Two Points Ejected

Rajko Lekic gave the New England Revolution a 1-0 halftime lead, but sloppy defending caught up to the Revs and a late red card to A.J. Soares opened the door for an 89th minute equalizer from Teal Bunbury, preventing the Revs from securing a much needed victory on Saturday night at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Lekic's fourth goal of the season wasn't enough for the Revs to win on Saturday. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

The Revolution (4-9-9, 21 points) skirted disaster on several occasions as they were caught out on counter attacks and allowed dangerous crosses to roll in front of goal, only to be saved by last ditch tackles and poor finishing from Kansas City (6-6-9, 27 points).

Their luck would run out in the 82nd minute, however, as a clearance from Kansas City was mishit by Revolution defender Darrius Barnes and headed back towards the Revolution net, setting up a chase between Soares and C.J. Sapong. Sapong used his pace to quickly close the gap, but Soares slid in to kick the ball away just outside the box, taking out Sapong in the process. Referee Terry Vaughn immediately issued Soares a red card, leaving the Revs down a man the rest of the match.

Kansas City would fail to take advantage of the dangerous set piece from that foul, but they would finally score seven minutes later. Substitute Omar Bravo got forward into the left side of the box and, surrounded by three defenders, attempted to poke the ball towards goal. His effort deflected off a defender and fell to fellow substitute Bunbury, who directed it into the net from close range.

The Revs had originally taken the lead thanks to some poor defending on the other end. The Kansas City defense allowed a long Matt Reis goal kick to bounce and find Lekic, who beat the Sporting defense’s offside trap. Lekic ran in on goal and slotted a shot just inside the far post for his fourth goal of the season.

New England made a pair of changes to the line-up that tied the Colorado Rapids last weekend, moving Darrius  Barnes to replace the suspended Chris Tierney at left back and slotting Franco Coria in at centerback. The visitors were forced to make another change in just the 34th minute when rookie Stephen McCarthy left injured and was replaced by Kenny Mansally.

Shalrie Joseph threatened the Kansas City net in the 9th minute after getting the ball from Benny Feilhaber. Joseph played a quick give-and-go with Lekic and found himself in space at the top of Sporting’s box. Joseph unleashed a low shot, but saw his effort go wide of the net.

Two minutes later it was Sporting with a chance, but Sapong’s shot from just outside the box was saved by Matt Reis.

Kansas City had their first great chance to equalize after Lekic’s goal in the 64th minute when quick break found Jeferson in space in the right side of the box. The Brazilian Designated Player took a shot towards the near post, but missed wide of the net.

A couple minutes later it was Sapong with another great chance to equalize. With the Revs again under pressure, Sapong beat the team’s offside trap to get alone in on goal. One-on-one with Reis, Sapong attempted to send a shot just inside the post, but Reis blocked his effort with an impressive kick save.

Bunbury would eventually break through assuring Kansas City would extend their unbeaten run to 13 games. The Revs are now unbeaten in their last three, but are still far out of the playoff picture.