Recap: Joveljic and Munoz convert penalties as Sporting rally falls short in 3-2 loss to Seattle

Dejan Joveljic extended his goal contribution streak and Santiago Munoz buried a late penalty kick as Sporting Kansas City (6-11-5, 23 points) saw its late rally fall short in a 3-2 home loss to Seattle Sounders FC (9-6-6, 33 points) on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park.

The visitors surged ahead 3-0 by halftime with a commanding first-half display—striking through Jordan Morris, Albert Rusnak and Jesus Ferreira—but Joveljic converted a spot kick in the 67th minute to set the stage for an open-ended final half hour. During a frantic second-half stoppage time period, Sounders defender Nouhou received a red card for violent conduct before Munoz made the score 3-2 in the 96th minute. Sporting’s last-gasp bid for an equalizer was thwarted, however, and Seattle emerged victorious to snap Kansas City’s three-game unbeaten run.

Sporting will return to Children’s Mercy Park next Saturday, July 19, to host Eastern Conference side New York City FC in a 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV and tickets available at SeatGeek.com.

Fielding his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the first time this season, interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin deployed a lineup that featured three changes from last week’s 2-1 road win over the Colorado Rapids. Left back Logan Ndenbe, central midfielder Memo Rodriguez and captain Daniel Salloi replaced Tim Leibold, the suspended Jacob Bartlett and the injured Erik Thommy, respectively.

The Sounders began brightly and took the lead on 15 minutes when Morris latched onto Paul Rothrock’s cross and steered a first-time finish into the left corner for his first MLS goal since March 8, having missed three months of action through injury.

Rusnak was a constant threat for Seattle and almost doubled his team’s advantage in the 19th minute, only to see his shot from the top of the box cleared off the goal line by Sporting center back Jansen Miller, who has become no stranger to heroic interventions in and around the goal mouth.

Kansas City was less fortunate in the 27th minute when Rusnak scored from the spot. The penalty kick was awarded by referee Elijio Arreguin following a VAR intervention in which he deemed Salloi to have committed a handball infraction inside the box.

Sporting suffered another major blow in the eight minute of first-half stoppage time. After Shapi Suleymanov’s near-post effort was repelled by Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, Seattle broke on a quickfire counter-attack that culminated with Ferreira slotting home at close range.

The hosts thought they had shouts for a penalty of their own early in the second half when Thomas struck a leaping Miller in an attempt to punch an in-swinging set piece, but Arreguin was unconvinced and VAR did not prompt a review of the play. Not long later, substitute Jake Davis had his 18-yard shot swallowed by Thomas and Ndenbe side volleyed high off Manu Garcia’s corner kick.

Midway through the second stanza, Joveljic drew a foul on Danny Musovski inside the box that resulted in his successful penalty, a ruthless finish into the left corner. Joveljic ranks third in MLS with 13 goals this season, the most by a Kansas City newcomer since the team’s inaugural season when current Seattle assistant coach Preki bagged 18 goals. The Serbian striker now has a goal or an assist in eight consecutive matches, the longest streak in MLS this season and tied for the second longest regular season streak in club history behind Johnny Russell’s 10-game surge in 2021.

In the 73rd minute, Sporting went agonizingly close to cutting the deficit in half during a breathless spell in the penalty area. Munoz had his shot block before Salloi’s rebound attempt at a tight angle smacked off the near post. Joveljic was on hand for a quick reaction shot that was destined for the back of the net, but Sounders defender Alex Roldan stuck out his trailing boot for a spectacular goal line block that kept the score at 3-1 in favor of Seattle.

Munoz was active and involved during his second-half cameo and did well to win Sporting yet another penalty kick in added time. Reed Baker-Whiting’s tackle on the forward initially went unpunished by Arreguin, but VAR stepped in once more and the hosts were given an opportunity to add to their tally. Munoz sent his penalty into the right corner for his third goal of the campaign, all of which have come as a substitute.

Immediately prior to Arreguin awarding Kansas City the penalty, Nouhou was involved in an unsavory altercation with fans behind the goal that resulted in his ejection from the game. The Sounders were then forced to see the game out with 10 men, ultimately prevailing to jump to fourth in the Western Conference table while dropping Sporting to 12th.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 22
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 16,717
Weather: 82 degrees and overcast

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton (Andrew Brody 84'), Jansen Miller, Joaquin Fernandez, Logan Ndenbe (Nemanja Radoja 80'); Memo Rodriguez (Jake Davis 46'), Zorhan Bassong; Shapi Suleymanov (Santiago Munoz 46'), Manu Garcia, Daniel Salloi (C) (Mason Toye 79'); Dejan Joveljic

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Ian James, Tim Leibold, Stephen Afrifa

Seattle Sounders FC: Andrew Thomas; Alex Roldan (Reed Baker-Whiting 78'), Jackson Ragen, Jon Bell, Nouhou; Obed Vargas, Cristian Roldan (C); Jesus Ferreira (Pedro de la Vega 63'), Albert Rusnak (Danny Leyva 82'), Paul Rothrock (Ryan Kent 62'); Jordan Morris (Danny Musovski 62')

Subs Not Used: Jacob Castro, Cody Baker, Yeimar, Georgi Minoungou

Scoring Summary:
SEA -- Jordan Morris 4 (Paul Rothrock 5) 15'
SEA -- Albert Rusnak 8 (penalty kick) 27'
SEA -- Jesus Ferreira 3 (Albert Rusnak 5) 45+8'
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic 13 (penalty kick) 67'
SKC -- Santiago Munoz 3 (penalty kick) 90+6'

Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Shapi Suleymanov (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 36'
SEA -- Jon Bell (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 40'
SEA -- Cristian Roldan (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 45+6'
SKC -- Manu Garcia (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 78'
SEA -- Obed Vargas (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 81'
SEA -- Albert Rusnak (yellow card; delaying a restart) 82'
SEA -- Nouhou (red card; violent conduct) 90+4'

Referee: Elijio Arreguin
Assistant Referee: Corey Rockwell
Assistant Referee: Walt Heatherly
Fourth Official: Sergii Boiko
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Fabio Tovar