Turns out the solution to the Wizards finishing troubles was sitting on their bench the entire time.
Birahim Diop, who replaced the suspended Teal Bunbury at center forward, scored a first half brace and Kei Kamara and Jack Jewsbury added goals in the second half to pace Kansas City to a 4-1 victory against New England on Saturday night in front of a sell-out crowd at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Game Highlights:
The win lifts the Wizards (6-9-5, 23 points) past the Revolution (6-11-3, 21 points) in the Eastern Conference standings as both teams officially reached the two-thirds mark of the 2010 season. New England dropped its second straight after losing to Chicago on Wednesday.
Diop, who was making his first MLS start since the 2002 season, got the Wizards on the board in the 16th minute. With New England playing for the offside trap, Kamara chipped a ball behind the visitors' backline that Diop ran onto and calmly slotted past onrushing goalkeeper Matt Reis and inside the near post.
Amazingly, the Senegalese striker, who spent last season playing amateur soccer for FDR United in New York City, wasn’t finished yet.
Just 11 minutes after scoring his first career goal, Diop got his second, rising above Revolution defender Kevin Alston at the back post to nod Kamara’s cross past Reis. It marked the first time since June 10 that the Wizards have scored more than one goal in a game.
Despite facing an early road deficit, New England fought back through Kenny Mansally in the 37th minute to make the score line 2-1. Khano Smith found space on the left flank and split the Wizards central defenders with a pass that Mansally trapped and hit on the volley before the ball took a deflection off KC defender Jimmy Conrad and past helpless goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen.
New England lost Kevin Alston to a left hamstring strain two minutes later, and both sides settled into a midfield battle before Kansas City put the game away for good with two goals 20 minutes into the second half.
Just minutes after Revolution defender Cory Gibbs missed the first of two good scoring chances in the second half, Kamara extended the Wizards lead in the 65th minute. Diop settled the ball on the right wing and slid a pass across the face of the goal for the Wizards' leading scorer to side foot past Reis for his eighth tally of the season.
Jack Jewsbury replaced Diop a minute later and, ironically, it was Jewsbury who would score the Wizards' fourth just three minutes into his shift, passing the ball into a open net after pressure by winger Ryan Smith forced Reis to come off his line.
Jewsbury narrowly missed his own brace in the 79th minute when Davy Arnaud played him in on goal only for Reis to smother the shot.
The loss moved New England to 1-8-1 on the road this season while Kansas City is now 5-3-3 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Scoring Summary:
KC -- Birahim Diop 1 (Kei Kamara 1, Craig Rocastle 2) 16
KC -- Birahim Diop 2 (Kei Kamara 2) 27
NE -- Kenny Mansally 3 (Khano Smith 1) 37
KC -- Kei Kamara 8 (Birahim Diop 1, Ryan Smith 8) 65
KC -- Jack Jewsbury 2 (unassisted) 69
Misconduct Summary:
NE -- Shalrie Joseph (caution; Reckless Foul) 44
NE -- Sainey Nyassi (caution; Reckless Tackle) 74
New England Revolution -- Matt Reis, Kevin Alston (Emmanuel Osei 39), Darrius Barnes, Cory Gibbs, Sainey Nyassi, Shalrie Joseph, Kenny Mansally (Zack Schilawski 78), Pat Phelan (Chris Tierney 78), Khano Smith, Marko Perovic, Ilija Stolica.
Substitutes Not Used: Jason Griffiths, Roberto Linck, Seth Sinovic, Bobby Shuttleworth.
Kansas City Wizards -- Jimmy Nielsen, Roger Espinoza, Jimmy Conrad, Shavar Thomas, Michael Harrington, Davy Arnaud, Stephane Auvray, Craig Rocastle (Graham Zusi 78), Kei Kamara, Birahim Diop (Jack Jewsbury 66), Ryan Smith (Chance Myers 85).
Substitutes Not Used: Korede Aiyegbusi, Matt Besler, Jonathan Leathers, Eric Kronberg.
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee's Assistants: Brian Poeschel, Anthony Vasoli
4th Official: Tony Russo
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Sunny and 89 degrees
