Recap: Dejan Joveljic brace sends Sporting to sweet 2-0 win over St. Louis

Dejan Joveljic scored a scintillating second-half brace to propel Sporting Kansas City (1-5-1, 4 points) to a momentous 2-0 win over archrivals St. Louis City SC (2-3-2, 8 points) on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park.

In Kerry Zavagnin’s first match as Sporting’s interim head coach, Joveljic fired the hosts ahead in the 71st minute off a Manu Garcia assist and iced the result with an opportunistic finish on 88 minutes as Kansas City snapped a 13-game winless run in all competitions and secured victory for the first time since Sept. 18, 2024.

Saturday’s battle saw Sporting improve to 3-0-2 at home against St. Louis, giving Kansas City its first victory in the cross-state rivalry series since a memorable 2-1 playoff triumph at Children’s Mercy Park on Nov. 5, 2023. With Joveljic’s late double, Sporting also hit 400 regular season home goals scored at Children’s Mercy Park.

Sporting’s 1,100th match in club history delivered a predictably festive atmosphere as both teams approached the game with palpable fervor. The visitors were first to threaten in the 16th minute when Conrad Wallem pinged a shot off the left post, then forced an intervention from Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp before Akil Watts bundled his rebound attempt well over the bar.

All-action midfielder Jake Davis was involved in a pair of Sporting chances closer to halftime, seeing a 22-yard drive saved by Ben Lundt and teeing up Joveljic for a bouncing shot that was also corralled by the St. Louis goalkeeper. At the opposite end, Alfredo Morales and St. Louis captain Marcel Hartel brandished long-range bombs that narrowly missed the target.

Garcia was increasingly involved in the second half and clipped a dangerous ball into the area that fell to center back Joaquin Fernandez, whose venomous volley screamed wide in the 52nd minute. Seconds later, Davis tried to catch Lundt off his line with a chip shot that floated wayward into the Cauldron.

Pulskamp, earning his 50th career start for the club in all competitions, produced his finest performance of the season, highlighted by a clutch save in the 54th minute to deny Hartel from the left side of the box.

Sporting blew the roof off the stadium with a wonderfully orchestrated go-ahead goal on 71 minutes. Second-half substitute Nemanja Radoja played an incisive pass through to Garcia, who received on the half-turn and slipped an impudent ball into the box for Joveljic. The Serbian international made no mistake from there, slotting low past Lundt to make the score 1-0. It was the second time Sporting’s freshly minted Designated Players have combined this season after Garcia assisted Joveljic’s late equalizer in a 3-3 draw against Minnesota United FC on March 15.

With their tails up and momentum in favor of Sporting, left back Logan Ndenbe buccaneered down the left side and played a cutback pass to Joveljic, whose thunderous blast was blocked in traffic. Not to be denied a second time, the 25-year-old bagged his second goal of the night with two minutes remaining. Garcia latched onto a pinpoint cross from substitute Erik Thommy and rattled the woodwork with a strike that had Lundt firmly beaten, but Joveljic was on hand to steer the rebound into an empty net for his team-leading fourth goal of the campaign, all of which have come at Children’s Mercy Park. Joveljic now has 11 goals in his last nine MLS home appearances dating back to last season with the LA Galaxy.

Pulskamp still had work to do to secure his first clean sheet of the season and did well to smother Simon Becher’s piledriver two minutes into stoppage time. Joveljic then went agonizingly close to completing a hat trick, rounding the goalkeeper on the edge of the six-yard area only to see his shot blocked near the goal line by St. Louis defender Josh Yaro.

Sporting, which improved to 6-0-1 all-time in matches played on April 5, returns to Children’s Mercy Park next Sunday, April 13, to host the Portland Timbers in the club’s 29-year anniversary of its inaugural match at Arrowhead Stadium in 1996. Kickoff is slated for 1:15 p.m. CT with tickets available at SeatGeek.com and national coverage on FOX, FOX Deportes and MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 7
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 18,116
Weather: 45 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton (Nemanja Radoja 59'), Jansen Miller, Joaquin Fernandez (Dany Rosero 79'), Logan Ndenbe; Jacob Bartlett, Jake Davis, Manu Garcia; Shapi Suleymanov (Erik Thommy 79'), Dejan Joveljic (Mason Toye 90+4'), Daniel Salloi (C)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Tim Leibold, Memo Rodriguez, Stephen Afrifa, William Agada

St. Louis City SC: Ben Lundt; Josh Yaro, Henry Kessler, Joakim Nilsson (Tomas Ostrak 26'); Akil Watts, Alfredo Morales (Cedric Teuchert 80'), Marcel Hartel (C), Kyle Hiebert; Conrad Wallem, Joao Klauss, Celio Pompeu (Simon Becher 65')

Subs Not Used: Christian Olivares, Timo Baumgartl, Michael Wentzel, Joseph Zelinsky, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Emil Jaaskelainen

Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic 3 (Manu Garcia 2, Nemanja Radoja 1) 71'
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic 4 (unassisted) 88'

Misconduct Summary:
STL -- Conrad Wallem (yellow card; delaying a restart) 28'
SKC -- Jacob Bartlett (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 39'
STL -- Tomas Ostrak (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 78'
STL -- Cedric Teuchert (yellow card; unsporting behavior) Postgame

Referee: Tori Penso
Assistant Referee: Kathryn Nesbitt
Assistant Referee: Brooke Mayo
Fourth Official: Sergii Demianchuk
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Meghan Mullen