New England Soccer Today

K.C. Disaster-piece

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – In a disaster of epic proportions, the Revolution were pounded for five goals as a spirited Sporting Kansas City side staked a 5-0 victory to earn a U.S. Open Cup tournament berth Wednesday night at the Blue Valley District Activities Complex.

The goals came early and often for the home side, as Chance Myers (9′, 19′) and C.J. Sapong (24′, 88′) each netted a brace while Aurelien Collin added one in the 81st minute. K.C. keeper Eric Kronberg stopped three shots to keep the sheet clean for K.C.

With a reserve-laden starting XI for its second consecutive U.S. Open Cup match, the Revolution had hoped that its second-choice side could repeat the success it saw when it took a 3-2 victory over D.C. United on April 26th.

However, that hope didn’t last long. In the 9th minute, Omar Bravo attacked down the left flank and sent dangerous cross into the area where Myers met it and sent it into the net for the early lead.

From there, it quickly became a Sporting K.C. clinic, as they exploited the left flank, where midfielder-turned-right back Ryan Kinne was repeatedly burned by Bravo.

Ten minutes after his initial strike, Myers collected another when he pounced on a rebound in front of Bobby Shuttleworth and put it through to double the hosts’ lead.

Already down 2-0 before 20 minutes, the Revs searched for an answer – anything to dampen their opponents’ hot start.

But the Revs failed to regroup and minutes later, coughed up another goal when the familiar face of Seth Sinovic pushed up and passed ahead to C.J. Sapong, who tapped it through to add to make it a three-goal K.C.cushion.

With the wind and rain wreaking havoc on their form, the Revs hoped to find salvation on set pieces. In the 35th minute, Andrew Sousa launched a series of corner kicks, but his teammates failed to push one through.

It did not get any better for the Revs in the second half. Attacking against the driving rain, New England watched its crosses die as the elements refused to cooperate with the Revs comeback ambitions.

Leaving little on the table, any attacks generated left the club woefully exposed in the back. Shuttleworth stopped a pair of shots from Ryan Smith and Graham Zusi after the hour, giving the Revs some measure of success somewhere on the pitch.

Although K.C. already had a healthy serving of goals on the evening, it was clear that three wasn’t nearly enough for them.

In the 81st minute, Collin nodded a header from Smith into the net while Sapong added another seven minutes later to reward the hearty 1,228 home supporters who braved the conditions with a thrashing they will not soon forget.

Meanwhile, the Revs, who experienced travel difficulties en route to Kansas due to the destructive storms that terrorized the Midwest earlier this week, will have to rush back to Foxborough and ready themselves for Saturday night’s showdown against Western Conference-leading Los Angeles.

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