There were certainly some questionable calls made during Sporting KC’s Saturday game against the Columbus Crew. It seemed to consume a good portion of the TV commentators’ conversation. There were fouls that shouldn’t have been fouls. There were balls that may not have gone out of bounds that were called out of bounds. There were advantages that weren’t played when they clearly should have been.

Then there was that red card.

The red card given to Kansas City was an example of poor referee positioning. The replay shows no intentional handling of the ball and no foul. It shows the Sporting player slipping and having the ball hit his head while he tried to regain his balance.

As easy as it can be to blame referees for the outcome of a game, there were still opportunities for Sporting KC to get back in it. Kansas City took a lot of shots, but they were rarely near the goal. If the players did manage to keep them on frame, there wasn’t much power behind them.

The Columbus defense did play relatively well. Kansas City had chances, but few of them really looked threatening. Once the Crew scored their goal, the entire game changed and it was Columbus’ usually stagnant offense that came to life. There were several well-timed through balls that seems to catch Sporting KC’s defense on its heels.

The lone goal scored in KC’s 1-0 loss was a hustle goal. The Sporting defender was a step slow getting into position and as a result got blown by before a sliding shot sent the ball by keeper Jimmy Nielsen. That was the lone defensive blemish in an otherwise solid performance in the back.

As usual, I will take another look at the game and be back tomorrow with a full recap and analysis.