Julian Gressel scored in the 74th minute and Atlanta United won for just the second time this season and first in front of the home fans, beating the Colorado Rapids 1-0 at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Darlington Nagbe snatched the ball off substitute Nicolas Mezquida in a dangerous position and dribbled all the way to the byline before sending a cross to Gressel positioned right at the near post, and the German squeezed it in past Tim Howard for the game’s only goal. Colorado, meanwhile, was held to just six shots and Brad Guzan kept them off the scoresheet for just his second clean sheet of the season. Atlanta nearly had another in injury time to kill off the game, but Hector Villalba’s curler came off the far post.
🚨 #GresselMania 🚨
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 27, 2019
What a play by Nagbe. What a goal by Gressel. #ATLvCOL https://t.co/nspBAxn7U5
Sporting KC, meanwhile, looked to be heading to another defeat, having won just one of its previous five matches and without the recently injured Roger Espinoza, but a pair of 2nd half red cards for the visiting New England Revolution changed the game and saw the hosts come from 3-1 down to draw 4-4.
The first half was all New England as Juan Caciedo scored a first-half brace and the visitors led 3-1 at the break, having gone well in front despite less than 30% possession. Sporting KC looked lost, with just one first-half shot on target despite all the possession, and having shipped seven goals over the previous game and a half.
That all turned in the second half after Brandon Bye was sent off for a last-man foul in the 55th minute. Bye was already on a yellow, but the referee issued a straight red after a lazily hit back-pass came his way and he took down a charging Gerso. That turned the game and both Krisztian Nemeth and Felipe Gutierrez bagged braces for the hosts before it was all over. With Jalil Anibaba also sent off for New England deep in the match, Sporting KC pushed for a winner but nothing came and they were forced to settle for a draw. The draw is disappointing for Sporting KC in a vacuum as their winless run pushes to four matches, but it should serve as a confidence booster moving forward without Espinoza for the foreseeable future.
The goalfest continues! @KNemeth_Nemo bags a brace and it's 4-4 in Kansas City! #SKCvNE https://t.co/xQyMaQR4dg
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 28, 2019
Toronto FC fell further off the top of the Eastern Conference as they dropped a 2-1 result to the Portland Timbers on Jeremy Ebobisse’s 70th minute winner. The U.S. international got between Justin Morrow and Chris Mavinga and dove to connect with Sebastian Blanco’s cross, acrobatically heading it in from close range. That proved the decisive moment after Jonathan Osorio and Bill Tuiloma cancelled each other out with first-half goals just two minutes apart.
The win pushed Portland up to 10th as they picked up their second win in a row, but for Toronto, they fell four points off the pace at the top of the Eastern Conference, although they still have two games in hand on the rest of the pack.
🚨DIVING HEADER ALERT! 🚨@kingjebo puts #RCTID in front! #TORvPOR https://t.co/r6T9qtcaGL
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 27, 2019
Full MLS roundup:
NYCFC 1-1 Orlando City
Toronto FC 1-2 Portland Timbers
FC Dallas 0-0 San Jose Earthquakes
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 Philadelphia Union
Atlanta United 1-0 Colorado Rapids
New York Red Bulls 1-0 FC Cincinnati
Houston Dynamo 2-0 Columbus Crew
Sporting KC 1-3 New England Revolution