Before a raucous crowd decked out in green and blue, everybody from preteens with fake green mustaches to light-blue Darth Vader, Sporting KC showed why they are the favorite to win the Eastern Conference this year.
Reis was the main reason that the Revolution were even in the game — both of Sporting's first two goals were on putbacks, and he stopped a pair of breakaways, albeit the second when CJ Sapong got a bit too cute and tried to dribble around Reis (who kept him from getting back to the ball by holding on to Sapong's jersey like a joey would cling to a mother kangaroo).
In the early stages of the game, there were shades of Sporting's 1-0 season-opening victory over DC United as the home squad failed to convert a number of golden opportunities. The first was a terrible mistake by Reis that nearly led to the first tally of the night. Reis broke out of the box in an attempt to track down a ball more than 20 yards from goal, and when he failed to win possession, midfielder Roger Espinoza launched a 30-yard chip shot as the keeper scrambled to get back into position. The ball soared over Reis' gloves, only to hit the inside of the outside post and bounce away.
But the Sporting attack was relentless, and the pressure broke the Revolution early when defender Stephen McCarthy was given a red card for pulling down Sapong by the shoulders just outside the penalty box. Kansas City got on the board in the 28th minute, when Graham Zusi managed to score from flat on his back. His initial shot after a nifty pass from Kamara was blocked, but Zusi crab-walked and launched a scissors kick just past Reis.
Only 11 minutes later, Sporting was celebrating again. Although Reis stopped an initial shot from Kamara, he banged home the rebound and then showed off his Irish jig dancing skills (alongside teammate CJ Sapong) after grabbing a few green top hats from fans in the Cauldron.
Sporting finished its scoring only two minutes into the second half when Sapong chipped in a sweet cross from former Revs' player (and current Sporting defenseman) Seth Sinovic that left Reis covered in blue confetti. After that, the team was content to hold possession and let Chance Myers (his header off a corner kick in the waning minutes hit the cross bar) and Kamara show off their footwork. It was nice, but nowhere near as sweet as that first half jig.
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