Recap: Sporting storms back in thrilling 4-2 win over Colorado

A scintillating second-half display powered Sporting Kansas City (7-15-6, 27 points) to a wild 4-2 comeback win over the Colorado Rapids (10-13-6, 36 points) on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park.

In-form striker Dejan Joveljic bagged a brace, Daniel Salloi moved into a tie for second place on Sporting’s all-time goal scoring chart, and Mason Toye came off the bench to bury the game-winner as Sporting overcame a 2-1 halftime deficit to secure the team’s first victory since prevailing in Colorado on July 4.

Sporting will return to Children’s Mercy Park next Sunday, Sept. 7, to host Austin FC at 6 p.m. CT. The Western Conference clash will be shown live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV and tickets are available via SeatGeek.

Joveljic opened the scoring inside five minutes with the 100th goal of his professional club career. Right back Khiry Shelton was afforded space to cross from the right edge of the box and curled his delivery to the near post, where Joveljic did brilliantly to drop low and steer a header past flat-footed Colorado goalkeeper Zack Steffen. Joveljic, who has now hit the 15-goal marker in two consecutive regular seasons campaigns, also scored the opener in Kansas City’s 2-1 road triumph over the Rapids last month.

Colorado responded in earnest, nearly equalizing twice before the 15th minute as Rafael Navarro hit the crossbar and newly acquired attacking midfielder Paxton Aaronson saw his close-range effort blocked off the line heroically by James. Aaronson was at it again two minutes later, however, and won the Rapids a penalty on a foul from Sporting midfielder Zorhan Bassong, who received a yellow card on the play and will now serve a one-game suspension for caution accumulation.

Navarro stepped up to take Colorado’s penalty kick and went low to his left, but Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp snuffed it out by diving at full extension for the vital save—his first penalty kick stop in an MLS match since September 2022. Navarro was first to react and attempted a tight-angle shot on the rebound, but Pulskamp spread himself to block the follow-up and ignite raucous celebrations inside the stadium.

Navarro wouldn’t be denied in the 22nd minute. The Brazilian ran onto a Cole Basset through ball following a Sporting turnover at midfield and clipped his finish past Pulskamp to make the score 1-1 and reach 12 goals on the season.

Interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin made two changes to Sporting’s starting lineup from a road loss at Seattle Sounders FC last weekend. At the forefront, 17-year-old center back Ian James earned his second career MLS start in place of Jansen Miller, who had started each of the club’s last 23 matches since late March. In addition, Shapi Suleymanov replaced Toye with the team starting in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Sporting conjured a pair of decent looks near the hour mark—Santi Munoz teeing up Joveljic and Salloi cutting the ball back for Tim Leibold—but neither shot beat Steffen. The Rapids then landed another haymaker at the opposite end when veteran right back Keegan Rosenberry bundled home off a teasing Navarro cross in the 31st minute, giving his side a 2-1 advantage.

Zavagnin’s side was desperately unlucky not to level terms four minutes later. Leibold’s pinpoint service across the box found Suleymanov, whose initial shot was saved by Steffen. The ball stayed alive and Salloi forced an even more impressive stop from Steffen at a difficult angle before Suleymanov misfired on his open rebound effort.

In the 40th minute, Pulskamp did well to cast aside two headed attempts, one from Darren Yapi off a corner kick and one from Noah Cobb off Bassett’s teasing delivery. Sporting threatened on a corner kick of their own early in the second half, but Joveljic’s bouncing header looped over Steffen only to be nodded off the goal line by Rapids substitute Calvin Harris.

Joveljic turned playmaker in the 55th minute, driving at the defense and laying the ball off for Bassong, but the Canadian international’s left-footed strike was smothered by Steffen. Shortly thereafter, midfielder Jake Davis dinked an impudent ball into the box for Munoz, who did superbly to absorb contact, pirouette in the air and poke a back-heel attempt on target that Steffen dove to save. The play preceded an impactful triple-sub as Zavagnin introduced Toye, Jacob Bartlett and Jansen Miller at the hour juncture.

