Recap: Sporting KC sees comeback fall short in 2-1 defeat to Red Bull New York

Sporting Kansas City (3-9-2, 11 pts.) saw the team’s attempted comeback fall just short in a 2-1 setback against Red Bull New York (6-5-4, 22 pts.) at Sporting Park on Saturday night. Calvin Harris scored his second goal of the season to reduce the deficit in the second half, but Sporting was unable to find an equalizer in the closing stages.

Following back-to-back victories over the LA Galaxy and Austin FC, head coach Raphael Wicky stuck with the same starting XI for the third consecutive match.

The visitors capitalized on a chaotic start to the match and took the lead in just the fourth minute when Jorge Ruvalcaba tallied his sixth of the season with a composed finish after Julian Hall and Gustav Berggren were first to pounce on a loose ball in midfield.

Sporting responded well and twice went close before the 10-minute mark as first Taylor Calheira’s header was claimed by Ethan Horvath before Harris’ low strike was palmed away by the RBNY goalkeeper.

The hosts continued to push forward in search of an equalizer and again went close in the 18^th minute when Dejan Joveljic picked up a cross from Jake Davis but pulled the shot wide on his weaker left foot.

Joveljic created the next opportunity of the match in the 41^st minute, dispossessing Sean Nealis inside the area and setting up Taylor Calheira, but the forward’s effort was well saved by Horvath. Two minutes later, Davis sprung Harris in behind but again the finish with just the ‘keeper to beat was snuffed out.

Despite Sporting controlling much of first-half proceedings, it was visiting RBNY who doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time when Ruvalcaba bagged his second of the night after Rafael Mosquera and Hall had pounced on a turnover.

Sporting started the second half strongly and should have pulled a goal back in the 53^rd minute when Capita Capemba broke free down the right wing but Harris was unable to turn home his low cross in front of goal. Moments later, Joveljic thought he had reduced the deficit when he turned the ball into an empty net but the flag went up for offside.

The hosts found the goal they were craving through Harris in the 64^th minute. The introduction of Manu Garcia in the midfield paid immediate dividends as the Spaniard set up Harris with a brilliant chipped pass over the RBNY backline before Harris lofted an excellent finish over Horvath for his second goal of the season.

Garcia continued to create and in the 78^th minute freed fellow substitute Stephen Afrifa down the left channel and his low strike flashed agonizingly wide of the post.

RBNY almost sealed the points in the 82^nd minute when Cameron Harper jumped on a turnover deep inside Sporting’s half but pulled his finish narrowly wide. Sporting poured forward in the closing stages as Joveljic forced another save out of Horvath but the comeback ultimately fell just short despite an encouraging performance.

Sporting KC and Major League Soccer will now go on hiatus for the next seven weeks coinciding with the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Sporting returns to action when the team takes on archrivals St. Louis at Energizer Park on Thursday, July 16. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on Apple TV, while the game will be air on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 14
Sporting Park | Kansas City, KS
Attendance: 17,575
Weather: 70 degrees and partly cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jake Davis (Justin Reynolds 59’), Ian James, Wyatt Meyer, Jayden Reid; Capita Capemba (Shapi Suleymanov 82’), Lasse Berg Johnsen, Zorhan Bassong (Manu Garcia 59’), Calvin Harris; Taylor Calheira (Stephen Afrifa 76’), Dejan Joveljic (C)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Ethan Bartlow, Diego Borges, Jacob Bartlett, Cielo Tschantret

Red Bull New York: Ethan Horvath; Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Justin Che, Dylan Nealis (C), Omar Valencia (Julian Bazan 80’); Adri Mehmeti, Gustav Berggren (Nehuen Benedetti 73’), Ronald Donkor; Cade Cowell (Rafael Mosquera 19’ (Cameron Harper 79’)), Julian Hall, Jorge Ruvalcaba (Roald Mitchell 73’)

Subs Not Used: John McCarthy, Tim Parker, Andy Rojas, Mohammed Sofo

Scoring Summary:
NY – Jorge Ruvalcaba 6 (Gustav Berggren 1, Julian Hall 3) 4’
NY – Jorge Ruvalcaba 7 (Julian Hall 4, Rafael Mosquera 2) 48+
SKC – Calvin Harris 2 (Manu Garcia 4, Taylor Calheira 1) 64’

Misconduct Summary:
NY – Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 46+
SKC – Lasse Berg Johnsen (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 70’
NY – Nehuen Benedetti (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 87’

Referee: Nabil Bensalah
Assistant Referee: Eric Weisbrod
Assistant Referee: Mike Nickerson
Fourth Official: Malik Badawi
VAR: Lukasz Szpala
AVAR: Robert Schaap