allow a goal this season, and KC's historical issues scoring goals, this game has the chance to be as bad as last year's regular season match up between the two teams in New England. Maybe KC's offense finally turned the corner after the match up against the Impact, but I'd like a more complete body of work to know for sure. The lack of five potential starters for the Revs could be the thing that tilt the game in KC's favor though, but Sporting has traditionally played down to the level of competition, including when teams are playing without key players.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
NE - 1 (Nguyen)

Bunbury Traded to New England

In a move that was a little surprising, but not shocking based on his position, Sporting KC traded forward Teal Bunbury to the New England Revolution today for the Revs 2015 first round draft pick and allocation money.

In the end the move makes sense for all parties involved. Sporting KC remains stacked at center forward, and Bunbury was likely behind Claudio Bieler and Dom Dwyer for playing time with KC. He'd struggled to regain some form after his return from his ACL tear in the 2012 season. For New England they add a young forward to help them try to replace Juan Agudelo. And for Bunbury he gets the chance to hopefully get more playing time. If he can regain his form from pre-surgery he'll be a solid contributor for the Revs.

The big loss for KC in my opinion is that they lose their "over the top" threat in Bunbury. Of KC's center forward options (Bieler, Dwyer and even CJ Sapong and Soony Saad) Bunbury was really the only one that had break away pace that could race behind a defense. KC might get that back some in Adnan Gabeljic, but he seems to be settling into a wing position for Sporting.

Another good thing for KC though is that they'll be getting at least a portion of Bunbury's salary off their books. He made $110,000 last year per the players union, but if this Tweet is to be believed, was due for a big raise, which makes getting him off the books seem a lot more straight forward, especially if he wasn't going to be one of the top two forwards.

He departs KC as one of the team's top scorers in both league play and all competitions, scoring 19 league goals (the most among active players before his trade) and a total of 24 in all competitions. Both put him in 10th place all time for Kansas City goalscorers.

Honestly while Bunbury sometimes frustrated, I can't help but wish the guy luck simply because how he carried himself as a professional.

Sporting KC Advance to Conference Finals

Sporting Kansas City controlled every aspect of the game last night against the New England Revolution, but it took extra time to knock off the Revs and see KC through to their second conference finals in three years where they'll meet their old friends, Houston. The 3-1 score line flattered the Revs in aspects of the game, but it really was a typical Sporting performance at home. They outshot the Revs 32-5 and 10-2 in shots on goal, but Matt Reis in the New England net made a number of fantastic saves to keep New England in the game.

As was expected, KC came out pushing the game from the start in the first half. Their first good opportunity came in the 17th minute. Seth Sinovic played a nice cross into the box where Dom Dwyer had lost his mark. Dwyer put his header on goal, but Reis did very well to get down and palm the ball away. He then jumped on the rebound before Dwyer could get a touch. CJ Sapong had another opportunity in the 33rd off a cross from Graham Zusi, but the forward directed his header right at Reis. Finally in the 41st, Sporting leveled the aggregate scoring. Off a short free kick, Chance Myers played a cross into the box towards Dwyer, Sapong, and Aurelien Collin, the ball bounced off of Andrew Farrell into the path of Collin whose sliding left footed shot went past Reis and into the net making it 2-2 on aggregate. Dwyer and the returning Paulo Nagamura also had opportunities, but couldn't give KC the aggregate lead in the first half.

The second half saw KC look to improve on their 72% possession in the first half and find a second goal. Again though, Reis denied KC. In the 55th minute, Myers played a great cross into the near post for Dwyer who headed the ball on goal. The rebound fell to Benny Feilhaber who was racing in. Reis recovered from the first save though and knocked away Feilhaber's header as well. This led to a counter for the Revolution that Myers ended up having to clear. In the 70th minute, KC paid for the missed chances. After Matt Besler fouled Juan Agudelo out by the end line. Kelyn Rowe whipped a ball into the box where Dimitry Imbongo, falling down, hit a side volley that Jimmy Nielsen couldn't keep out and the Revs were level on the night and ahead on aggregate again.

Needing another goal, KC pushed forward in greater numbers, and it didn't take them long to get back on top on the night. A long ball over the top by Collin was flicked on by Zusi into the path of Seth Sinovic. Sinovic had made a driving run up field after seconds earlier being up-ended by Agudelo. The ball fell nicely into Sinovic's path and he fired a rocket past Reis and into the net. The type of strike any striker would be proud of, Sinovic had leveled the aggregate scoring at 3-3. The Revolution almost added another in the 85th. Diego Fagundez led a 2v2 break with Agudelo. Dribbling at Besler, Fagundez fired a shot from about 25 yards out. His shot skimmed the top of the cross bar and went out, with Nielsen thinking it was going well over. KC had one last chance in regulation to grab the win. After getting by Farrell and referee Mark Geiger playing advantage, Zusi squared a ball for Nagamura at the top of the box. He tried to pick out the far corner, but his shot went just wide of the post. Seconds later we were headed to extra time.

Into extra time, KC continued to control the play but again could not finish their chances. In the second period of extra time, it almost cost them. In the 109th minute, Agudelo received a pass from Lee Nguyen. Agudelo cut inside Besler and was 1v1 with Nielsen. Nielsen though did extremely well and made a kick save as Agudelo tried to slide the ball in near post. The Revs paid for the miss in the 113th. After Reis collected the ball he tried to quickly play Fagundez on the counter. Feilhaber though read the play and won the ball in front of Fagundez and started back in on goal. Feilhaber played a nice ball on the ground to the middle of the box where substitute, Claudio Bieler slotted the ball into the far post, giving KC a 3-1 lead on the night and 4-3 on aggregate. Sapong ended up playing a crucial part on the goal as he looked to have partially screened Reis so he did not get a good job on the ball. KC sat back after that a bit, almost immediately bringing on another defender in Ike Opara for Feilhaber to help in the back. KC though almost made it four, although it was not without a bit of controversy. With the Revs pushing forward, Reis became more of a sweeper keeper. He was forced into a give away in his own end. On the giveaway though Reis went down in a pile and immediately waved to the bench. Geiger didn't stop play and Zusi dribbled in on goal. With a couple Revs players between him and the goal he tried to chip it, but hit the cross bar, the follow up header didn't go in either and Geiger blew the whistle to get Reis treatment for what appears to be a muscle tear. Farrell had to go in net for the Revs and they finished the game with 10 men as they exited the playoffs.

Wizards Man of the Match - Seth Sinovic - There's a number of players I could choose from here, but I'll give it to Sinovic. He was solid on the left side all night and his goal was perfectly taken.

Honorable mention - Oriol Rosell, Aurelien Collin

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Sinovic 8, Collin 8, Besler 6, Myers 6, Rosell 8, Nagamura 7, Feilhaber 7, Sapong 6, Dywer 6, Zusi 7. Subs Bieler 8, Saad 6, Opara NR.

It's All Down to This for Sporting

Sporting KC have 90 minutes left in their season, unless they get a win against the New England Revolution tomorrow. A one goal win and KC will force extra time. A two goal win and KC advances. Anything else and Kansas City's season is over.

The Revolution took care of business in the home leg, riding second half goals from Andy Dorman and Kelyn Rowe to lift them to a 2-0 lead before Aurelien Collin cut the lead in half. The Revolution's young lineup caused a number of problems in KC's midfield and they were able to capitalize on it. In the back, other than a few opportunities, the Revolution defense, anchored by Jose Goncalves kept KC's forwards off the scoreboard.

