Moral victories aren't worth anything in the standings, but Sporting Kansas City are showing their first hints of a turnaround despite taking four straight losses for the first time since 2011.
“No doubt, it was a very good performance by us,” manager Peter Vermes told reporters in a conference call after Saturday night's 2-1 away loss to the New York Red Bulls. “I thought we took the game to them. That was more of us than the last three games. So from that perspective, it was a good step in the right direction – and we also created a lot of chances, which was very good as well.
“With a little luck here or there, we could easily have been equal or even ahead.”
One concrete positive is that for the first time over the course of the streak, Sporting didn't concede multiple goals within a single-digit span of match minutes (although halftime divided New England's first two goals in Wednesday's 3-1 away loss to the Revolution).
They conceded early on Bradley Wright-Phillips' 11th-minute penalty, his 21st tally of the season, after center back Matt Besler – playing with a broken bone in his left hand, an injury sustained in Wednesday's match – brought the MLS Golden Boot leader down in the box.
But New York didn't find a second until Thierry Henry's rocket into the upper left corner in the 52nd minute – and Sporting answered almost immediately, on Dom Dwyer's scissor kick two minutes later.
It was the 18th goal of the year for the English center forward, matching Preki's club record from MLS' inaugural season in 1996.
After the match, Vermes said he wasn't worried – “and I'm not worried,” he added – that his club would once again concede in bunches against the Red Bulls.
“We've always taken pride in defending,” he said. “It's not just one guy. It's every guy on every roll of the ball. From that perspective, that's always going to be high on our priority list every time we step inside the white lines. Tonight, it wasn't really pride – it was more of a situation where we got back to playing the way we do.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
