WHO: Revolution (3-2-2) vs. Sporting Kansas City (5-2-1)
WHERE: Gillette Stadium
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
TV/RADIO: MyTV38 (WSBK)/WBZ-FM 98.5 HD2/WMVX AM 1570 (Portuguese)
WHAT’S UP: It’s league match No. 8 of 34 for The Boys In Blue, and No. 9 for their guests on Route 1 tonight. The Revolution (fourth in the East) are on the heels of a 2-2 come-from-behind draw at Columbus last weekend, while SKC (first in the West) have not lost since the opener, and put six past nine-man Vancouver last Friday night. It’s a big one for New England as it tests its mettle against one of the top teams in Major League Soccer.
Sean here at Gillette. It's a gorgeous, nearly-cloudless early evening along Route 1. The matchday squads are now up. Thanks for joining BSJ tonight.
Your match blog is here. The first half is underway; updates will be periodic. Sporting Kansas City gets us started, headed toward The Fort.
1' Russell, he is dangerous, and his first touch is a shot on goal that Turner parries.
3' Agudelo with a little lay-off to Caicedo, and his shot goes into Melia's gut.
4' Caicedo drives into the penalty area and he goes down, but referee David Gantar waves off the penalty.
6' Zusi free kick goes toward the far post, but Turner confidently punches it out of harm's way.
9' Bunbury gets into the box on a deep volley from behind the midway line, but Besler races over as Opara holds Bunbury up and knocks it away.
First ten minutes gone, and this is entertaining so far. Both sides with one shot on goal apiece. Revs haven't gotten into the high press until just now.
14' After Medranda takes Agudelo down, the Revs have a quick re-start on the free kick, and Fagundez lets it fly. It looks like it's going out, but Dielna saves it... and now he's down. Right calf.
16' He's running it off, and as they resume play, Penilla gets cheeky and tries to slip it to Agudelo, but off-line.
18' SKC free kick, and Salloi blazes aside.
20' Shelton drives, fires... Dielna deflects over the line for a corner..... which comes to nothing.
24' Dielna with a dispossession; moves upfield, Revs lose it, but Caicedo comes up with another dispossession.
25' Penilla drives around Opara, Espinoza deflects for a corner... SKC goes on the counter, and Russell is then dispossessed.
27' Penilla with a drive from 10 yards, aiming for the Upper 90... and it goes just wide.
29' Russell drives in on a short corner that goes right at Turner... the Revs counter once with Farrell losing possession, but the Revs get it back and counter again with Fagundez trying to find Penilla... but the Ecuadorian is flagged for offside.
30' Somi with a brilliant run after the Revolution cycle through the midfield; he tries to find Bunbury, but the SKC back line pounces and Besler eventually clears.
Mid 35' Farrell feeds Agudelo after some nice build-up, but he mid-hits and fires off-target.
Mid 37' A nifty bit of one-touch football between Zahibo, Bunbury, and Penilla.
Mid 39' After a short corner, it's Caicedo who takes the shot after high-playing Anibaba and Dielna get touches near the SKC end line.
41' Almost for Somi. Caicedo with a scuffing cross sees Besler clear it right to Somi, who has a go from 25 yards, missing the Upper 90 by a couple of feet.
44' Cheeky little dispossession by Agudelo, drives in, passes to Fagundez, who then passes to Bunbury, who looks offside... AR raises the flag for offside as Bunbury calmly slots home with Besler racing toward him, but there's a VAR review .... AND THEY ARE GIVING A GOAL.
HT: Teal Bunbury's goal stands following Video Review and @NERevolution lead 1-0 at the half. #NEvSKC https://t.co/31VLucFhtY
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 29, 2018
This evening's #NERevs Starting XI ?? BENCH: Knighton, Tierney, Bye, Delamea, Caldwell, Herivaux, Nemeth pic.twitter.com/Yo34No94EI
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 28, 2018
The XI.
Tune into the pregame show on @FSKansasCity PLUS at 6. #ForGloryForCity #NEvSKC pic.twitter.com/lW2wZ56YeB
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) April 28, 2018
- New England is 17-25-11 all-time against SKC, and are 10-11-6 against them at home. Since Gillette opened in 2001, the Revs have won six of their home meetings, including the last three on Route 1.
- Revolution midfielder Kelyn Rowe (knee) was not listed on the injury report Thursday, and we expect him to be available for selection tonight. EDIT: He's not.
- Should Teal Bunbury score tonight, it will not only be the fourth time he’s scored in the last five matches, but it will also be his fourth goal scored against his former club, SKC (fourth overall selection in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by the then-Wizards). Other former Kansas City players now on the Revolution: Krisztian Nemeth (2015, 10 goals scored, six assists), and Jalil Anibaba (2015, 16 matches; goal, four assists). SKC defender Seth Sinovic was a 2010 MLS SuperDraft selection (25th overall, second round) of the Revolution; he made 20 appearances and 18 starts for The Boys In Blue that year.
- Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes has elected to use a 4-3-3 formation in the club’s first eight matches of the ’18 season, with most of the same personnel, and we’re not expecting him to change that up. With the club fully fit following a couple of injuries, we’re expecting Ike Opara to reclaim his centerback spot after a week’s absence, with U.S. internationals Graham Zusi (right back) and Matt Besler (centerback) on either side of him. Jimmy Medranda would be the left back.
- They are dangerous in attack, with Zusi and Medranda likely to creep up and supplement it. SKC doesn’t have a true striker -- even though Johnny Russell, Khiry Shelton, and Daniel Salloi are marked as forwards, they are more akin to attacking midfielders. Roger Espinoza, Ilie Sanchez, and Yahon Croizet are expected to patrol the midfield.
- Salloi and Espinoza are like New England's Cristian Penilla: quite unselfish. All three are tied for the league lead with four primary assists.
- Russell, who transferred to KC after spending five years and scoring 30 goals at Derby County in England’s second tier, has injected a bit of scoring verve into Sporting so far this year. He’s already at five for the campaign, and the Revolution back line -- particularly the left side -- will have to keep an eye on the Scot to make sure he doesn’t get too much space.
- Our own Tom Benedetto has this to add about tonight’s matchup: “I think physically, KC has an advantage; almost man-to-man, they are faster in most positions, except for Penilla on Zusi and Shelton on (Claude) Dielna.” He also says that this game will be like the matchup against the Crew from last Saturday, with one exception: “SKC is much more responsible in the back than Columbus and they have defenders with more big-game experience. Most matchups favor SKC, though. Croizet, Ilie, and Espinoza work better on the ball than (Luis) Caicedo, (Wilfried) Zahibo, and (Diego) Fagundez. We'll see how well Zahibo and Caicedo (if those are in fact the starters on Saturday) can disrupt SKC’s midfield. I also think SKC will be better on the outside of the pitch when the Revs will be in their own end. Russell will give (Gabriel) Somi issues one-on-one and Salloi's creativity will likely give (Andrew) Farrell issues throughout the night.”
- SKC likes to have possession of the ball, having only trailed in the possession stat once: in a 4-3 win over the Chicago Fire, Sporting had 45.6 percent of the ball.
- SKC’s tally totals: Gutierrez 5, Russell 5, Sanchez 2, Zusi 2, Medranda 2, Salloi 1, Diego Rubio 1, Lobato 1, Croizet 1
- The two sides met back in February as part of the Mobile Mini Sun Cup, and the Revs took that match, 2-1, in Tucson. Kelyn Rowe scored the decisive goal.