Recap: Sporting suffers late 1-0 loss to Austin in MLS opener

Sporting Kansas City (0-1-0, 0 points) opened the 2025 MLS regular season with a late 1-0 loss to Austin FC (1-0-0, 3 points) on a dreary Saturday night at Q2 Stadium. Austin winger Osman Bukari nodded home the 76th-minute winner to hand Sporting its fifth defeat in as many visits to the Texas capital.

Playing the second of four competitive matches in 11 days to begin the season, Sporting fielded a lineup featuring three changes from Wednesday’s 1-0 home loss to Inter Miami CF in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Center back Joaquin Fernandez slotted in for Dany Rosero, left back Logan Ndenbe replaced Tim Leibold and striker William Agada entered for Dejan Joveljic. Sporting’s midfield trio of Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodriguez and 19-year-old Academy product Jacob Bartlett remained unchanged, with Bartlett making his first career MLS appearance after landing his club debut against Miami at midweek.

In the earliest regular season start date for both clubs, Austin translated an early edge in possession into three fleeting chances as newly acquired striker Brandon Vazquez forced a comfortable save from John Pulskamp, Guilherme Biro headed wide off a teasing cross and Owen Wolff dragged a long-range effort narrowly amiss near the 20th minute.

The best chance of the first half fell to the visitors, who went agonizingly close to opening the scoring in the 37th minute. Forward Daniel Salloi raced in behind the Austin backline, received a clever lob pass from Agada and sent a low drive goalward from the right side of the box, prompting a smart save from Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver. Agada was on hand for the rebound but sent his 18-yard effort over the crossbar with a gaping net at his mercy.

Sporting’s 2024 team MVP created another good opportunity on the stroke of intermission as Jake Davis, making his 50th career regular season start, curled a tantalizing delivery to the far post. However, neither Agada nor Ndenbe could steer the ball on target.

Manager Peter Vermes introduced his freshly minted Designated Players at halftime as Joveljic and MLS debutant Manu Garcia entered the fray. Garcia’s undeniable quality was on full display on 57 minutes when the Spaniard spun his way out of pressure in the defensive third and carried the ball 50 yards before seeing his shot from the top of the box smothered by Stuver.

Austin wasted a good look early in the second period when Dani Pereira hammered his shot wayward off a Vazquez layoff pass near the penalty spot, but the hosts would ultimately cash in with 76 minutes on the clock. Wolff’s in-swinging corner kick flashed across the face of goal without a touch before skipping to Bukari, whose header planted into the right corner of the net to break the deadlock. VAR TJ Zablocki took an extended look at the play to see if Bukari’s extended hand touched the ball in flight, but the goal was upheld and Sporting faced a 1-0 deficit.

Two minutes after Vazquez rattled the woodwork for Austin, Sporting newcomer Shapi Suleymanov entered as an 84th-minute substitute for his club and MLS debut. The Russian winger involved himself in Sporting’s late wave of pressure, which could have resulted in an equalizer two minutes into stoppage time. With Suleymanov and Garcia standing over a free kick on the left wing, the latter sent a pinpoint service into the mixer for second-half substitute Rosero, whose leaping header glanced marginally wide.

With Week 1 of the MLS campaign in the rearview mirror, Sporting will travel from Austin to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Tuesday’s decisive second leg against Miami in Round One of the Concacaf Champions Cup. Miami takes a 1-0 aggregate lead into the contest, which will kick off at 7 p.m. CT with an English-language broadcast on FS2 and a Spanish-language livestream on Vix. The series winner will advance to face Jamaican side Cavalier FC in the two-legged Round of 16 on March 6 and 13.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 1
Q2 Stadium | Austin, Texas
Attendance: 20,738
Weather: 40 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Jake Davis, Joaquin Fernandez (Dany Rosero 72), Robert Voloder, Logan Ndenbe; Jacob Bartlett (Manu Garcia 46'), Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodriguez (Zorhan Bassong 73'); Daniel Salloi, William Agada (Dejan Joveljic 46'), Erik Thommy (C) (Shapi Suleymanov 84')

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Ian James, Tim Leibold, Stephen Afrifa

Austin FC: Brad Stuver; Mikkel Desler (CJ Fodrey 90'), Julio Cascante, Brendan Hines-Ike, Guilherme Biro; Ilie Sanchez (C) (Besard Sabovic 78'), Dani Pereira, Owen Wolff (Diego Rubio 78'); Jader Obrian (Jon Gallagher 72'), Brandon Vazquez, Osman Bukari

Subs Not Used: Stefan Cleveland, Zan Kolmanic, Oleksandr Svatok, Leo Vaisanen, Nicolas Dubersarsky

Scoring Summary:
ATX -- Osman Bukari 1 (Owen Wolff 1) 76'

Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Joaquin Fernandez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 35'
ATX -- Mikkel Desler (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 36'
ATX -- Ilie Sanchez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 58'
SKC -- Nemanja Radoja (yellow card; delaying a restart) 60'
ATX -- Brandon Vazquez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 62'
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 85'
SKC -- Jake Davis (yellow card; dissent) 90+3'

Referee: Chris Penso
Assistant Referee: Cameron Blanchard
Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Greeson
Fourth Official: David Barrie
VAR: TJ Zablocki
AVAR: Elton Garcia