Recap: Ten-man Sporting KC falls 2-0 to Houston Dynamo

A short-handed Sporting Kansas City (4-12-2, 14 pts.) fell to a 2-0 defeat against the Houston Dynamo (9-6-2, 29 pts.) at Sporting Park on Saturday night. Lasse Berg Johnsen was shown a red card just before halftime before the Dynamo grabbed a pair of goals in the second half to condemn Sporting to defeat.

Sporting KC made three changes – one on each line – following last weekend’s defeat to LAFC. Centerback Moises Mosquera made his first start for the club in place of Wyatt Meyer, Kwaku Agyabeng started the third match of his rookie season, replacing Manu Garcia, while Capita Capemba returned from illness on the right wing with Stephen Afrifa dropping to the bench.

Houston threatened early when Lucas Halter found himself open for a free header on a corner kick in the third minute but looped his effort over the bar. Sporting responded with an opening of their own when Dejan Joveljic found Capita in the right channel only for the Angolan to drag his effort into the arms of Jonathan Bond.

The visitors created another opportunity in the 25^th minute when Hector Herrera saw his goal-bound effort from the edge of the area cleared away for a corner by Jake Davis on the goal line.

The match turned on its head on the stroke of halftime when Berg Johnsen was dismissed after receiving his second yellow card for a tackle in midfield, forcing Sporting to play the remainder of the game down a man.

Houston pressed forward early in the second half looking to make their numerical advantage count and took the lead in the 55^th minute when MLS All-Star forward Guilherme’s strike from the edge of the area snuck by Stefan Cleveland in the Sporting goal to make it 1-0.

The hosts fell further behind in the 71^st minute when Agustin Bouzat converted with only Cleveland to beat following a turnover high up the field from Sporting.

Sporting forced Bond into a save in the 75^th minute when Or Blorian sprung Joveljic in behind, but the Serbs low left-footed strike was well corralled by the Houston goalkeeper before substitutes Jayden Reid and Shapi Suleymanov each stung Bond’s palms again in quick succession during the game’s closing stages.

Sporting is off next weekend before returning to action with a road trip to face the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday, Aug. 15. Kickoff is set for 8:30 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 18
Sporting Park | Kansas City, KS
Attendance: 17,268
Weather: 78 degrees and partly cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jake Davis (Jayden Reid 65’), Moises Mosquera (Wyatt Meyer 65’), Or Blorian, Emir Karic; Lasse Berg Johnsen, Kwaku Agyabeng (Manu Garcia 65’), Zorhan Bassong (Jacob Bartlett 85’); Capita Capemba (Shapi Suleymanov 82’), Dejan Joveljic (C), Calvin Harris

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Ian James, Jansen Miller, Stephen Afrifa

Houston Dynamo: Jonathan Bond; Felipe Andrade (Duane Holmes 82’), Lucas Halter, Agustin Resch, Lawrence Ennali; Artur (C), Hector Herrera (Diadie Samassekou 90’), Jack McGlynn, Agustin Bouzat (Franco Negri 82’); Ezequiel Ponce (Duncan McGuire 65’), Guilherme (Ondrej Lingr 90’)

Subs Not Used: Blake Gillingham, Erik Sviatchenko, Matthew Arana, Ibrahim Aliyu

Scoring Summary:
HOU – Guilherme 10 (Jack McGlynn 5, Agustin Bouzat 2) 55’
HOU – Agustin Bouzat 1 (Unassisted) 71’

Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Lasse Berg Johnsen (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 11’
SKC – Lasse Berg Johnsen (Yellow Card/Red Card; Unsporting Behavior) 45+
HOU – Lucas Halter (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 86’

Referee: Sergii Boiko
Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Swartzel
Assistant Referee: Matthew Schwartz
Fourth Official: Drew Klemp
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: John Krill