While the forwards didn't find the net, Aurelien Collin did, and it could prove to be a crucial goal in the series. KC came back from Houston last year down two goals and were unable to find the two they needed to tie the series and force overtime. This year KC need just one goal to tie the series. To do that, or to get two goals tomorrow and avoid overtime, Sporting's forwards are going to have to pick up their goal scoring. Since beating the Crew 3-0, KC's forwards have scored a grand total of three goals, with all three coming against bottom feeders in the league (two vs Toronto, one vs DC). In that same stretch, KC's defenders have scored just one less goal than the forwards. The lack of goals from the forwards in that stretch has made the absence of designated player, Caludio Bieler, all the more curious. With Bieler being left at home over the weekend, it'll be interesting to see if he's in the 18 tomorrow, if not can there be any doubt that Bieler won't be back next year? The other question is who is going to play in the midfield tomorrow. KC has tended to field a more attacking lineup when they play at home, so the loss of Lawrence Olum may not be felt that much. It could also be boosted by the return of Paulo Nagamura. If Nagamura can't go, a midfield of Oriol Rosell, Benny Feilhaber, and Graham Zusi seems likely.

Nielsen
Myers - Collin - Besler - Sinovic
Rosell
Nagamura - Feilhaber
Zusi - Dwyer - Saad

Number to Remember 2-0-2 - That's KC's record at Sporting Park against the Revolution. The team has alternated ties and wins. The first match up in KC was a 1-1 draw, then a 3-0 win, then a 0-0 draw before a 3-0 win this year. If that pattern holds true, KC would be going out, so hopefully KC can break that.

Key Match Up - KC forwards vs NE defense - KC needs their forwards to come to life, they need to start putting the ball in the net. The struggle with the forwards has become a major concern. If Dom Dwyer or Soony Saad had really come alive and started banging the ball into the net the questions over Bieler's absence from the team would have likely been a smaller issue, but their lack of goals has caused a lot of questions.

PREDICTION - I am surprisingly not worried about this game. I'm concerned, wondering if Kansas City's forwards will wake up and start putting the ball in the net, but I'm not worried. I think that KC will find at least one goal to win this game. Whether they can find a second in regulation, I don't know, but I just think that KC's experience will help them to win the game. The Revs are going to probably sit a little deeper and force KC to have to come at them. KC will need to take advantage of their opportunities. I think this game likely gets decided by a Zusi set piece, KC has the height advantage and should really be using it more on set pieces.

SKC - 2 (Saad, Collin)
NE - 0
SKC advance 3-2 on aggregate

Sporting KC Put Themselves in a Hole Again

For the second year in a row, Sporting Kansas City head home for the second leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series in a deficient. The New England Revolution scored two second half goal and will head to Kansas City with a 2-1 aggregate lead against Sporting KC.

The first half way limited in the chances that were created as both teams seemed to be feeling each other out. In the 18th minute, KC almost grabbed the lead off a Graham Zusi corner. His corner was headed on goal by Chance Myers. Lee Nguyen on the back post though chested the ball into the path of Aurelien Collin. Watching the game, Revolution defender, AJ Soares had his arm wrapped around Collin, but on call was made and a goal kick was given. The best chance for either side came in the 34th minute. A long ball over the top by Zusi found Teal Bunbury beating the offside trap. Unfortunately, Bunbury's chance was right into the arms of Matt Reis in the Revolution net.

In the second half, the Revs grabbed an early lead in the 55th minute. A shot by Diego Fagundez was saved by Jimmy Nielsen. The deflected save though bounced off of Juan Agudelo and into the path of Andy Dorman who touched the ball home to give the Revs a 1-0 lead. There were calls for offside, but looking at replays, the play was extremely close and it appeared that Dorman may have just been even when the touch by Agudelo occurred. In the 67th the Revolution doubled their lead. A turn over in their own half of the field by KC led to a break by the Rev. Nguyen found Kelyen Rowe out to the side of KC's box. His shot found the far corner and the Revs doubled their advantage. KC responded almost immediately to the Revs second goal. A free kick from Zusi into the middle was headed back to the far post. Jacob Peterson headed the ball back towards the middle. Chance Myers turned and fired a shot into a group of players. CJ Sapong flicked it to the back post where Aurelien Collin knocked it home to make the score 2-1. Down just a goal, Sporting KC renewed their pressure and almost equalized in the 72nd. Oriol Rosell fired from outside the box and had his shot hit the outside of the post and go wide. KC continued to pressure but couldn't find the net. But in stoppage time, KC had another golden opportunity. The ball found it's way to Dom Dwyer as he found space on the right. But as he got away from the Revolution defense he fired a shot that Reis pushed away to keep the score 2-1. The Revolution held on and at the half way point of the series hold a 2-1 lead as the teams head back to KC.

