Sporting KC Complete their Comeback over Austin FC

Sporting Kansas City hit the road again trying to string together consecutive results for the first time in 2026. They were coming off an outstanding 3-1 win over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday and rolled out the same 11 players to take Austin FC in Q2 Stadium. It’s only the second time that SKC did the same lineup in consecutive games. The last time? The 6-0 loss against the Portland Timbers last weekend.

One part of the SKC lineup was Stefan Cleveland, who made his fourth straight start. He spent the last two years in Austin, so it would be a chance to show they shouldn’t have traded him to Kansas City.

On the other side of the pitch, former Sporting KC midfielder, Ilie Sanchez, got the start against his former club also.

The game started a bit slow, but finally in the 11th minute, the high press nearly paid off, and Sporting KC created a dangerous opportunity when Dejan Joveljic got the ball from Brad Stuver who was well outside his six-yard box. Unfortunately, SKC couldn’t get off a chance. They turned it over but won it back quickly when Calvin Harris weaved through traffic but didn’t fully connect with his shot and Stuver pushed it out for a corner kick.

In the 18th minute Jake Davis had his second consecutive foul and was already given a warning by the referee that another could lead to a card after he came in late on Biro. While that Davis action was a foul, KC tried to hit a cross-field switch from Harris to Capita who would get called for a ridiculous foul when he cleverly let the defender fall to the ground. To make it worse, Capita was kicked after the fall and that was ignored.

In the 23rd minute, Harris made another dribbly run up the field, cut inside and his shot was deflected just wide for a corner kick. Unfortunately, it once again came to nothing. In the 27th, after Harris beat three players, the ball worked up the left side to Jayden Reid. He sent in a cross to Capita who hit it first time and it went just wide of Stuver’s near post.

A minute later, after a turnover from Davis, Capita was forced to foul to stop a counter, and he found himself as the first player to pick up a yellow card. He would be the only player booked in the first half.

In the 33rd, Zorhan Bassong hit a Maradona to fight off a defender and laid it off for Taylor Calheira who had his shot blocked. Immediately after, Bassong laced a shot that went a bit wide of the post from the corner kick. Jake Davis was quickly called for a third foul when Owen Wolff simply slipped to the ground without contact. He slipped a minute later, and the ref finally swallowed his whistle.

A beautiful series of passes and moves eventually ended with Reid being fouled and setting up a 41st minute Lasse Berg Johnsen free kick. He put his laces through it and forced a save for Stuver. Capita found the rebound and tried to cross it in, but it was deflected out for another corner.

Despite how dominant Sporting KC were, it would be Austin FC that would strike first. Mikkel Desler was on the end of a cross and was left wide open to blast the ball into the back of the net. Some sort of SKC miscommunication left Reid and Wyatt Meyer on the same player and the teams would head into the half with Austin FC up 1-0.

To start the half, Shapi Suleymanov replaced Capita, who came in nursing a knee injury. To start the second half, Davis found himself quickly in the book for a persistent infringement yellow after he committed his fourth foul.

Even though Jake earned his yellow Mikkel Desler stayed out of the book despite a high boot and putting studs into Reid. The play was checked for a red, but in the end only a common foul was given.

Sporting KC stayed on the front foot but couldn’t generate a chance. In the 56th, Austin earned an odd man rush and Facundo Torres was nice enough to take a heavy touch and kill the attack.

A minute later, Austin was finally in the book for a tough challenge from behind into Harris by Svatok. Shortly after, Ilie found himself in the book too for stepping on Dejan’s heel and pull him down too. That was the beginning of a lot of chippy play. Desler, who should have gotten a yellow, made contact with Reid while he was doing a Maradona and he went to the ground eliciting complaints of a dive. Austin then nicked the ball off Bassong who earned a yellow of his own.

Bassong and Davis then subbed off, with Manu Garcia and Justin Reynolds replacing them. It was definitely an offensive move to leave the two strikers on the field and leaving Manu some defensive responsibilities. A move that would ultimately pay off.

Sporting KC had a series of chances after they made changes. First, Lasse chipped a lovely pass that was just inches too far for Harris to get a full connection and Stuver saved it.

Then Dejan did a delightful dummy to catch the defense off guard and it fell to Shapi. He should have hit it first time on his right foot, but he is so left footed that he had to cut it back and it gave the defense time to make the save.

SKC were starting to get stretched and making sloppy plays. Harris turned it over in the 77th and returning Designated Player, Brandon Vazquez, was wide open but it was too close to Cleveland who pushed it over the bar.

But Sporting’s persistence finally paid off. After numerous shots, it was the sub, Garcia, who would lace a ball into the back of the net!

Sporting wanted more though and it wouldn’t take long. They stayed on the front foot, and the ball would fall to another sub, Afrifa, who put the ball into the upper 90, off the crossbar, and in! 2-1 Sporting KC.

KC would have to hold on for another 10 minutes plus stoppage time. The game stayed chippy until the end too. Jayden Nelson, who was on a yellow, shoved Justin Reynolds into the boards but avoided a second card.

After that, Austin remained on the attack and were going crazy asking for a penalty kick when a shot glanced off Lasse Berg Johnsen’s arm and over the goal line, but he had them firmly tucked to his body and the ref waived off the penalty.

SKC kept trying to put the game away but let Austin continue to push forward. In what felt like a final tackle, Lasse won a big challenge, but Dejan tried to dribble the defense instead of heading to the corner. Austin pushed up the field and Reid cleared it out for a throw. But so many players were down from the various challenges, the ref just blew the final whistle instead of allowing a throw. The Austin crowd wasn’t pleased, but the Kansas City players and coaches broke immediately into celebration.

Kansas City picked up back-to-back wins for the first time since 2024. They play just one more time before the World Cup break. New York Red Bulls come to town next weekend.