New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps
(It was a) good, hard fought match. I thought both teams really wanted the game and it showed. It was pretty wide open early on. For us, I thought we were pretty good at the end of the first half and created chances. We had a chance to at least get a goal. I think they did, as well. Overall, I liked our mentality and I liked how we finished the game.

I think (the first goal) was big for all of us. It was a big moment. Coming off an (opponent) red card last week, we felt we didn’t leave it all on the table to get the three points. I think tonight, it’s funny how you have another chance at it and it looked like we were a little bit more aggressive and we were more aggressive in trying to get the goal.

I think Jerry (Bengtson), we wanted to get a chance. He’s dangerous, he always finds one chance a game, no matter if he plays for 30 minutes or 90 minutes. That was something we were hoping for, to get on that first goal right away. I think he worked pretty hard. I want a little bit more from him tactically in shielding. Bringing in Charlie (Davies), he did. He really grasped what we did this week and I thought Charlie came in and as did our three subs, changed the game.

We wanted to build a team with depth. When I first took over, we wanted to build a team right away, get players who can play. Then we wanted to fill in all the roster spots with depth. I think that’s one thing we’ve gotten better at from top to bottom.

(Last week’s match) was pretty crazy. The last couple of games were pretty intense, but I think anytime you stay in a grind – I thought we grinded it out. We were not perfect by any mean (tonight). I thought we gave the ball away way too much. I thought we made the mistake on the free kick that almost led to their goal, (which) is almost unforgivable at our level. That said, we stayed with it. (Andy) Dorman made an unbelievable run to get back and the guys who were tracking back just fought hard. So even though (Sporting KC’s) player was open for the goal, I thought our players worked hard to at least cause a problem and I think good things happen when you work really hard.

We talk about [who takes penalties] every week. They looked over to me, and I always give them the signal. Lee Ngyuen has been taking them all year really well and I think in a different score line, maybe we give it to a different kicker. But tonight a 1-0 match in the 90th minute, we’re giving it to our natural PK taker.

New England Revolution midfielder Teal Bunbury
Definitely a lot of emotions, but most importantly I’m just excited we were able to get a win. Our performance from the first minute to the last minute I thought was world-class. Everybody was fighting, everybody was putting pressure on them and it feels good to beat the former champs. It feels good to get my first goal and that’s really what I’m happy about. To be honest with you, the performance of the whole squad was unbelievable.

I just saw Diego (Fagundez) had the ball and I wanted to make a run. I didn’t want to be too early when he whipped it across. I don’t even remember what part of the body it hit on me but I knew it hit the back of the net and I was really happy.

It was great for us. We had a great week of training and preparation and a great mindset coming into the game. So I feel for us to keep our cool and to not panic and start pumping balls in the box, but keep possession of the ball, keep it moving and finally we were able to open them up.

The positions are different definitely. When you’re out wide, it’s a lot more where you can get the ball facing defenders, you could get runs in behind and it’s more of just trying to be a nuisance off their full backs. It’s also a lot more defensively tracking back and making sure you’re in the right position. So it’s definitely a different position for me, but, I enjoyed it.

For me a goal’s a goal and I really couldn’t be happier for that. But it’s really the work of the teammates that kept my spirits up through these games, not scoring yet. So this definitely feels good. All glory to god for keeping me strong through this, keeping my knee healthy and just giving me the strength.

No, I don’t think it’s a bit more eagerness today. I feel like every game I want to score, that’s my job so I wouldn’t say it’s a little more eagerness. But I definitely had some chances and probably should’ve done better with those. But, we get a win, big three points for us and still haven’t lost at home, still haven’t conceded a goal at home, it’s great. 

New England Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez
First I saw Lee (Nguyen) give me a good ball and the first thing I was thinking was get a good cross in. Teal (Bunbury) made a good run and I’m very happy for him getting his first goal of the season.

I saw an opening near post but the goalie closed up really good so the only thing I had was a chip shot that hit the defenders hand. What else can I say?

Yes, it is important to have a go-to penalty kicker, he hasn’t missed all year and it’s good for the team. It’s important for us winning 2-0 at home and at the end of day it doesn’t matter who takes the penalty kick as long as we execute.

I felt like I was doing a lot of defensive work early on, but at the end of the day a win is a win and that’s the only thing that matters. I think after the red card I got more involved in the game.

Yes, (Aurelien Collin) got me pretty good, I don’t know if it was a red or a yellow because I haven’t seen the replay yet, but he definitely tripped me. I was trying to avoid it and the ref thought it was a red so he must have seen something.

I don’t know about that. I think people know what I can do now, and I just have to do more to get open. More opportunities will come my way if I just keep working hard.

Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes
The game wasn’t a 2-0 game by any means. I thought that we had very good run of play. I thought our possession was good away from home. I have to say I think the red card was extremely harsh. I don’t think it was a tackle on the field. There were a few other ones that could have been on both sides of the ball, but there was nothing in that tackle that I think warranted a red card. I think it changes the game a little bit, but I thought we managed the situation all the way up until the first goal. But definitely it’s not a 2-0 game, no doubt.

I thought we were getting in behind their defense. I thought we were finding all their channels and getting behind them. I thought we had good possession playing away from home and I think the way we were playing was good. I thought we had some very good chances. They had one good chance in the first half. After that, I thought we had some very good chances in and around their box. Again, definitely not a 2-0 game.

(Dom Dwyer) was good. At times, he was a little bit on his own; tough to hold the ball up, but I thought he was good. He made it difficult for them, didn’t make it easy, for sure. We had a couple of really good counterattacks against them that we probably should have found the back of the net on. But I can’t say anything about our effort or our play. I thought it was good.

(Toni Dovale) actually got sick. I thought he was good when he was in there. It was a game for us to see how he would start getting involved in the pace of a Major League Soccer game. I thought for some times that he was on the ball, he was very good. He found some good through balls and things like that, but it would have been nice to see him play for a little bit longer.

I thought we played very well. I think if you can go into someone else’s place and play the way we did and possess the ball the way we did, I think it’s a good performance. I thought we were ready for this game, no doubt.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber
It’s always exciting to play against your old buddies that you trained with. It was fun to be back. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t get the result that we wanted. But we’ll have a couple more chances against these guys throughout the year, so it’ll be fun.

It’s always tough going down a man, maybe even more so away from home. They pressed us the last 15 minutes and were obviously able to get the couple of goals that earned them the three points. They did well. I thought we fought hard but in the end got a bit unlucky and didn’t get anything out of the game.

I don’t know what the percentages were, but I felt like the game was pretty back and forth the whole way. I don’t know if the possession was too much of a difference until the red card. I thought in both the first half and the second half we had our moments and they had theirs. We both had chances. There were definitely chances in the first and second half before their goals. After the red card, they obviously had more chances than us and I think that was a big turning point in the game. I don’t know if they would have gotten as many chances as they did if we had been 11 vs 11.

I didn’t see the foul at all – if it was studs up I think that it should have been a red card. If it wasn’t, then it probably should have been a yellow.

You go down a man and that makes a big difference. Like I said, the possession after the red card was probably pretty lopsided.

I had a great chance after the red card and if I had put that one away, maybe we would have taken the three points. But never the less, the red card makes a big difference.