Daniel Salloi’s two goals and two assists lifted Sporting Kansas City (2-6-1, 7 points) to an astonishing 5-3 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes (3-5-1, 10 points) on Saturday at PayPal Park.
The eight-goal thriller saw Sporting bag five goals in an away game for the third time in club history and the first time since prevailing 5-1 at San Jose on Sept. 15, 2018. The historic performance included a rampant first-half stretch in which Sporting scored three goals in a seven-minute span of a single half for only the second time in an MLS game.
Sporting midfielder Manu Garcia was also devastating in attack, tallying two assists in addition to notching his first goal for the club, while defender Logan Ndenbe opened the scoring and German playmaker Erik Thommy came off the bench in the second half to record a goal and an assist. Between the posts, goalkeeper John Pulskamp celebrated his 24th birthday by becoming the first Kansas City goalkeeper to assist a goal in an MLS match in over 20 years.
Interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin made one change to Sporting’s lineup from a 4-2 home loss to the Portland Timbers last Sunday as Serbian midfielder Nemanja Radoja replaced Jake Davis, who was sidelined with a minor hamstring injury. With Davis out, Pulskamp became the only Sporting player to start in all 11 matches this year across all competitions, while Salloi donned the captain’s armband in his 218th regular season appearance, tying Preki for eighth most in club history.
An unforgettable encounter entertained from the start as San Jose threatened twice in the early stages. Pulskamp produced his first save on a grounded effort from Josef Martinez at the top of the box before Sporting midfielder Jacob Bartlett sprawled low for a crucial block on Vitor Costa’s piledriver on the left side of the area. Pulskamp then did superbly to deny San Jose dangerman Cristian Espinoza in the 14th minute, spreading himself to repel a right-footed attempt from close range.
Sporting’s first-half fireworks show burst to life in the 18th minute. After Salloi and Dejan Joveljic combined neatly on the edge of the box, the latter played a ball down the left side of the area for Ndenbe, whose rapturous strike found the far right corner for his first goal since netting twice in Sporting’s famous series win over St. Louis City SC in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. Joveljic’s assist was his first in a Kansas City uniform and gives him 10 total goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 11 MLS appearances against San Jose.
Only two minutes later, Sporting doubled their advantage when Pulskamp played an inch-perfect long ball over the top for Salloi, whose velvety first touch positioned him for a ruthless finish past San Jose goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. The play gave Salloi 50 regular season goals in his MLS career, made Pulskamp the sixth goalkeeper in team history to record an assist in an MLS match—the first since Bo Oshoniyi on April 2, 2005—and vaulted Sporting to 1,600 goals scored all-time in all competitions.
Zavagnin’s side hit dreamland in the 24th minute by surging ahead 3-0. Isolated on the right wing, Shapi Suleymanov slipped an incisive pass into the penalty area for Garcia, who slotted low into the corner for his first MLS goal. Suleymanov now has three assists on the season and 50 assists in his professional career. Radoja tabbed a secondary assist on the play and now has nine assists in his MLS career, five of which have come against San Jose.
The Earthquakes entered the weekend with the top-scoring offense in MLS and responded with a pair of goals before intermission. Martinez tucked home at close range off a through ball from defender Rodrigues in the 30th minute before Chicho Arango steered a header into the back of the net after Espinoza’s set piece delivery was glanced onward by defender Daniel Munie. Kansas City suffered another unfortunate blow on the cusp of halftime when center back Joaquin Fernandez was forced to exit with a hamstring injury, prompting Robert Voloder to enter as his replacement.
The visitors survived a nervy moment on 49 minutes when Vitor Costa had a pair of shots blocked at the back post following Espinoza’s tantalizing delivery into the mixer. San Jose went close once more in the 62nd minute as Niko Tsakiris uncorked an 18-yard shot that deflected and struck the top of the crossbar. Not long later, Tsakiris’ free kick found Munie on the edge of the six-yard area, but his bouncing header lacked the pace and precision to beat Pulskamp.
Sporting found another gear in the final quarter of the game, reclaiming a two-goal cushion in the 73rd minute. Thommy exploited a pocket of space on the right side and flashed a low ball across the face of goal for Salloi to tuck past Edwards for his second goal of the contest. It was Salloi’s fifth multi-goal game in the MLS regular season, his first since May 2022 and enough to vault him into a tie for seventh most in club history.
Thommy added the proverbial icing to the cake in the 85th minute, finishing off a sublimely manufactured team goal with a left-footed strike from 15 yards. The German’s second goal of the year culminated a silky-smooth buildup in which Garcia and Salloi both tallied assists. Garcia has a team-leading four assists this season, while Salloi tabbed two goals and two assists in a game for the first time in his professional career.
San Jose salvaged a consolation goal in second-half stoppage time when Martinez was taken down inside the penalty area. Arango subsequently stepped to the spot and buried his penalty kick down the middle to make the score 5-3 and close the curtains on an instant classic in the Bay Area.
Winners in two of their last three matches, Sporting stays on the road next weekend with a visit to Eastern Conference contender FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 9
PayPal Park | San Jose, California
Attendance: 14,167
Weather: 61 degrees and sunny
Score | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
Sporting Kansas City (2-6-1, 7 points) | 3 | 2 | 5 |
San Jose Earthquakes (3-5-1, 10 points) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton, Jansen Miller, Joaquin Fernandez (Robert Voloder 45+2'), Logan Ndenbe; Jacob Bartlett, Manu Garcia (Memo Rodriguez 90+1'), Nemanja Radoja (Zorhan Bassong 67'); Shapi Suleymanov (Erik Thommy 68'), Dejan Joveljic (William Agada 90+1'), Daniel Salloi (C)
Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Andrew Brody, Tim Leibold, Stephen Afrifa
San Jose Earthquakes: Earl Edwards Jr.; Rodrigues (Max Floriani 88'), Daniel Munie, Dave Romney; Cristian Espinoza (C), Beau Leroux (Preston Judd 81'), Mark-Anthony Kaye (Ian Harkes 46'), Vitor Costa (Ousseni Bouda 78'); Niko Tsakiris (Amahl Pellegrino 78'), Josef Martinez, Chicho Arango
Subs Not Used: Francesco Montali, Nick Lima, Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts
Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Logan Ndenbe 1 (Dejan Joveljic 1, Daniel Salloi 1) 18'
SKC -- Daniel Salloi 3 (John Pulskamp 1) 20'
SKC -- Manu Garcia 1 (Shapi Suleymanov 3, Nemanja Radoja 2) 24'
SJ -- Josef Martinez 5 (Rodrigues 1) 30'
SJ -- Chicho Arango 5 (Daniel Munie 1, Cristian Espinoza 6) 42'
SKC -- Daniel Salloi 4 (Erik Thommy 1, Manu Garcia 3) 73'
SKC -- Erik Thommy 2 (Daniel Salloi 2, Manu Garcia 4) 85'
SJ -- Chicho Arango 6 (penalty kick) 90+4'
Misconduct Summary:
SJ -- Mark-Anthony Kaye (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 36'
SKC -- Logan Ndenbe (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 41'
SJ -- Rodrigues (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 52'
SKC -- John Pulskamp (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90+2'
STAT | SKC | SJ |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 8 | 22 |
Shots on Goal | 5 | 6 |
Saves | 3 | 0 |
Fouls | 15 | 13 |
Offsides | 2 | 7 |
Corner Kicks | 0 | 6 |
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Assistant Referee: Chris Elliot
Assistant Referee: Kevin Lock
Fourth Official: Brandon Stevis
VAR: David Barrie
AVAR: Tom Supple