The loss is disappointing for KC, but heading home I'm less worried about KC's chances. I think KC can get the two goal win they need to advance.

Wizards Man of the Match - Aurelien Collin - For no other reason than he scored the goal that kept KC's playoff hopes alive heading into the second leg.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 4, Myers 4, Collin 6, Besler 5, Sinovic 4, Rosell 4, Olum 4, Zusi 4, Peterson 3, Bunbury 4, Sapong 4. Subs Saad 4, Dywer 4.

Playoff Time

Sporting KC kick off their run to MLS Cup tomorrow as they make a trip out to New England to take on the Revolution. It's the first time these two teams have met in the playoffs, and only the third time the two teams will meet outside MLS league play. That's the third fewest of any of the remaining MLS original teams (DC once and New York zero are the ones with fewer). Sporting KC won the season series against the Revs, first drawing 0-0 in New England before winning 3-0 in KC in Kei Kamara's last start for the club.

The Revolution got themselves into the playoffs going 4-0-2 in their last six games. The down side of that is only one of those four wins was against a playoff team (1-0 over the wilting Impact). They did draw New York 2-2 in that stretch. Revolution leading scorer, Diego Fagundez didn't appear much against KC during the season, but you can expect him to play a bigger role in the playoff match up. One question mark for the Revs is the health of defender of the year candidate, Jose Goncalves. He was questionable earlier in the week, but at this point looks likely to be on the field this weekend. One thing that KC hasn't had to game plan for against the Revs in their two previous meetings is Juan Agudelo, who has been a big part off their push down the stretch. He was still with Chivas when the teams met in New England, and was out injured for the return leg in KC.

While Sporting hasn't had to deal with Agudelo this season, the Revs haven't had to deal with one of KC's main weapons this year either, Graham Zusi. Zusi missed the team's first match up while on duty with the US national team and the second due to injury. So both teams will have a weapon the other hasn't seen this year. The big question for Peter Vermes is the forward line. KC's forwards haven't exactly been on fire lately. Six goals in the final two months of the season. Those goals came in just three of KC's seven league games in that stretch. The defense has been the ones that have carried KC in that stretch. In September and October, KC has pitched four shutouts in the seven league games and also scored a goal to give KC a win against Columbus. The biggest question has been the absence of Claudio Bieler, Sporting KC's designated player, who has played a total of 12 minutes since his last start in KC's 3-0 win over Columbus. It's led to comparisons of Omar Bravo and his falling out with Vermes that saw him depart KC after just one season. With the lack of scoring punch from Dom Dwyer, Jacob Peterson, CJ Sapong, and Soony Saad lately you would think Bieler would find himself back in the lineup, but that's certainly not a given.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Rosell - Olum

Zusi

Saad - Dwyer - Sapong

Number to Remember - 0 - The number of goals that New England has scored on KC in the last two years in league play. The last goal by the Revolution on KC was Rajko Lekic in the 38th minute on July 30th of 2011. That's a string of 502 minutes at this point. In that stretch, KC has outscored New England 8-0.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Jose Goncalves - Dwyer has just two league goals for KC since returning from his loan to Orlando City. Tomorrow he'll go up against one of the leading candidates for defender of the year in MLS. Sporting needs to start to get production out of their forwards. Even the great defensive team of 2000 still had Miklos Molnar there to score goals. None of KC's forwards are Bieler's quality, but someone needs to step up at the forward position for KC.

PREDICTION - It's not the Dynamo, that's at least one good thing to say about the game tomorrow, KC won't be playing their playoff kryptonite. The Revolution won't be pushovers though. They're a young team that is playing extremely well right now. KC though has the best road form in the league this year (finishing with just 1 win less than they had at home this year, which also speaks to how poor their home form was). Sporting will need one of their big players to step up and that will likely fall mainly on the shoulders of Zusi. The US national team player needs to step up in the playoffs. Not that he's not stepped up so but he very well need to take this team's offense on his back if the offense continues to struggle. Tomorrow though I think Vermes has learned a bit from last year in Houston he'll be ok with a point, and if KC do concede he's not going to throw numbers forward the same way he did last year that led to Houston's second goal.

SKC - 0
NE - 0

Sporting to Play New England in Playoffs

For about 45 minutes, it looked like Sporting KC was potentially going to pick up some silverware. New York and Chicago were level at 1-1 and that would have been enough to give KC the Supporters' Shield. Unfortunately the second half saw New York score four unanswered goals and win 5-2 to give themselves their first trophy in club history.

The result means that Sporting KC finishes as the second seed in the Eastern Conference. On one hand it's a blessing in disguise for Sporting KC as Sporting's playoff kryptonite, Houston, is the four seed and will host Montreal. They'll play New York if they win. Sporting instead will get the New England Revolution.

The Revolution will host the first leg this coming weekend. Gillette Stadium is apparently fully booked, as the Patriots play at home on Sunday the 3rd, and the University of Massachusetts play Saturday afternoon. That means the playoff game will be sandwiched between the two football games and we'll have lots of football markings on the field. Tickets for the game Saturday are being sold with the start time looking to be 8pm Eastern time, 7pm Central.

Of the match ups that KC could have, I think this fits best for KC. The way the Revolution plays matches up well with KC. The one x-factor for the Revs though is Juan Agudelo who didn't play in KC's matches against the Revs earlier this year. The way he's played he's going to cause KC some trouble, but on paper, Sporting should be able to take this series.

If you're worried about CCL qualification, Sporting can still qualify by just winning this series. If both Sporting and New York advance to the conference finals, Sporting will qualify for the CCL. The reason for this is that the four US CCL spots go to the Supporters' Shield winner, US Open Cup winner, and the two MLS Cup finalists. So if both KC and NY win and then NY wins the series with KC, they'd get two spots, so one would go to the next team in the single table standings, KC.

A Look Towards the Rest of the Season

With Sporting Kansas City off this weekend from league play, I thought I'd take a look at the rest of the season for Sporting KC and how it looks to shake for KC vs the rest of the team's they're fighting with in the East.

Here is how the East currently stands:

Kansas City currently sits tied for first place in the East on 45 points with Montreal and New York. All three are six points clear of 4th place Philadelphia.

Here's how the East breaks down, starting with Kansas City.

Sporting KC - 45 points - 8 games left (4 home, 4 away)
Home - 9/17 vs Real Esteli (CCL), 9/27 vs Philadelphia, 10/18 vs DC, 10/23 vs Olimpia (CCL)
Away - 9/21 at Toronto, 10/5 at Columbus, 10/9 at Houston, 10/26 at Philadelphia
Average PPG of opponents - 1.11

KC has the fewest home games in league play of any team in the East, with just 2 left. They also have two Champions' League games to worry about. Of the teams in the East though, KC has the easiest schedule, with the teams KC is facing averaging 1.11 points per game. KC also has a little luxury in their CCL group, not only with both games at home but having taken three points in both of their road games puts them in a very good position for advancing.

Montreal - 45 points - 10 games left (5 home, 5 road)
Home - 9/14 vs Columbus, 9/21 vs Vancouver, 9/24 vs Heredia (CCL), 10/12 vs New England, 10/19 vs Philadelphia.
Away - 9/17 at San Jose (CCL), at Chicago 9/28, 10/4 at Houston, 10/16 at LA, 10/26 at Toronto
Average PPG of opponents - 1.3

The Impact have played the few league games of any team in the league, they still have 8 league games left, but they also have two Champions League games left during the final month and a half of the regular season. That will put them in a fairly congested schedule late this season. Starting Saturday, Montreal starts a stretch of 4 games in 11 days. Three of those four games are at home, but they have a cross country flight to play San Jose.

