Recap: Sporting earns gutsy 0-0 draw at San Diego FC to close out three-game road swing

Sporting Kansas City (3-8-3, 12 pts.) picked up a well-earned point following a 0-0 draw with third-place San Diego FC (7-4-3, 24 pts.) at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night. Sporting defended resolutely on the night and could have snatched all three points when Shapi Suleymanov hit the crossbar in the second half.

Head coach Kerry Zavagnin made four changes from the team’s midweek comeback at St. Louis with Khiry Shelton, Tim Leibold, Shapi Suleymanov and Santiago Munoz replacing Andrew Brody, Jake Davis, Daniel Salloi and Dejan Joveljic in the lineup. Joveljic was unavailable for Saturday’s match as he and his wife await the birth of their first child.

San Diego fashioned their first opportunity in the 15^th minute when star forward Andres Dreyer sprung in behind the Sporting backline but sent his shot from a tight angle just wide of the post.

Two minutes later, Sporting fired back as Munoz set up Suleymanov on the right wing and the Russian forward cut onto his left foot and fired a powerful drive that was well held by C.J. Dos Santos.

On the heels of almost 5,000 air miles over the last seven days, Sporting kept it close throughout the first 45 minutes, limiting a high-octane San Diego side to just four shots.

Sporting was forced into some last ditch defending in the 61^st minute as San Diego passed their way into the area and after John Pulskamp repelled Alex Mighten’s initial effort, Jacob Bartlett positioned himself perfectly to clear the follow-up attempt from Luca De La Torre off the line.

Two minutes later, San Diego center back Christopher McVey stepped forward from the backline and took aim from 30 yards, hitting a sweetly-struck shot that flew just wide of the post.

Sporting almost took the lead in the 65^th minute when Suleymanov picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area, cut inside on his left and rifled a shot that left Dos Santos statuesque but struck the underside of the crossbar.

The game had sprung to life and San Diego came back the other way with Dreyer getting in behind but Pulskamp produced a brilliant stop before the rebound was blocked heroically by Robert Voloder.

San Diego made attacking changes and threw numbers forward in the final quarter of the game, but Sporting held firm to earn a well-deserved 0-0 draw and the club’s third shutout of the season.

Sporting returns home next weekend to take on fellow MLS originals the New England Revolution at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. The game will be available on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 14
Snapdragon Stadium | San Diego, CA
Attendance: 25,233
Weather: 61 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton (Andrew Brody 60’), Jansen Miller, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold (Logan Ndenbe 60’); Jacob Bartlett, Manu Garcia (Memo Rodriguez 86’), Zorhan Bassong; Shapi Suleymanov, Santiago Munoz (Mason Toye 84’), Erik Thommy (C) (Daniel Salloi 60’)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Dany Rosero, Jake Davis, Stephen Afrifa

San Diego FC: C.J. Dos Santos; Oscar Verhoeven (Willy Kumado 72’), Christopher McVey, Paddy McNair, Luca Bombino; Anibal Godoy (Onni Valakari 60’), Jeppe Tverskov (C), Luca De La Torre (Milan Iloski 72’); Alex Mighten (Emmanuel Boateng 81’), Anders Dreyer, Chucky Lozano (Tomas Angel 81’)

Subs Not Used: Pablo Sisniega, Franco Negri, Ian Pilcher, Alejandro Alvarado

Scoring Summary:
None

Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Jansen Miller (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 9’
SD – Anibal Godoy (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 21’
SD – Luca Bombino (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 37’
SKC – Zorhan Bassong (Yellow Card; Persistent Infringement) 46’
SKC – Manu Garcia (Yellow Card; Persistent Infringement) 68’

Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistant Referee: Andrew Bigelow
Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Swartzel
Fourth Official: Joe Dickerson
VAR: Geoff Gamble
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert