Revolution 4, Sporting 4: Goals and red cards aplenty

The New England Revolution tied Sporting KC 4-4 in a wild affair on Saturday night.

The Revs opened the scoring in the 18th minute after Scott Caldwell played a through ball to Juan Agudelo. Agudelo offered a centering pass to Juan Fernando Caicedo, who had enough time to spin and shoot while inside the box.

The game returned to level terms in the 33rd minute when Krisztian Nemeth scored against his former team. The goal was assisted by former Rev Kelyn Rowe, who hit a cross-field ball to Graham Zusi. Zusi then played a cross that Nemeth headed home.

The Revs responded quickly, as they regained the lead two minutes later. J. Caicedo got his second of the night when he got on the end of a low cross from Tajon Buchanan.

Buchanan was instrumental in the Revs’ third goal as he beat his defender before playing a cross. J. Caicedo’s miss gave Agudelo an opportunity to make amends for an earlier miss. The striker made good on the chance to score his first of the year.

Sporting KC got a lifeline in the 55th minute when Brandon Bye was shown a red card for his tackle on Gerso Fernandes. Bye was sent to the locker room early for denying of a goal-scoring opportunity.

Gerso was causing trouble again minutes later when he went one-on-one with Buchanan, who was the temporary right back. Buchanan was ruled to have hindered Gerso, which led to a penalty. Felipe Gutierrez stepped up and converted the chance.

The Revs got a penalty of their own in the 66th minute after Sporting was whistled for a handball in the box. Carles Gil’s attempt was saved but the ball wasn’t properly cleared. DeJuan Jones ultimately took advantage of the chaos to give his team a 4-2 lead.

Sporting got one back in the 70th minute when lackluster defending allowed Gutierrez to get his second of the night. The tally was scored soon after a Sporting goal was ruled offside.

Cropper made back-to-back saves in the 72nd minute to keep the score 4-3. He first stopped Nemeth before denying Gerso.

Sporting got an equalizer in the 83rd minute when Nemeth finished Johnny Russell’s corner kick. Nemeth’s glancing header deflected off Jalil Anibaba before settling into the back of the net.

The Revs went down to nine men in 89th minute when Anibaba got a second yellow for a foul on Russell. Soon after, the referee declared there would be seven minutes of stoppage time.

That was enough drama for the night, as both teams got a point. The Revs will now prepare for next Saturday’s meeting with the Philadelphia Union.