Recap: Sporting suffers late 2-1 home loss to Austin

Sporting Kansas City (7-16-6, 27 points) suffered a frustrating 2-1 home loss to Austin FC (11-9-8, 41 points) on Sunday night at Children’s Mercy Park.

Dejan Joveljic moved into sole possession of third place in the MLS Golden Boot race with his 17th goal of the season, converting an early penalty kick, but Austin leveled terms on a first-half strike from Owen Wolff before securing an 82nd-minute winner off the head of substitute CJ Fodrey.

Sporting will look to rebound on Saturday by visiting longtime rival Real Salt Lake in an 8:30 p.m. CT kickoff on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin made two changes to Sporting’s starting lineup from a 4-2 home win over the Colorado Rapids last weekend. With midfielder Zorhan Bassong and defender Ian James absent on international duty with Canada and the U.S. U-17s, respectively, Academy product Jacob Bartlett and on-loan center back Alan Montes entered the fray—the latter earning his first start for the club.

Both teams threatened within the first 10 minutes. Former Kansas City striker Diego Rubio curled a free kick high for Austin, while Sporting left back Tim Leibold dragged a left-footed effort inches wide from 20 yards.

Sporting was awarded a penalty kick at the quarter-hour mark, but not before Austin midfielder Nicolas Dubersarsky’s foul on Shapi Suleymanov inside the box initially went unpunished by referee Sergii Boiko. VAR Ismail Elfath prompted the head official to take a second look at the play, and Boiko promptly pointed to the spot.

Joveljic converted the ensuing penalty with a cool side-footed finish into the right corner. The Serbian striker’s 17 goals this year are third most in MLS, third most by a Sporting player in a single regular season in club history, and the most by a Kansas City newcomer since Preki bagged 18 goals in the club’s inaugural 1996 campaign. Joveljic now has 38 goals in MLS play since the start of 2024, second most in the league behind only Lionel Messi (39).

Suleymanov created more danger at the half-hour juncture, setting up Leibold for another 20-yard drive that deflected narrowly over the crossbar. Shortly thereafter, Suleymanov’s in-swinging corner kick was nodded marginally wide by Montes.

Austin restored parity with eight minutes left in the first half. Guilherme Biro sent a long ball over the top to Wolff, who did well to cushion the ball down on the edge of the area, elude a pair of Sporting defenders and fire low into the right corner. Wolff now has five goals in his last seven MLS matches after scoring just three times in the first 109 league appearances of his career.

Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp—who ended the game tied with Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver for second in MLS with 99 saves this season—did well to thwart Osman Bukari on the cusp of intermission, producing a reflex stop at the near post as the contest remain deadlocked.

The hosts had two fleeting opportunities before the 60th minute on a pair of crosses from the right flank. Montes saw his leaping header saved off a Jake Davis delivery and Joveljic was unable to put clean contact on Daniel Salloi’s low, driven service.

Fodrey opened his MLS scoring account late but could have done so in the 73rd minute, his header caroming off the left post much to the relief of a helpless Pulskamp. Three minutes later, Sporting captain Erik Thommy made a substitute cameo for his first appearance since July 4 after missing two months through injury.

Thommy had a positive impact on proceedings and Sporting almost went ahead in the 79th minute. Salloi found a pocked of space on the right side of the box, received a pass from Joveljic and uncorked a shot that was parried aside by the diving Stuver. Thommy was on hand for a rebound effort that was blocked behind for a corner kick.

Austin then broke on a quick counter-attack in the 80th minute as Robert Taylor forced an excellent stop from the outstretched Pulskamp. The visitors cashed in on the ensuing corner kick, however, as Fodrey’s glancing header at the near post nestled into the opposite corner of the net.

Sporting conjured two good looks at an equalizer in second-half stoppage time. Substitute Mason Toye did well to intercept a pass near midfield and dart goalward before spreading to Joveljic, who then laid the ball off to Thommy, but the German’s left-footed attempt cannoned high and wide. In the final minute, Joveljic embarked on a superb solo run into the penalty area, cutting past multiple defenders only to see his 12-yard shot repelled by Stuver.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 29
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 15,787
Weather: 77 degrees and abundantly sunny

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton, Alan Montes (Jansen Miller 83'), Robert Voloder, Tm Leibold (Logan Ndenbe 60'); Jake Davis, Jacob Bartlett (Nemanja Radoja 83'); Daniel Salloi (C), Santi Munoz (Mason Toye 61'), Shapi Suleymanov (Erik Thommy 76'); Dejan Joveljic

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Joaquin Fernandez, Memo Rodriguez, Stephen Afrifa

Austin FC: Brad Stuver (C); Mikkel Desler, Mateja Djordjevic, Brendan Hines-Ike, Guilherme Biro (Zan Kolmanic 74'); Owen Wolff, Nicolas Dubersarsky (Ilie Sanchez 83'); Osman Bukari, Diego Rubio (Ervin Torres 83'), Jon Gallagher (Robert Taylor 68'); Jader Obrian (CJ Fodrey 68')

Subs Not Used: Stefan Cleveland, Antonio Gomez, Riley Thomas, Adrian Gonzalez

Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic 17 (penalty kick) 16'
ATX -- Owen Wolff 5 (Guilherme Biro 1) 37'
ATX -- CJ Fodrey 1 (Owen Wolff 7) 82'

Misconduct Summary:
ATX -- Mikkel Desler (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 19'
ATX -- Mateja Djordjevic (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 29'
SKC -- Jacob Bartlett (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 74'
ATX -- Zan Kolmanic (yellow card; time wasting) 86'

Referee: Sergii Boiko
Assistant Referee: Jeremy Hanson
Assistant Referee: Chris Wattam
Fourth Official: Malik Badawi
VAR: Ismail Elfath
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson