With Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City, the New England Revolution have now officially gone a calendar year without a win on the road.
The odds were stacked against the Revolution as they went into this game without three of their players, Antonio Delamea and Xavier Kouassi due to their red cards against Atlanta and Cody Cropper who was on the bench after injuring his thigh late in the Atlanta game.
A good start
The Revolution got off to a fantastic start, opening the scoring in the fourth minute. Teal Bunbury hit a volley from right outside that found its way into the back of the Kansas City net thanks to a freak deflection off a Sporting defender. However, this dream start would not last long.
A turn for the worst
All the momentum the Revolution gained from their early opening goal was lost in the ninth minute, when new signing and former Sporting attacker Krisztián Németh elbowed Graham Zusi in the face. The foul was not called initially, but after the referee consulted the VAR, he elected give Németh a red card.
This was the third time a Revolution player was sent off after a VAR review in their last two games.
Sporting wasted no time capitalizing on their man advantage. Former Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber fired the ball on goal, forcing Revolution keeper Brad Knighton to make a save. However, he sent the ball right out to Gerso, who volleyed the ball into the net from six yards out to draw Sporting level.
As the halftime whistle approached, the teams were still deadlocked at one but Sporting broke the tie right at the death. Gerso sent a low cross into the Revolution box that managed to evade all the defenders, that was finished by a diving Diego Rubio.
Falling deeper into the hole
The Revolution made one change at half time, bringing on Daigo Kobayashi for Chris Tierney in an attempt to push for an equalizer, however this was a futile move.
In the 57th, the Revolution went down 3-1 after an unlucky bounce. Feilhaber fired a long-range shot from outside the box. Knighton parried it onto the post, but the rebound bounced to a wide open Diego Rubio, who fired it into the empty net, making the score 3-1.
Kansas City continued to apply their advantage, controlling the possession for the rest of the game but the game ended at 3-1. This win preserved Kansas City’s perfect record at home.
Looking ahead
The Revolution remain in eight place in the Eastern Conference despite tonight’s loss, but found themselves six points out of the final playoff spot. Both the seventh place Montreal Impact and 6th place New York Red Bulls both have a game in hand on the Revolution.
The Revolution will be without Németh for their home clash against Toronto FC on Saturday, Sept. 25th. Kick off at Gillette is at 5 p.m. After this clash, the Revolution travel to Orlando to play Orlando City Wednesday September 27th. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
