Recap: Sporting KC suffers 3-1 defeat to Real Salt Lake

Sporting Kansas City (6-20-4, 22 pts.) suffered a 3-1 defeat to Real Salt Lake (10-14-6, 36 pts.) at Sporting Park on Saturday night. The visitors raced into an early two-goal lead before Taylor Calheira pulled a goal back for Sporting, only for RSL to add a third in the second half to seal the victory.

Playing the team’s third match in the last eight days, head coach Raphael Wicky made five changes to the lineup from Wednesday’s loss in Nashville with Stephen Afrifa, Taylor Calheira, Calvin Harris and Emir Karic all restored to the team as Ruben Ramos Jr., Seymour Reid, Shapi Suleymanov and Jayden all dropped to the bench, respectively. In addition, Jacob Bartlett got the start in an unfamiliar right back role, replacing Ian James.

Despite a positive start from Sporting that saw Calheira drag a low shot just wide of goal, the visitors struck first with a quickfire double just four minutes apart as Morgan Guilavogui’s opener was followed up by Sergi Solans’ finish from close range.

Sporting pulled a goal back in the 26^th minute when Andre Luiz showed all his strength and skill to dribble away from and hold off two RSL defenders before squaring to Calheira who showed excellent composure to sit the goalkeeper down and fire into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season to make the score 2-1.

Sporting began the second half with purpose and almost equalized through Andre in the 53^rd minute when he picked off a pass in the final third and took aim from 12 yards but Philip Quinton deflected his effort before of Kobi Henry headed the looping ball off the line.

RSL restored the team’s two-goal cushion in the 61^st minute when Guilavogui bagged his second of the night on another finish from close range.

Sporting went close in the 67^th minute when Harris diverted Karic’s corner kick onto the post before RSL scrambled the ball clear, but that was as close as Sporting came as the hosts fell to a 3-1 defeat.

Sporting remains at home next weekend to host Austin FC at Sporting Park 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. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.

2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 30
Sporting Park | Kansas City, KS
Attendance: 13,873
Weather: 50 degrees and clear

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jacob Bartlett, Jansen Miller, Wyatt Meyer, Emir Karic; Andre Luiz, Zorhan Bassong (C) (Ian James 73’), Kwaku Agyabeng (Jake Davis 61’), Calvin Harris (Ruben Ramos Jr. 87’); Stephen Afrifa (Capita Capemba 61’), Taylor Calheira (Seymour Reid 73’)

Subs Not Used:  John Pulskamp, Ethan Bartlow, Jayden Reid, Shapi Suleymanov

Real Salt Lake: Rafael Cabral (C); Dominik Marczuk (Zach Booth 63’), Kobi Henry, Philip Quinton, Luc de Fougerolles (Sam Junqua 84’), Juan Manuel Sanabria; Morgan Guilavogui (Alexandros Katranis 65’), Stijn Spierings, Noel Caliskan, Saba Lobjanidze (Aiden Hezarkhani 76’); Sergi Solans (Ariath Piol 76’)

Subs Not Used: Mason Stajduhar, DeAndre Yedlin, Colin Guske, Dusan Zagar

Scoring Summary:
RSL – Morgan Guilavogui 3 (Noel Caliskan 7, Juan Manuel Sanabria 9) 11’
RSL – Sergi Solans 12 (Unassisted) 14’
SKC – Taylor Calheira 4 (Andre Luiz 2) 26’
RSL – Morgan Guilavogui 4 (Noel Caliskan 8, Stijn Spierings 3) 61’

Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Luc de Fougerolles (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 46+
RSL – Juan Manuel Sanabria (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 72’
SKC – Calvin Harris (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 74’
SKC – Jacob Bartlett (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 76’
RSL – Zach Booth (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 91+
RSL – Stijn Spierings (Yellow Card; Delaying a Restart) 91+
SKC – Jansen Miller (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 92+

Referee: Alexis Da Silva
Assistant Referee: Adam Garner
Assistant Referee: Gerard-Kader Lebuis
Fourth Official: Drew Klemp
VAR: Tim Ford
AVAR: Fabio Tovar