Sounders at Sporting KC recap: Blind man says KC wins

Depleted lineups. Midwest summers. Bad referees. None of these things are the Seattle Sounders fault. But all helped determine their 1-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City. For some reason Lamar Neagle was called offside when he was not. That took a goal from the Sounders. Later, Stefan Frei did goalkeeping things, and earned a penalty. Feilhaber converted.

If you feel like Sporting Park is cursed, you may be right. You may also be ignoring that a couple times a year referees make awful calls, and sometimes both of those calls go against you.

That was today. Both calls went against Seattle, and neither was right.

Down three designated players and two other vital cogs to their 18 Sigi Schmid put out a lineup that was capable of earning a road point, or three. That was particularly true when Sporting started Graham Zusi as their center forward.

In the first half the Sounders struggled to attack. They were more effective at crossing the ball than passing on the ground and didn't complete even 40% of either of those types of passes in the final third. It was a rough half.

The second 45 was better. That's when Neagle and Pappa made their magic. That's when the first awful call happened. Late in the game the second awful call happened.

You've earned your anger. This should be a road point, or three.