In the early goings of their match against Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday, it looked as if the New England Revolution might cruise through their 10th straight game without a loss.
An 11th-minute goal from Juan Agudelo, his fourth of the season, had the visitors rolling, but soon after came the close calls, the near misses, the woodwork – and missed opportunities for the Revs quickly turned in the hosts’ favor.
“I think we all kind of sensed that you’ve got to put your chances away against Kansas City, especially here,” said New England coach Jay Heaps following his team’s 4-2 loss.
With three games over an eight-day span, Heaps shuffled the lineup and the product, especially on the defensive end, was not a winning hand.
A 10-minute span in the first half saw Sporting KC wrestle the lead into their possession with a nice turnaround strike by Dom Dwyer in the box in the 29th minute, followed by a quality headed goal by Krisztian Nemeth off a free kick from Benny Feilhaber.
Three minutes before halftime, Sporting grabbed a firm hold on the match’s momentum when Jose Goncalves was called for a foul on Dwyer in the Revs penalty box, and Feilhaber buried the ensuing penalty kick to make it 3-1.
“I’m always in a disagreement with a penalty-kick call,” said Heaps. “I thought it was really soft, but I haven’t seen it on film. I just didn’t like the way the momentum swung the calls. That’s probably where I was most upset, not just one call.”
Sporting KC wasted no time in plunging the dagger after the break, as Jacob Peterson beat Kevin Alston to a through ball on the right side, then as the rest of the blue jerseys converged, fed it across to Nemeth for the brace just 20 seconds into the second half.
“I thought we came in at halftime and had a really good talk,” said Heaps. “Unfortunately, that fourth goal just really took a punch to the gut.”
Despite a 66th-minute goal from Scott Caldwell and some decent play off the bench from Teal Bunbury and Charlie Davies, who subbed on in the 54th minute, New England simply didn’t have their best stuff on this night.
“I think tonight we lacked we lacked the composure,” said Heaps. “We’ve got to get back to where we’re playing at our best and we’re composed. In the end we learn from it.”