In the ascendancy but down a goal, Sporting exploded for three goals during a rapturous eight-minute period that nearly blew off the stadium roof. With 73 minutes on the clock, Salloi received a ball wide from Miller, squared up his defender and burst into the box before sending a piledriver low across Steffen and into the far left corner of the net. Miller tabbed his first MLS assist on the play, while Salloi marked his 250th MLS appearance with his seventh goal of the year. The homegrown forward has scored 67 goals for Sporting in all competitions, tying both Dom Dwyer and Johnny Russell for second on the club’s all-time chart. Salloi notably has nine goal contributions in nine career home appearances against the Rapids.

Smelling blood, Sporting surged ahead two minutes later. Joveljic kickstarted a counter-attack in valiant fashion with a sacrificial header, suffering a knock to the face but allowing Munoz to break free unencumbered. Munoz then slipped a gorgeous ball through to the on-running Toye, who took an excellent first touch and sent a sublime finish into the far corner for his third goal of the year. Toye now has goals in back-to-back games and goal contributions in three straight matches dating back to Aug. 16.

Colorado was decidedly second-best in the second half yet could have restored parity in the 76th minute. Harris was unmarked at the near post but poked his shot wide on the doorstep following an incisive cross into mixer. The Rapids were made to pay for the miss five minutes later when Sporting sealed the win on Joveljic’s second headed goal of the night. Jacob Bartlett’s out-swinging corner kick was met by the Serbian assassin on the right edge of the six-yard box, culminating with a superb diving header that was glanced into the opposite corner of the net.

Joveljic’s team-leading 16 goals this year are tied for third in the MLS Golden Boot race and third most in a single season in Sporting history, tying him with Dom Dwyer (2016) and Daniel Salloi (2021). His 16 goals are also the most by a Kansas City newcomer since Preki scored 18 in the team’s inaugural season in 1996, while his 37 MLS goals since the start of 2024 rank second behind only Lionel Messi.

With the momentous victory on Saturday, Sporting enjoyed its first multi-game regular season sweep of the Rapids since 1997.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 28
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 16,262
Weather: 74 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton, Ian James (Jansen Miller 60'), Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold (Logan Ndenbe 77'); Jake Davis, Zorhan Bassong (Jacob Bartlett 61'); Shapi Suleymanov (Mason Toye 61'), Santi Munoz (Nemanja Radoja 89'), Daniel Salloi (C); Dejan Joveljic

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Alan Montes, Erik Thommy, Stephen Afrifa

Colorado Rapids: Zack Steffen; Keegan Rosenberry (C), Andreas Maxso, Rob Holding (Alex Harris 77'), Noah Cobb, Rafael Santos (Sam Vines 60'); Oliver Larraz (Connor Ronan 70'), Paxten Aaronson, Cole Bassett (Ted Ku-DiPietro 70'); Rafael Navarro, Darren Yapi (Calvin Harris 60')

Subs Not Used: Nicolas Defreitas-Hansen, Ian Murphy, Daouda Amadou, Wayne Frederick

Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic 15 (Khiry Shelton 1, Tim Leibold 3) 4'
COL -- Rafael Navarro 12 (Cole Bassett 4, Rafael Santos 1) 22'
COL -- Keegan Rosenberry 2 (Rafael Navarro 5, Rafael Santos 2) 31'
SKC -- Daniel Salloi 7 (Jansen Miller 1) 73'
SKC -- Mason Toye 3 (Santi Munoz 2) 75'
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic 16 (Jacob Bartlett 1) 81'

Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Zorhan Bassong (yellow card; unsporting behavior 16')
SKC -- Ian James (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 52'

Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referee: Kyle Atkins
Assistant Referee: Brooke Mayo
Fourth Official: Ricardo Fierro
VAR: Sorin Stoica
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert