Sporting Kansas astonishingly came from behind to beat 10-men New England Revolution 3-1 at Children's Mercy Park. Gerso Fernandes (16'), and Diego Rubio (45', 57) were on target for Sporting Kansas City. Although the Revolution started well in the early minutes and went on to open the scoring in the fourth minute thanks to a Teal Bunbury's fine finish. A few minutes later Gerso Fernandes found the equalizer for the hosts. Later in the second half, Peter Vermes' men capitalized on New England's deficit on the field when Krisztian Nemeth was given a straight red card.
The home team piled up pressure on New England's half and in the process, they scored two goals in the span of twelve minutes to increase the tally to 3-1 at full-time.
Sporting Kansas is second with forty-four points, while New England Revolution is eighth with thirty-five points. Here's a quick summary of the match.
Sporting Kansas City outlook
Starting XI and individual performance points: Goalkeeper - Tim Melia (six points). Defender - Graham Zusi (7.34), Matt Besler (6.55), Ike Opara (7.57), Seth Sinovic (6.42). Midfielder - Jimmy Medranda (6.30)Ilie Sánchez (6.52), Benny Feilhaber (6.75). Forward - Gerso Fernandes (8.22), Diego Rubio (8.16), Latif Blessing (6.48). Used substitutes - Soony Saad (six points), Cristian Lobato (six points), Kévin Oliveira (six points).
Team's strength and weakness: Sporting Kansas was effective at setting up goalscoring chances from the flanks and long strikes. They were solid in front of goal. However, Peter Vermes' men were often caught offside and were aggressive in their tackles.
Style of play: Sporting KC held more possession on Revolution's half, favored long shots, short passes and largely attacked from the right side.
New England Revolution outlook
Starting XI and individual performance points: Goalkeeper - Brad Knighton (5.54). Defender - Andrew Farrell (6.13), Claude Dielna (six points), Benjamin Angoua (6.85), Chris Tierney (5.70). Midfielder - Gershon Koffie (6.39), Scott Caldwell (six points), Lee Nguyen (six points), Krisztián Németh (5.20).
Forward - Kei Kamara (6.35), Teal Bunbury (7.10). Used substitutes - Daigo Kobayashi (6.18), Juan Agudelo (6.40), Diego Fagundez (6.49).
Team's strength and weakness: Jay Heaps created goal bound chances through individual efforts and long shot situations. In their weaknesses, They were aggressive in tackling, often lost possession and gave away lots of free kicks within their box.
Style of play: New England Revolution favored long shots and long thrusts.
Man of the Match
Sporting KC striker Gerso Fernandes was the Man of the Match. He did score a goal and provided an assist. Overall, he completed forty-nine touches.
Upcoming fixtures
Sporting Kansas City will once again play host to struggling DC United on Saturday 23 September. The same day, New England Revolution welcomes Toronto FC.
