English Premier League club Manchester United suffered the first defeat on its pre-season North America tour when it was upset 2-1 by the 10-man Kansas City Wizards in Kansas City Sunday. Despite having Jimmy Conrad controversially sent off late in the first half for a harsh tackle, the home team held on to record a memorable victory over its far more illustrious opponent. In front of 52,000 fans at Arrowhead Stadium, the Wizards opened the scoring in the 11th minute through midfielder Davy Arnaud before Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov leveled from the penalty spot in the 41st. Just one minute later, Kansas again edged ahead when Kei Kamara headed Ryan Smith's corner past Ben Amos, although subsequent television replays did not confirm whether the ball had crossed the goal line. A scoreless second half concluded a game played at a breakneck pace that featured several near misses. United coach Alex Ferguson opted to field a relatively young side, with Amos, Ritchie De Laet and Mame Biram Diouf lining up with more experienced players Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Berbatov. A crowd of 52,342, the biggest for Manchester United on its North American tour so far – eclipsed the 37,319 who witnessed a World Cup qualifier here in 2001. Man United coach Alex Ferguson was full of praise for the Wizards. “They're a big, strong team,” he said. “Athletic. Very powerful. I thought once we scored the goal we'd be all right. Too many of our shots were off target. “The game is improving in the general play of the players. Some United States players are doing well in Europe and in England, and that's the best barometer.” Manchester United's next stop will be a match against the MLS all-stars Wednesday in Houston. Red Bulls beat Man. City Dane Richards' long-range shot gave the New York Red Bulls a 2-1 win over Manchester City in the final game of the Barclay's New York Challenge in New Jersey Sunday. Macoumba Kandji set up Richards with a perfect backpass that allowed him to blast the ball off the crossbar and into the goal from 30 meters in the 68th minute at Red Bulls Arena. The Red Bulls scored in the seventh minute when Richards tapped the ball to a sliding Kandji, who directed it past goalkeeper Joe Hart. Man City's Jo leveled in the 55th minute, tucking a first-time shot high into the net off a cross from the wing. Neither goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul nor his defense had a chance to react. Sporting draws with Spurs Sporting Lisbon came to Red Bull Arena with the sole purpose of winning Barclay's New York Challenge. Thanks to a goal by Jaime Valdes in the 48th minute of its 2-2 draw with Tottenham Sunday. For Sporting, the game marked the end of its preseason before playing Portugal's Liga Sagres Thursday.
