Sporting Kansas City’s seven-game unbeaten run was snapped following a 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution on Saturday in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Forward Teal Bunbury scored in the 44th minute to separate the sides and hand Western Conference leaders Sporting KC (5-2-2, 17 points) their fourth straight road loss at Gillette Stadium.
New England (4-2-2, 14 points) jumped to third place in the East with the victory as manager Peter Vermes’ men suffered defeat for the first time since falling on March 4 in their season opener. Despite the setback, Sporting KC ends the month of April four points clear at the top of the Western Conference.
Vermes made one change to his starting lineup from last Friday’s record-setting 6-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC, with Ike Opara reprising his role in central defense after a one-game absence through illness.
Fellow center back and captain Matt Besler notably started his 229th regular season match for the club, moving into sole possession of first place in Kansas City history.
The visitors took just 10 seconds to create their first opportunity of the night.
Midfielder Yohan Croizet ran onto Khiry Shelton’s flick-on header and pelted a volley on the edge of the box, forcing New England goalkeeper Matt Turner into a sprawling near-post save.
The early chance preceded an otherwise pedestrian first half hour, with New England unable to carve out an opening until the 27th minute when Cristian Penilla’s strike that fizzed narrowly over the crossbar.
Goalkeeper Tim Melia intervened crucially three minutes later, racing off his line to smother a deflected cross from the left wing that almost fell to Teal Bunbury near the penalty spot.
Both sides exchanged near misses from long range in the 40th minute. Croizet’s left-footed bomb swerved marginally wide before Gabriel Somi’s sledgehammer missed the upper right corner by a matter of inches.
On the cusp of halftime, New England took a 1-0 lead in auspicious fashion.
Bunbury was initially flagged offside after slotting low past Melia from eight yards, but referee Dave Gantar used video review to overturn the call and award the goal after Sporting KC’s Roger Espinoza was deemed to have poked the ball through to Bunbury.
The play gave Bunbury his fourth goal in five games and his fourth against Sporting KC since leaving Kansas City for New England in 2014.
Neither team mustered a second-half shot attempt until the 62nd minute when Melia sprawled low to corral a speculative shot from Penilla.
Sporting KC went agonizingly close to pulling level less than a minute later, but Johnny Russell’s low drive through traffic was cleared off the goal line by Andrew Farrell.
Melia produced his best save of the match on 67 minutes, diving right at full extension to thwart Wilfried Zahibo’s 22-yard effort.
The stop kept Sporting KC’s deficit at 1-0, allowing Vermes’ side to nearly restore parity in the 84th minute. Shelton’s powerful header off a pinpoint Ike Opara cross had Turner beat but bounced wide of frame.
Sporting KC’s final bid for an equalizer fell to substitute Kharlton Belmar, who entered the evening as the United Soccer League’s leading scorer with seven goals the Swope Park Rangers.
Belmar latched onto a Graham Zusi corner kick in the 94th minute and snapped a header over the bar, effectively serving as the final play of the night.
Next Saturday will see Sporting KC return to Children’s Mercy Park for a showdown with the Colorado Rapids (2-2-2, 8 points) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the Cinco de Mayo matchup are available via SeatGeek.com, and the first 10,000 fans through the stadium gates will receive a Matt Besler bobblehead.
– Story from Sporting KC