Sporting KC loses early lead to Austin FC. There are MLS playoff implications

Things seemed to be going Sporting KC’s way in the first half of a Sunday night matchup with fellow Western Conference playoff hopeful Austin FC.

But an early lead slipped away by halftime — and eventually turned into a frustrating 2-1 loss for Sporting at Children’s Mercy Park.

“It’s kind of a microcosm of the season,” interim coach Kerry Zavagnin said after the game. “You give up a goal that’s very much preventable, and set pieces have done us in over the course of the year.”

The loss drops Sporting to 7-16-6 with five games remaining. SKC’s point total (27 points) leaves the team eight points off the playoff line. Sporting must pass at least four teams in the standings to earn a playoff spot.

Sunday night’s loss also was just the 10th time in 29 games that Sporting has jumped out to an early lead.

“I think we started off well, and I think the tempo for the game started out well,” Zavagnin said.

Dejan Joveljic scored his 17th goal of the season just 16 minutes in. He did so by converting his fifth penalty kick of the season. Sporting was awarded the spot kick after a video review revealed Shapi Suleymanov had been fouled while dribbling in on goal.

Joveljic stepped up and placed the penalty kick into his right-hand corner, while goalkeeper Brad Stuver dove the wrong way.

Joveljic now owns the third-highest goal total for a season in club history. Sporting’s big summer signing is one goal away from tying Preki for second in that category.

Dom Dwyer’s record of 23 seems a bit far off with only five games remaining.

Sporting limited Austin FC’s opportunities for chance creation Sunday. Austin FC, the away side, took just three shots in the first half, but a simple long ball was the undoing of Sporting’s back line.

Guilherme Biro’s pass over the top to Owen Wolff, son of Sporting KC legend Josh Wolff, was overplayed by SKC’s Robert Voloder. Wolff took the space Voloder gave him to get on the end of the pass and nick a touch on the ball. That opened up a shooting chance, which Wolff finished expertly.

It was almost all Sporting KC in the second half. Austin FC chose to bunker in and let Sporting attack — and the strategy appeared to work.

“We had a lot of the ball tonight,” Zavagnin said. “But I don’t necessarily think we created incredible chances with it. I think we leave a lot to be desired from the game knowing that with a better performance, we could have gotten a better result.”

Sporting KC’s best chance of the second half came when Daniel Salloi’s shot was parried by Stuver. Erik Thommy could not get to the rebound in time to take advantage of an empty net, and his shot was blocked by a defender out for a corner kick.

After the ensuing corner, Sporting didn’t take a foul to stop Austin FC from breaking on a counterattack. The visitors would’ve scored if not for a brilliant diving save by John Pulskamp.

But it didn’t quite matter in the end. CJ Fodrey got to the ball quicker than anyone on an Austin FC corner kick, and his header in the 82nd minute was the winning goal.

Sporting’s best chance in stoppage time came when Joveljic dribbled through the Austin defense, but Stuver saved his shot.

The loss effectively puts an end to Sporting’s playoff hopes. While not mathematically eliminated, Sporting KC’s max point total now is 42, and there are plenty of tough matches coming up on the schedule.

Performances like Sunday’s won’t get the job done.

“That’s why we are in the position we are right now,” Daniel Salloi said. “There’s been too many games like (this). We just have to work on it and finish the season strong. ...

“There’s going to be changes in the offseason. We just have to focus on these last couple games, us as players, and then the rest is out of our control.”

Those changes will likely start with a new chief soccer officer.

Andrew Wiebe, the sideline reporter for tonight’s match on Apple TV+, reported that Sporting is in the final interview phase for its CSO position. The job is an executive role in charge of soccer operations that Peter Vermes held for many years at Sporting KC alongside his coaching responsibilities, until he was let go in March.

A hire is expected to be announced by the end of the season.

Up next: Sporting KC travels to Salt Lake City next Saturday to face Real Salt Lake at 8:30 p.m. Central.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published September 7, 2025 at 8:54 PM.