New York - 45 points - 6 games left (4 home, 2 road)
Home - 9/14 vs Toronto, 9/22 vs Dallas, 10/5 vs New England, 10/27 vs Chicago
Away - 9/29 at Seattle, 10/20 at Houston
Average PPG of opponents - 1.35

New York doesn't have the extra league games that Montreal and KC have so their stretch run is less congested. They also have just two away games left. The down side is that they have the second toughest remaining schedule PPG wise of the eight teams I looked at.

Philadelphia - 39 points - 6 games left (3 home, 3 away)
Home - 9/14 vs Houston, 10/5 vs Toronto, 10/26 vs KC
Away - 9/27 at KC, 10/12 at DC, 10/19 at Montreal
Average PPG of opponents - 1.27

Half of Philadelphia's remaining six games are against teams that are currently tied for first place in the East. Two of those three are on the road, traveling to KC and Montreal, while hosting KC to end the season.
Those will be tough match ups for the Union and they'll need to take advantage of their other three games, especially the Houston game especially with the Dynamo only two points back, but currently sitting outside the playoffs.

New England - 37 points - 7 games left (3 home, 4 away)
Home - 9/21 vs DC, 9/28 vs Houston, 10/19 vs Columbus
Away - 9/14 at Chicago, 10/5 at New York, 10/12 at Montreal, 10/27 at Columbus
Average PPG of opponents - 1.26

The Revolution have quietly worked themselves into a playoff position right now. They have more games left to catch and pass Philadelphia, but do have to travel more. Like Philadelphia, they have two trips to teams currently tied for first in the East traveling to New York and Montreal on consecutive weekends.

Houston - 37 points - 9 games left (5 home, 4 away)
Home - 9/21 vs Chivas, 9/25 vs W Connection (CCL), 10/4 vs Montreal, 10/9 vs KC, 10/20 vs New York
Away - 9/14 at Philadelphia, 9/28 at New England, 10/24 at Arabe Unido (CCL), 10/27 at DC
Average PPG of opponents - 1.3

Houston has seven league games and two CCL games left this season. The certainly have the chance to make up plenty of ground in the table, of their seven remaining league games, five of them are against teams ahead of them in the table, including hosting all three teams at the top of the East in consecutive home games from 10/4 through 10/20.

Chicago - 36 points - 7 games left (3 home, 4 away)
Home - 9/14 vs New England, 9/28 vs Montreal, 10/19 vs Toronto
Away - 9/21 at Columbus, 10/4 at DC, 10/12 at Dallas, 10/27 at New York
Average PPG of opponents - 1.24

Chicago has a good chance to make up ground in the race. Not only do they have a few games against the bottom teams in the conference, at DC and vs Toronto, but they also have the chance to catch teams ahead of them with games against New England, Montreal, and New York.

Columbus - 32 points - 6 games left (3 home, 3 away)
Home - 9/21 vs Chicago, 10/5 vs KC, 10/27 vs New England
Away - 9/14 at Montreal, 9/29 at Dallas, 10/19 at New England
Average PPG of opponents - 1.48

The Crew have the toughest stretch of any of the teams I've listed here. Each team that Columbus play for the rest of the season currently have more points than they do. They're really going to need to have a very good run of form if they are going to climb into the playoffs this year.

CONCLUSION - While KC has the fewest home games of any team left, they still have a very good chance of getting a top seed, or finishing in the top two. Montreal is going to have their hands full with eight league games left, plus having two CCL games and needing to probably win both to guarantee their advancement to the knockout stages. New York with their games at home will be tough to keep pace with for KC, even though Sporting has the "easier" schedule. For the other playoff teams, Philadelphia is going to have the hardest time I think, Houston plays all three top teams, but at home, where they've had a fairly decent record, unlike KC handed them their first loss. I rarely ever bet against Dominic Kinnear when it comes to making the playoffs.