Sporting Kansas City went to Red Bull Arena and became the first team to leave with all three points this season in a 2-0 victory Wednesday night. CJ Sapong and Kei Kamara both found the back of the net in the first twenty minutes to move their team four points ahead of second place Chicago Fire in the Eastern Conference standings.
New York Red Bulls Vs. Sporting Kansas City, 2012 MLS: Sapong, Kamara Lead KC To Huge Road Win
Due to bad weather up and down the east coast of the United States yesterday, the Sporting players and coaching staff didn’t make it to the New York area until close to 1:00 AM EDT this morning. However, judging by the work of Red Bulls supporters, it looked like they were the ones that didn’t get any sleep last night. Before the match they unveiled a large banner that said: “Yo’re Not In Kansas Any More!” Things didn’t get any better.
Sporting wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as New York conceded another early goal. Teemu Tainio was called for a foul outside the penalty area on Graham Zusi. The foul was cheap to give up and well after the ball was shot. Zusi stepped up to take the free kick, and it struck the crossbar. The rebound was played back into the area as the Red Bull defense was ball watching, and Sapong put the ball into the net past Bill Gaudette with a quick turn and shot.
Kamara doubled the lead in the 18th minute heading in a corner kick from Zusi. Wilman Conde didn’t track Kamara into the penalty area, and he had an unmarked header to make it 2-0. Gaudette had no chance at saving this, and Kansas City were not looking back.
Thierry Henry had the opportunity pull one back for New York in the 22nd minute. Marquez stole the ball deep in Sporting territory and played a great ball to Henry. There was only Jimmy Nielsen between Henry and the net, but the Frenchman put his shot into the stands nowhere close to the goal.
Both sides found opportunities during the second half. New York brought on Kenny Cooper for Dax McCarty in the search for some offense. Cooper struggled to get his own offense going early in the second half with his heavy touches. He had a shot blocked that rolled to fellow second half sub Lloyd Sam, but his shot was saved by a diving Nielsen.
Sporting attacked quickly down the other end, but Kamara's header was saved by a sprawling Gaudette. The goalkeeper was out of position due to coming out too far to defend Roger Espinoza, but he recovered in time to make the save.
The match played out with a small fracas between the two sides when Henry and Kamara both jumped to the ground holding their heads after the smallest collision as if someone yelled “HEADSHOT, BOOM!” It was pretty pathetic from both men.
The win is huge for Sporting as we move closer to the end of the MLS season. They’re now four points ahead of Chicago, who do have a game in hand, and five over third place New York. The Red Bulls need to regroup before they go to New England this weekend. They were all over the place tonight and rarely did anything good.
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