Sporting KC attempt at a comeback falls short in Atlanta

Sporting Kansas City fell 2-1 to Atlanta United FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Sunday evening. With it appearing the Dejan Joveljić era may be over with reports of the star striker transferring to Seattle Sounders, Sporting KC head coach Raphaël Wicky used Taylor Calheira and Shapi Suleymanov up top. The other change to the lineup from the midweek draw against St Louis was Moisés Mosquera back after serving his red card suspension.

Wicky addressed the reports of Joveljić leaving immediately in the post-game press conference. “I know there has been a lot of speculations about Dejan. But at the moment, nothing is finalized. So I thought, or we thought, it was best not to include him in tonight’s game. So if there is something to announce in the upcoming hours or days, the club will do that.”

Atlanta’s starting lineup.

Atlanta scored first in the 13th minute when Miguel Almirón dribbled down Sporting KC’s right side. Mosquera was in position to defend, but Almirón’s dribbling twisted the SKC defender up off balance. Almirón then chipped a pass across the box to an undefended Tomás Jacob running to the back post, where he easily put it in the back of the net.

Atlanta doubled the in the 24th minute. Almirón took the corner kick and placed the ball to the near post. Elías Báez headed the ball down in to the box where Fafà Picault was running free from defenders and he flicked it in the SKC goal.

Right before halftime, SKC right back Jake Davis was subbed because of injury after a collision in the attack. Justin Reynolds replaced Davis.

In the second half, the tide shifted more in Kansas City’s favor. Atlanta dominated the first half but in the second SKC had more possession and shots, and it did pay off in the 70th minute. Calvin Harris went down the left side and played the ball into the box. Jayden Reid and Stephen Afrifa fought for the ball until Afrifa pounced and released a shot to the side netting past Lucas Hoyos. The goal brought the visitors back within one and spurred more attempts for SKC.

Sporting KC could not complete the comeback and fell on the road. It was the third game in a little over a week. A busy and emotional week that saw them lose at Colorado, draw rival St. Louis at home, and lose two Designated Players from their roster.

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jake Davis (Justin Reynodls 47+), Moises Mosquera, Wyatt Meyer, Emir Karic (Jayden Reid 62’); Capita Capemba (Jacob Bartlett 87’), Lasse Berg Johnsen, Zorhan Bassong (C), Calvin Harris; Shapi Suleymanov, Taylor Calheira (Stephen Afrifa 62’)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Diego Borges, Ian James, Jansen Miller, Kwaku Agyabeng

Atlanta United: Lucas Hoyos; Tomas Jacob, Junior Alonso, Paulo Diaz (Stian Gregersen 73’), Elias Baez; Adrian Gill (Will Reilly 62’) Cooper Sanchez (Steven Alzate 77’), Tristan Muyumba; Alexey Miranchuk, Fafa Picault (Luke Brennan 62’ (Matthew Edwards 77’)), Miguel Almiron (C)

Subs Not Used: Jayden Hibbert, Ronald Hernandez, Enea Mihaj, Sergio Santos

Scoring Summary:
ATL – Tomas Jacob 3 (Miguel Almiron 5, Cooper Sanchez 5) 13’
ATL – Fafa Picault 3 (Elias Baez 4, Miguel Almiron 6) 24’
SKC – Stephen Afrifa 2 (Unassisted) 70’

Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Emir Karic (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 22’
ATL – Luke Brennan (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 72’
ATL – Elias Baez (Yellow Card; Time Wasting) 76’

Referee: Tori Penso
Assistant Referee:  Brooke Mayo
Assistant Referee: Walt Heatherly
Fourth Official: Rosendo Mendoza
VAR: Daniel Radford
AVAR: Joshua Patlak