Kei Kamara must have wondered if he would ever get the chance to make up for his now-famous goal-line flub.
He didn’t have to wonder for long. The opportunity came in the 89th minute at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Saturday night with the Wizards trailing 2-1 against the Fire.
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The conditions were the same: wet and slippery. The situation was the same: ball all alone on the goal line and begging for a touch.
“Same weather and everything,” Kamara said, “but different shoes.”
This time Kamara was wearing blue cleats instead of white. And this time he made no mistake about the finish, taking a deep breath and an extra split-second to stroke in the sitter that gave Kansas City a highly entertaining 2-2 tie against Chicago.
It also provided sweet redemption for the young striker after his blunder became an Internet phenomenon in the wake of an incredible miss against the Galaxy on April 24. It was Kamara’s second goal of the game and fifth of the season.
“It’s kind of a blessing to really have that do-over not even a month apart,” Kamara said. “I said it before; it’s a game I love to play. When something happens, I just let it go.”
And while Kamara found redemption in his game-tying finish, Kansas City’s back line couldn’t bounce back from its own disappointing performance against D.C. United 10 days ago. The Wizards dug themselves a 2-0 hole to come back from after Pablo Escobar kept Marco Pappa onside to facilitate Julio Martinez’s opener, and Brian McBride snuck behind Escobar for the Fire’s second goal just after halftime.
The goals were the first two that manager Peter Vermes’ side has given up at CAB this season and also point to a growing issue in the back that has helped keep the Wizards winless in five-straight matches.
“Both situations were very soft on our part in the way we reacted,” Vermes said. “I can tell you right now that will not become a theme. That is something we will rectify very, very quickly.”
Of course, Vermes also promised to rectify Kansas City’s sudden defensive inconsistencies following the United game. But even with plenty of practice time devoted to eliminating those fatal mistakes, the Wizards hiccups against the Fire cost them another chance at three points.
“We got to get better about the mistakes in the back as a team,” defender Roger Espinoza said. “We’re learning. We have a young defense and new players on this team. Now, we just have to move forward.”
Pushing Kansas City forward in the second half were Kamara and Ryan Smith, who was unlucky not to score himself. Smith seemed to find an extra gear in the second 45 minutes, feeding Kamara for the Wizards’ opener and forcing a couple spectacular stops from Chicago goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra.
“We showed good character out there today,” Smith said. “Probably should have won, but we were two-nil down. It’s not easy, especially in those conditions.”
But despite the rain and the reoccurrence of more costly defensive errors, it was the Wizards reaction to being down that ensured the night ended with points rather than a third-straight loss.
“One of the things we wanted to see from this team was when we went down some goals, how we would react as a team,” Vermes said. “Obviously, the resiliency of the group to get back in the game was excellent.”
