Sporting Kansas City (1-4-1, 4 pts.) fell to a 3-1 defeat in opposition to Real Salt Lake (4-1-1, 13 pts.) at America First Field on Saturday afternoon.
Head coach Raphael Wicky made two adjustments to the group’s defeat in opposition to Colorado prior to the worldwide break as Ian James changed the injured Wyatt Meyer (ankle) and Justin Reynolds entered the lineup instead of Jacob Bartlett, pushing Jake Davis again into the midfield.
Sporting obtained off to a nightmare begin with RSL opening the scoring with the primary shot of the match. USMNT midfielder Diego Luna was picked out 20 yards from aim and he did the remaining, slamming a left-footed shot into the underside nook to give the hosts an early lead.
Looking to muster a response, Sporting went shut within the 11th minute when Calvin Harris sprung away down the left wing however his highly effective ball into the realm flashed simply over the bar. Harris continued to threaten and went even nearer within the 17th minute, meandering by a myriad of RSL challenges within the midfield earlier than taking intention from simply contained in the penalty space, forcing a sensible save out of Rafael Cabral within the Salt Lake aim.
Moments later, Zavier Gozo nearly doubled the lead for the house facet however John Pulskamp stood up nicely to beat away his highly effective drive from shut vary. RSL continued to pile on the stress and rattled the woodwork within the 22nd minute when Luna’s cross picked out Sergi Solans inches from aim however may solely pressure the ball onto the crossbar.
Solans and the crossbar would get reacquainted within the 41st minute when the Spaniard lashed an effort from 12 yards off the woodwork after choosing up a neat cutback. The 23-year-old made it a hat-trick of first-half misses within the 43rd minute when he was performed in one-on-one with Pulskamp, however the Sporting ‘keeper did nicely to unfold himself and block the try.
Video Assistant Referee Ismir Pekmic tried to spare Solans’ blushes by initiating a video evaluation for Ethan Bartlow’s problem because the ahead was capturing, however heart referee Tim Ford declined to change his on-field determination of no foul after viewing the problem on the monitor.
Sporting created a golden alternative within the opening moments of the second half when Manu Garcia despatched Reynolds in behind the RSL backline however the fitting again dragged his effort simply broad after composing himself in entrance of aim.
After a profligate first half, Solans made no mistake along with his first probability within the second stanza as he doubled RSL’s lead within the 55th minute after receiving a well-timed go from Gozo on the counterattack.
Sporting responded brilliantly and lower the deficit in half 4 minutes later by Dejan Joveljic’s fourth aim of the season. After some intricate build-up down the fitting wing involving Garcia, Davis and Reynolds, the latter picked out Joveljic on the sting of the realm who buried an excellent half-volley off the put up to make the rating 2-1.
Despite some enterprising moments into the ultimate third, Sporting was unable to construct on Joveljic’s aim and RSL ultimately reclaimed their two-goal cushion when Gozo struck a stupendous volley into the highest nook from the sting of the realm to seal the factors for the hosts within the 82nd minute.
Sporting returns residence subsequent weekend to host the San Jose Earthquakes at Sporting Park on Saturday, April 11. Kickoff is ready for 7:30 p.m. CT on Apple TV, whereas the sport shall be accessible on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM. Tickets can be found through SeatGeek.com.
2026 MLS Season | Game 6
America First Field | Sandy, UT
Attendance: 20,290
Weather: 59 levels and clear
Sporting Kansas City 1-3 Real Salt Lake
|
Score |
1 |
2 |
F |
|
Sporting Kansas City (1-4-1, 4 factors) |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Real Salt Lake (4-1-1, 13 factors) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Ian James (Zorhan Bassong 64’), Jansen Miller, Ethan Bartlow (Diego Borges 46’); Justin Reynolds (Jacob Bartlett 64’), Jake Davis, Lasse Berg Johnsen, Shapi Suleymanov; Manu Garcia, Dejan Joveljic (C), Calvin Harris (Stephen Afrifa 74’)
Subs Not Used: Jack Kortkamp, Kwaku Agyabeng, Cielo Tschantret, Taylor Calheira
Real Salt Lake: Rafael Cabral (C); Philip Quinton, Justen Glad, Lukas Engel; Zavier Gozo (Jesus Barea 92+), Noel Caliskan, Stijn Spierings (Griffin Dillon 84’), Alexandros Katranis (Sam Junqua 72’); Diego Luna (Dominik Marczuk 84’), Sergi Solans (Victor Olatunji 72’), Morgan Guilavogui
Subs Not Used: Max Kerkvliet, Luca Moisa, Pablo Ruiz
Scoring Summary:
RSL – Diego Luna 1 (Noel Caliskan 2, Zavier Gozo 2) 4’
RSL – Sergi Solans 3 (Zavier Gozo 3, Morgan Guilavogi 3) 55’
SKC – Dejan Joveljic 4 (Justin Reynolds 1, Jake Davis 2) 59’
RSL – Zavier Gozo 2 (Noel Caliskan 3, Stijn Spierings 1) 82’
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Morgan Guilavogui (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 88’
Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Referee: Adam Garner
Assistant Referee: Stephen McGonagle
Fourth Official: Trevor Wiseman
VAR: Ismir Pekmic
AVAR: John Krill