Daniel Salloi scored on his 29th birthday to help Sporting Kansas City (6-11-6, 24 points) battle back for a 1-1 draw against New York City FC (10-8-5, 35 points) on Saturday night at hot and humid Children’s Mercy Park.
After Andres Perea bagged his first goal of the year to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage midway through the first half, Salloi bundled home an impressive strike in the 74th minute as Sporting came from behind to secure a result for the sixth time in 11 games dating back to May 14.
Sporting will now prepare for a challenging trip to Concacaf Champions Cup runners-up Vancouver Whitecaps FC next Saturday, July 26. Kickoff at BC Place is set for 9:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin made three changes to Sporting’s lineup from a 3-2 home loss to Seattle Sounders FC last weekend. Right back Andrew Brody landed his first start since May 24 by replacing Khiry Shelton, midfielder Nemanja Radoja earned his first start since May 10 by stepping in for Zorhan Bassong, and midfielder Jacob Bartlett supplanted Memo Rodriguez after serving a suspension against Seattle.
Forward Alonso Martinez entered as NYCFC’s joint leading scorer and almost nodded his side ahead inside three minutes, snapping a header marginally wide off a Julian Fernandez delivery. Shortly thereafter, Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp produced a superb reflex stop to deny Martinez before regaining his footing and casting aside an 18-yard drive from Aiden O’Neill.
Sporting replied with a pair of looks in the 19th minute. Salloi dinked a clever ball in behind for left back Logan Ndenbe, who forced a save at the near post from U.S. international goalkeeper Matt Freese. Winger Shapi Suleymanov then unfurled a cross from the left channel that skipped through traffic and nearly found the far corner of the net, only to be touched away by the outstretched Freese.
NYCFC drew first blood off the foot of Perea, who ran onto a Maxi Moralez through ball in the 22nd minute and picked out the left corner on a clinical 20-yard finish. It was his first goal of the 2025 MLS campaign and put Sporting in the familiar position of fighting from behind.
Sporting striker Dejan Joveljic combined well with Suleymanov in the 29th minute, but the latter’s ensuing strike failed to beat Freese. The NYCFC keeper collected another save on the stroke of intermission, doing very well to thwart Salloi after the 29-year-old had raced onto Joaquin Fernandez’s inch-perfect long ball over the top.
Pulskamp delivered another big save on the hour mark, dropping low to smother Justin Haak’s shot near the penalty spot. At the opposite end, second-half substitute Jake Davis whipped a brilliant cross into the mixer that Ndenbe nodded high on the edge of the six-yard box.
Salloi restored parity on 74 minutes, punctuating a wave of pressure that saw impact substitute Santiago Munoz play a key role. The Mexican America forward barreled his way through a slew of NYCFC defenders before seeing his close-range effort repelled by Freese, but Salloi was on hand to steer a bouncing side volley into the back of the net, prompting a euphoric roar throughout the stadium. The homegrown forward now has six goals and 10 total goal contributions this year, reaching double-digit goal contributions for the fourth time in the last five MLS seasons. Salloi now has 53 regular season goals in his MLS career and 66 goals across all competitions, both of which rank fourth on the club’s all-time charts.
MLS debutant Sebastiano Musu had a strong cameo for NYCFC and went close on two occasions, curling narrowly wide in the 79th minute and dragging one amiss under the duress of Ndenbe three minutes later. Perea then had a decent look to double his tally with three minutes remaining but misfired on an open look at the top of the box.
2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 23
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 16,987
Weather: 89 degrees and sunny
Score | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
Sporting Kansas City (6-11-6, 24 points) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
New York City FC (10-8-5, 35 points) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Andrew Brody (Khiry Shelton 46'), Jansen Miller, Joaquin Fernandez, Logan Ndenbe; Jacob Bartlett (Santiago Munoz 67'), Manu Garcia (Jake Davis 67'), Nemanja Radoja (Zorhan Bassing 46'); Shapi Suleymanov (Mason Toye 87'), Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi (C)
Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Ian James, Tim Leibold, Memo Rodriguez
New York City FC: Matt Freese; Tayvon Gray, Thiago Martins (C), Justin Haak, Kevin O'Toole (Nico Cavallo 76'); Jonathan Shore (Agustin Ojeda 65'), Aiden O'Neill; Julian Fernandez (Sebastiano Musu 77'), Maxi Moralez, Andres Perea; Alonso Martinez (Seymour Reid 77')
Subs Not Used: Tomas Romero, Mitja Ilenic, Strahinja Tanasijevic, Maximo Carrizo, Max Murray
Scoring Summary:
NYC -- Andres Perea 1 (Maxi Moralez 6, Thiago Martins 1) 22'
SKC -- Daniel Salloi 6 (unassisted) 74'
Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Zorhan Bassong (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 47'
SKC -- Jacob Bartlett (yellow card; unsporting behaivor) 66'
STAT | SKC | NYC |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 11 | 16 |
Shots on Goal | 5 | 5 |
Saves | 3 | 4 |
Fouls | 11 | 8 |
Offsides | 1 | 3 |
Corner Kicks | 7 | 4 |
Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Referee: Matthew Nelson
Assistant Referee: Diego Blas
Fourth Official: Corbyn May
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
AVAR: Jeff Muschik
