Recap: Sporting KC falls at league leaders Nashville SC

Sporting Kansas City (6-19-4, 22 pts.) fell to a 4-0 defeat against Supporters’ Shield leaders Nashville SC (20-3-6, 66 pts.) at GEODIS Park on Wednesday night. Nashville took a three-goal lead into the halftime interval before adding a fourth in second-half stoppage time to seal the points.

Balancing three games in the space of a week, head coach Raphael Wicky made five changes following Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Portland. Along the backline, Ian James and Jayden Reid replaced the injured Justin Reynolds and Emir Karic, while Shapi Suleymanov returned to the lineup in place of Calvin Harris. Up front, loanees Ruben Ramos Jr. and Seymour Reid each made their first starts for the club, with Stephen Afrifa and Taylor Calheira dropping to the bench.

With James (18), Reid (18) and Ramos (19) in the lineup, it marked the first time in club history that Sporting started three teenagers in an MLS match.

The hosts took the lead in the 10^th minute when Nashville star Hany Mukhtar acrobatically fired his side into the lead off a cross from Andy Najar, converting his 15^th goal of the season for the league leaders.

Sporting almost produced an immediate response when Suleymanov slipped Andre Luiz into the Nashville penalty area, but the Brazilian dragged his low finish inches wide of the post.

Nashville doubled the lead in the 17^th minute when Mukhtar turned provider, laying the ball across goal for striker Sam Surridge to stroke home his 17^th goal of the season. Nashville added to their lead in the 29^th minute when Najar headed home Cristian Espinoza’s corner kick to make it 3-0.

In the second half, Nashville thought the team had added a fourth when Surridge bundled home at the far post, but following a quick Video Review, the goal was disallowed for handball as the Englishman had knocked the ball over the line with his arm.

Deep in second-half stoppage time, Nashville was awarded a penalty kick when the Video Assistant Referee recommended a review after Jansen Miller had the ball rifled against his arm from point blank range, and referee Joshua Encarnacion awarded the hosts a penalty kick that Warren Madrigal converted to make the final score 4-0.

Sporting returns home this weekend to play host to longtime rivals Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream on Apple TV, while the game will be air on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.

2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 29
GEODIS Park | Nashville, TN
Attendance: 23,807
Weather: 80 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Ian James (Jake Davis 69’), Jansen Miller, Wyatt Meyer, Jayden Reid (Emir Karic 81’); Andre Luiz (Calvin Harris 46’), Zorhan Bassong (C) (Jacob Bartlett 46’), Kwaku Agyabeng, Shapi Suleymanov; Ruben Ramos Jr., Seymour Reid (Taylor Calheira 53’)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Ethan Bartlow, Stephen Afrifa, Capita Capemba

Nashville SC: Brian Schwake; Andy Najar (Daniel Lovitz 68’), Maxwell Woledzi, Jeisson Palacios, Reed Baker-Whiting; Matthew Corcoran (Bryan Acosta 76’), Edvard Tagseth, Elias Saad; Cristian Espinoza (Shak Mohammed 68’), Sam Surridge (Alex Muyl 83’), Hany Mukhtar (C) (Warren Madrigal 76’)

Subs Not Used: Joe Willis, Josh Bauer, Jack Maher, Patrick Yazbek

Scoring Summary:
NSH – Hany Mukhtar 15 (Andy Najar 9) 10’
NSH – Sam Surridge 17 (Hany Mukhtar 8, Reed Baker-Whiting 5) 17’
NSH – Andy Najar 3 (Cristian Espinoza 14) 29’
NSH – Warren Madrigal 6 (Penalty Kick) 95+

Misconduct Summary:
None

Referee: Joshua Encarnacion
Assistant Referee: Ryan Graves
Assistant Referee: Justin Howard
Fourth Official: Drew Fischer
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
AVAR: Cameron Blanchard