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MLS Team of the Week: Sporting Kansas City

SportingKCTOY (Getty)

Sporting Kansas City's dismantling of the New England Revolution was a study in how to make full use of a man advantage, as their attack punished the 10-man Revs on their way to a 3-0 drubbing at Livestrong Sporting Park.

In a weekend where not every team that enjoyed a man advantage could make the most of it, Sporting KC provided a textbook example of how to stretch a team open and break down a short-handed side. While some may argue whether Steven McCarthy's red card was even warranted, the reality is Sporting KC was already beginning to assert itself against their opponent.

Kei Kamara and C.J. Sapong helped lead the way, not only providing goals, but also delivering one of the better goal celebrations you will see. The victory was enough to earn SBI's MLS Team of the Week honors.

Here are the highlights from Sporting KC's victory:

There were several good team performances this past weekend in MLS play. Real Salt Lake had no trouble disposing of the New York Red Bulls, and the LA Galaxy easily dismantled D.C. United. The Portland Timbers deserve some credit as well for taking the attack to, and taking a road point from, a good FC Dallas side.

What did you think of Sporting KC's performance? Which team impressed you the most in Week 1?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. KC team of the week?

    Beating up a crap NE side handicapped by a weak very early red card? Should have been 6:0 at least….at home too.

    You don’t pat someone on the back for kicking someone when they’re down, especially when they only do half a job of it!

    Were better candidates this week, in pretty much every other game.

    Seattle, for example, only won by 1 less against TFC, a better team than NE who just knocked off LA and the Sounders never looked in trouble.

    It’s not all about the final score as to who was the best team.

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  2. At first glance I thought the foul was worthy of a red card. After rewinding it and watching it again I’m certain the ref got the call correct. I agree with Chip: McCarthy’s first tug is what earned the red, not the hand fighting afterwards. Without pulling Sapong back, Sapong is away on goal. The replay they showed doesn’t capture the actual foul.

    The referee’s decision doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, but in my opinion it was the correct call.

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  3. It does. For four years the west has been better. It isn’t going to change this season either. Sad thing is that the MLS doesn’t care and keeps making it easier for the east to have a prayer at some silverware. I am just said a second-tier western team no longer can be crowned Eastern Conference Champion. It has been so fun over the years.

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  4. Galaxy absolutely poned DCU. Looked like a half-court basketball game. They only gave up the one goal on a quick restart because they were all still high-giving each other after Sarvas’ goal.

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  5. Although their win was less convincing, the Dynamo should get a special mention for already matching their away wins from last year.

    If they can finish this early season road trip with a respectable amount of points it’ll be big. Imagine last year’s SKC with a better start to the season (albeit to a lesser extent b/c the road trip is shorter).

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  6. Most of the East West games were home games for the western teams. Philly sucks at the moment, but until Chicago, Houston, SKC, NYRB, and DCU actually host western conference teams it’s hard to tell how things will shape up.

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  7. Bunch of haters on here.

    All I know is seeinge that kind of atmosphere in KC after being a soccer wasteland for so long is nothing short of amazing. Bravo I say.

    The Revs could use just a bit of that at their home games, but as it is now, I’d put them below Dallas and Colorado in terms of home support.

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  8. Here’s a stat for you: Only 2 Eastern Conference teams have won a game so far this season, and one of those teams was from the West like a year and half ago (Houston). Not sure if that means much so early in the season though…

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  9. Why would the rules change from the 1st minute to the 70th minute? He was the last defender and he took down a man clearly denying a goa scoring opportunity. That’s a red card, it was a simple and correct call.

    If you’re looking for subjective interpretations of the rules try ice dancing.

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  10. Are props allowed in celebrations? If the rules are anything like the NFL, celebration (to an extent) is allowed, but not with props.

    He may have been trying to prevent them from getting carded with the hats?

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  11. By the time both players were grabbing each other, McCarthy had already committed the foul that earned the red. He was grabbing Sapong as Sapong was running past him and playing the ball. McCarthy held on to prevent Sapong from getting a second touch. At this point, Sapong’s arms go up to try to fight through the hold instead of going down easy. If you want to discourage flopping, you can’t penalize Sapong there by not calling the denial of a goal scoring opportunity.

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  12. It should have been a yellow, but hardly the worst call. It COULD be a red… no need to complain about every slightly questionable call.

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  13. I’m guessing that was part of the act.

    And you do realize that Zusi is the one who got a yellow card for excessive celebration after his goal, right?

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  14. 1) That was a really harsh red that early in the game. I could see that being red at 70min or beyond, but that is too much to completely alter a game
    2) Loved how Zusi ripped the stupid hats off Sapong/Kamara. Get that sh*t out of there, keep playing the game

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  15. You win a game to an inferior club playing a man up and are voted team of the week? I guess the bar is set low for this title. Being best in the East is like winning a church bake sale.

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  16. They could have done a cattle stampede before the match 😉 Anyone that shows up in a cow costume gets to do a quick race up the pitch. That was such a random “event” during their first game where the cow ran on the field and got the ball in the net for the first goal, but maybe they dont want to encourage on field antics 😉

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  17. I saw that stat… ridiculous, but awesome.

    I’m glad my Dynamo won last year in the Eastern Conference Championship, but I think SKC would have had a good run in the CCL.

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  18. You mean stronger, weaker man? McCarthy clearly outmuscled Sapong there.

    Not a Revs fan bt I agree with Pancho & Rsltillidie.

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  19. Are you kidding me. Watch the replay, and you will see both players were grabbing each other. I was surprised it was even called a foul let alone a red card. A true gift from the referee.

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  20. A stronger, and faster man was through on goal and the only defender able to get close pulled him back. You can’t do that

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  21. Poor Matt Reis. A really good goalkeeper squandered on a crap team. I know they were down to 10 men, but not only was that the worst defensive showing that I’ve seen in a long time, but the Revs look like they were moving in slo-mo. It’s going to be (another) long season Revs’ fans. Sorry to say it.

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