Recap: Sporting stumbles to 4-2 loss against Portland

Sporting Kansas City (1-6-1, 4 points) fell 4-2 to the Portland Timbers (4-2-2, 14 points) in a back-and-forth encounter on Sunday afternoon at Children’s Mercy Park.

The hosts bagged first-half set piece goals from Shapi Suleymanov and Dejan Joveljic, but the Timbers used a Kevin Kelsy brace, a David Ayala strike and an own goal to secure their first regular season win in Kansas City since April 2013.

Interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin named an unchanged starting XI from last weekend’s 2-0 home win over archrival St. Louis City SC, ending a streak that saw Sporting field a unique lineup in 43 consecutive matches dating back to April 2024. Among the players retaining their places was Spanish midfielder Manu Garcia, who notably logged the 300th professional appearance of his club career.

Garcia was at the heart of Sporting’s first attack inside three minutes, creating a turnover with a crunching challenge in the attacking third that allowed Joveljic to spread left to captain Daniel Salloi, whose shot was saved by Portland goalkeeper James Pantemis.

Portland surged ahead on its first thrust forward as David Da Costa’s cutback pass near the left endline was steered home by Ayala in the 10th minute. The visitors could only keep their lead for six minutes, however, as Suleymanov’s low, driven free kick from the right channel skipped through traffic and into the far corner past Pantemis. The Russian’s goal was his first since joining the club in February and marked the first time that Sporting had scored off a direct free kick since Erik Thommy buried one in a 3-2 road win over Real Salt Lake on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Timbers remained a threat and reclaimed the advantage on 26 minutes. After Ayala’s long-range shot was blocked, Kelsy settled into possession and unleashed an 18-yard blast that took a wicked deflection, caromed off the crossbar and nestled into the net. Portland could have struck once more shortly thereafter, only for Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp to produce a pivotal save to deny Antony on the breakaway.

A few minutes later, Antony was at fault at the opposite end by stomping on Suleymanov’s foot inside Portland’s own penalty area. The infraction initially went unpunished, but VAR intervened and referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere promptly pointed to the spot. Joveljic made no mistake from there, dispatching an ice-cold Panenka down the middle in the 33rd minute for his fifth goal of the season, third most in MLS. Joveljic, who becomes the only player to score at least five goals in each of the last four MLS campaigns, has a sizzling 12 goals in his last 10 MLS home appearances dating back to last year with the LA Galaxy.

A sloppy start to the second half saw Sporting concede twice in quick succession. Kelsy notched his second goal of the day with a cool finish off a giveaway before Finn Surman’s hopeful ball across the face of goal was inadvertently bundled into the back of the net by Sporting center back Jansen Miller, making the score 4-2 after 54 minutes.

Pulskamp conjured a smart save in the 62nd minute to thwart Da Costa, then Pantemis made an equally vital save by casting aside Jake Davis’ breakaway attempt in the 67th minute. Portland’s keeper was called into action once more with 11 minutes remaining, spreading himself to repel Joveljic’s side-footed effort after the Serbian international had done superbly to corral Salloi’s through ball and beat Portland defender Kamal Miller.

Pulskamp’s best save of the day came in the 89th minute—a leaping stop to touch Jonathan Rodriguez’s curler over the crossbar—before Sporting substitute Stephen Afrifa did well to earn the hosts a penalty in second-half stoppage time. A frustrating afternoon was punctuated, however, when Joveljic’s penalty was palmed away by the outstretched Pantemis.

Sporting will look to rebound on Saturday with a visit to the San Jose Earthquakes (3-4-1, 10 points) at PayPal Park. Kickoff is slated for 9:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 8
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 17,898
Weather: 82 degrees and mostly sunny

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton (Memo Rodriguez 69'), Jansen Miller, Joaquin Fernandez, Logan Ndenbe (Tim Leibold 69'); Jacob Bartlett (Stephen Afrifa 88'), Jake Davis, Manu Garcia (William Agada 88'); Shapi Suleymanov (Erik Thommy 55'), Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi (C)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Dany Rosero, Zorhan Bassong, Mason Toye

Portland Timbers: James Pantemis; Juan Mosquera, Finn Surman, Kamal Miller, Ian Smith (Claudio Bravo 46'); Diego Chara (C) (Cristhian Paredes 69'), David Ayala; Santiago Moreno (Jonathan Rodriguez 69'), David Da Costa, Antony (Ariel Lassiter 76'); Kevin Kelsy (Felipe Mora 76')

Subs Not Used: Maxime Crepeau, Eric Miller, Dario Zuparic, Joao Ortiz

Scoring Summary:
POR -- David Ayala 1 (David Da Costa 3) 10'
SKC -- Shapi Suleymanov 1 (unassisted) 16'
POR -- Kevin Kelsy 2 (David Ayala 1) 26'
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic 5 (penalty kick) 33'
POR -- Kevin Kelsy 3 (Antony 1) 49'
POR -- Own Goal (Jansen Miller) 54'

Misconduct Summary:
POR -- Ian Smith (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 22'
POR -- Antony (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 28'
SKC -- Joaquin Fernandez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 45+6'
POR -- Diego Chara (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 58'
POR -- Ariel Lassiter (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 78'

Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere
Assistant Referee: Jeremy Kieso
Assistant Referee: Eric Weisbrod
Fourth Official: Allen Chapman
VAR: Shawn Tehini
AVAR: Joshua Patlak