Recap: Sporting KC falls 4-3 to Philadelphia Union

Sporting Kansas City (5-17-3, 18 pts.) fell to a 4-3 defeat against the Philadelphia Union (10-10-6, 36 pts.) at Sporting Park on Saturday night. Andre Luiz scored twice in the first half to go along with Wyatt Meyer’s first goal for the club before red-hot Philadelphia responded with four second-half goals to take the points.

Head coach Raphael Wicky named an unchanged lineup for just the third time this season and the first time since the World Cup break following last week’s 3-1 victory over LAFC, while midfielder Zorhan Bassong and new acquisition Owen Wolff were available off the bench after returning from injury.

Sporting got off to a roaring start when Andre produced one of the best individual goals of the season to give the hosts the lead in the sixth minute. Receiving a ball from Lasse Berg Johnsen on the halfway line, Andre spun away from Jovan Lukic before eliminating Nathan Harriel with some clever footwork and firing low into the bottom corner for his second goal in as many games.

Not satisfied, Andre added his third goal for the club four minutes and 35 seconds after his first of the night. Calvin Harris drove forward down the left wing before sending the ball across to Andre who curled a sumptuous finish into the bottom corner from 20 yards to make it 2-0.

Andre almost had a hat trick within the first 15 minutes when he was sent through on goal by Stephen Afrifa, but his low shot to the near post was well tipped around the post for a corner by Andre Blake in the Philadelphia net.

It would matter little, as Meyer headed home from Emir Karic’s ensuing corner kick to give Sporting a 3-0 lead in the 16^th minute for his first goal for the club and first since May of 2025 in the U.S. Open Cup for Nashville SC.

With Sporting initially holding firm for the opening stages of the second half, the Union eventually broke the dam and scored four goals in the space of nine minutes to turn the game on its head. Bruno Damiani tallied in the 64^th minute to pull a goal back before Cavan Sullivan added another two minutes later.

With the hosts reeling, Milan Iloski equalized for Philadelphia in the 68^th minute and the comeback was complete in the 73^rd minute when Zorhan Bassong inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net after Neil Pierre had knocked down a cross.

Sporting hits the road next weekend to take on longtime foes the Houston Dynamo at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream on Apple TV, while the game will be air on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 25
Sporting Park | Kansas City, KS
Attendance: 14,534
Weather: 85 degrees and clear

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Justin Reynolds, Moises Mosquera, Wyatt Meyer, Emir Karic; Andre Luiz, Lasse Berg Johnsen (C) (Zorhan Bassong 71’), Kwaku Agyabeng (Jacob Bartlett 46’), Calvin Harris (Ruben Ramos Jr. 82’); Taylor Calheira (Seymour Reid 67’), Stephen Afrifa (Owen Wolff 70’)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Diego Borges, Jansen Miller, Jayden Reid

Philadelphia Union: Andre Blake (C); Frankie Westfield, Neil Pierre, Nathan Harriel, Kai Wagner; Cavan Sullivan (Alejandro Bedoya 82’), Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukic (Jesus Bueno 82’), Indiana Vassilev (Quinn Sullivan 46’); Milan Iloski (Ezekiel Alladoh 82’), Bruno Damiani (Agustin Anello 89’)

Subs Not Used: George Marks, Japhet Sery Larsen, Ben Bender, Malik Jakupovic

Scoring Summary:
SKC – Andre Luiz 2 (Lasse Berg Johnsen 5) 6’
SKC – Andre Luiz 3 (Calvin Harris 6) 10’
SKC – Wyatt Meyer 1 (Emir Karic 2) 16’
PHI – Bruno Damiani 8 (Frankie Westfield 9, Cavan Sullivan 12) 64’
PHI – Cavan Sullivan 7 (Danley Jean Jacques 3, Quinn Sullivan 5) 66’
PHI – Milan Iloski 13 (Danley Jean Jacques 4) 68’
PHI – Own Goal (Zorhan Bassong) 73’

Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Kwaku Agyabeng (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 45’
PHI – Jesus Bueno (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 52+
SKC – Lasse Berg Johnsen (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 53’
PHI – Cavan Sullivan (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 70’
PHI – Kai Wagner (Yellow Card; Persistent Infringement) 79’
PHI – Danley Jean Jacques (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 96+
SKC – Zorhan Bassong (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 97+

Referee: Katja Koroleva
Assistant Referee: Kathryn Nesbitt
Assistant Referee: Jason White
Fourth Official: Malik Badawi
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Fabio Tovar