Recap: Russell strikes as Sporting suffers heartbreaking 2-1 loss at Colorado Rapids

Sporting Kansas City (4-13-5, 17 pts.) fell to a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat against the Colorado Rapids (10-8-4, 34 pts.) at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Thursday night. Captain Johnny Russell gave Sporting the lead early in the second half but Colorado responded with an equalizer midway through the second period before scoring a 94^th-minute penalty kick to condemn Sporting to defeat.

Navigating a stretch of seven matches in 22 days, Manager Peter Vermes made two changes to the team that topped Austin FC over the weekend. Zorhan Bassong stepped in at left back to replace Tim Leibold while Willy Agada deputized for Alan Pulido up front.

Sporting KC almost took the lead in the 16^th minute in opportunistic fashion as Russell latched onto a weak header from Sam Vines back toward his own goalkeeper but Russell’s lobbed finish over the onrushing Zack Steffen landed in the side-netting.

Tim Melia was called into action for the first time in the 22^nd minute when he got down low to repel Omir Fernandez’s low effort from just inside the area. Moments later, Colorado jumped on a turnover deep in the Sporting half and fashioned a chance for Cole Bassett but his effort skipped narrowly wide.

The Rapids continued to threaten and went agonizingly close to finding the breakthrough in the 30^th minute. Fernandez sent a cross into the area that Robert Voloder could only deflect into the path of Rafael Navarro but the in-form Colorado striker put his improvised effort inches wide of the post.

It was Sporting’s turn to spurn a golden opportunity in the 35^th minute as a rehearsed corner kick routine resulted in Bassong picking out Erik Thommy in front of goal but the German midfielder could only force the ball wide following an awkward bounce.

The Rapids went through the gears in the 42^nd minute with Calvin Harris slipping Djordje Mihailovic through on goal but the Colorado star couldn’t add to his nine goals on the season as he blazed over under pressure from Dany Rosero.

Sporting made three changes at the half, introducing Leibold, Pulido and Daniel Salloi – who was making his first appearance since June 8 following an ankle injury. The changes almost paid immediate dividends as less than a minute into the second period, Thommy cut the ball back to Pulido who struck the crossbar from a difficult angle.

Two minutes later, Sporting found the go-ahead goal with a captain’s strike from Russell. Salloi sprayed it wide to Leibold down the left wing and his cross was diverted by Thommy into the path of Russell who finished into the side-netting on his weaker right foot for his fourth goal of the campaign and the 150^th goal of his professional career.

After approximately 20 minutes holding the lead, Sporting conceded the equalizer in the 69^th minute as substitute Oliver Larraz found space inside the Sporting area to head home Mihailovic’s free kick delivery.

The Rapids thought they’d taken the lead in the 81^st minute when Mihailovic stood up a tantalizing cross to the far post which picked out Navarro but Melia produced some vintage heroics to claw the Brazilian’s header out from under his own bar and keep the game deadlocked.

With the game seemingly heading for a draw, Colorado burst forward in second-half stoppage time with substitute Darren Yapi drawing a penalty kick on Melia. Mihailovic stepped up and converted the spot kick to add to his assist earlier in the match and inflict heartbreak on Sporting.

Sporting KC returns home this weekend to take on FC Dallas at Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday night in the first of back-to-back home matches against the Texas side – first in the regular season and three days later in the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV as well as Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish) on the radio. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.

2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 22
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park | Commerce City, CO
Attendance: 18,183
Weather: 78 degrees and sunny

Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Kayden Pierre, Dany Rosero, Robert Voloder, Zorhan Bassong (Tim Leibold 46’); Nemanja Radoja, Jake Davis (Memo Rodriguez 82’), Erik Thommy; Johnny Russell (C) (Khiry Shelton 70’), Willy Agada (Alan Pulido 46’), Marinos Tzionis (Daniel Salloi 46’)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Andreu Fontas, Stephen Afrifa, Alenis Vargas

Colorado Rapids: Zack Steffen; Keegan Rosenberry (C), Lalas Abubakar (Darren Yapi 86’), Andreas Maxso, Sam Vines; Connor Ronan, Cole Bassett, Calvin Harris (Oliver Larraz 57’), Djordje Mihailovic, Omir Fernandez (Jonathan Lewis 69’); Rafael Navarro

Subs Not Used: Adam Beaudry, Sebastian Anderson, Michael Edwards, Jasper Loffelsend

Scoring Summary:
SKC – Johnny Russell 4 (Erik Thommy 3, Tim Leibold 2) 48’
COL – Oliver Larraz 1 (Djordje Mihailovic 9) 69’
COL – Djordje Mihailovic 10 (Penalty Kick) 94+

Misconduct Summary:
COL – Calvin Harris (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 54’
SKC – Nemanja Radoja (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 73’
COL – Djordje Mihailovic (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 87’
SKC – Tim Melia (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 93+

Referee: Sergii Boiko
Assistant Referee: Jose Da Silva
Assistant Referee: Ben Pilgrim
Fourth Official: Matthew Thompson
VAR: Sorin Stoica
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert