The New England Revolution traveled to LiveSTRONG Park in the American Heartland to take on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night, and left battered and beaten. Kansas City routed the Revs 3-0 behind goals from Graham Zusi, CJ Sapong, and Kei Kamara.
Lee Nguyen and Saer Sene were granted their first MLS starts, and in Sene's case, his MLS debut. Unfortunately, things went south quickly for the Revs when Stephen McCarthy was shown a straight red card in the 14th minute. Referee Silviu Petrescu adjudged him to have denied CJ Sapong a clear goalscoring opportunity with a shirt tug, but replays of the incident leave some controversy as to whether it was really a clear chance and whether it warranted a dismissal.
After the red card incident, New England failed to stamp their impact on the match and Kansas City took over. Graham Zusi scored first off of good service from Kei Kamara. Kamara himself made it 2-0 in the 38th minute, putting away his own rebound after a Seth Sinovic cross was parried away by Matt Reis.
The Revs came out for the second half having brought on Ryan Guy for Kelyn Rowe, but it made little difference. CJ Sapong finished a Sinovic lay-off in the 47th minute to raise SKC's advantage to 3-0, and Kansas City never looked back from there.
New England managed a few decent chances as the match went on, but only forced a few nervy saves from Jimmy Nielsen. Diego Fagundez made his season debut as a substitute, and Jeremiah White made his MLS debut late in the match. Lee Nguyen and Clyde Simms were standout performers for the Revs.
For more on the New England Revolution, visit SB Nation's Revs blog, The Bent Musket.