Dejan Joveljic scored twice as Sporting Kansas City’s second-half scoring flurry gave the club a 4-2 home win over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
Trailing 2-1 through 72 minutes, Kansas City (7-15-6, 27 points) vaulted ahead on goals from Daniel Salloi, Mason Toye and Joveljic within an eight-minute span.
The victory snapped a six-match (0-5-1) winless drought for Sporting Kansas City and kept the team’s faint playoff hopes alive.
John Pulskamp stopped five of seven shots on target, including a clutch save on a Rafael Navarro penalty kick in the 17th minute.
Navarro and Keegan Rosenberry scored for the Rapids and Rafael Santos assisted on both. Colorado (10-13-6, 36 points) remains over the playoff line in eighth place in the Western Conference, but the club is on a two-match losing streak.
Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen stopped six of 10 shots on target.
Joveljic’s header gave Kansas City an early lead in the fourth minute, but the Rapids largely controlled the next 30 minutes of action.
In the 22nd minute, Navarro equalized with his team-leading 12th goal. Rosenberry added a header of his own in the 31st minute for a rare offensive contribution — it was the veteran defender’s 11th goal in 10 MLS seasons.
Salloi’s superb individual effort brought Sporting Kansas City level in the 73rd minute. Salloi battled his way into the box amid several Colorado defenders, but found room to bank a shot off the post for his seventh goal.
Toye put Kansas City ahead two minutes later. Entering the game in the 61st minute, Toye had the fresh legs to race into the zone, take Santiago Munoz’s pass, and tally the go-ahead goal.
In the 81st minute, Joveljic converted another header for the insurance goal. It was Joveljic’s third brace of the season, and the striker has a team-leading 16 goals.
Despite the six goals on the scoreboard, both teams left several more offensive chances on the field. Calvin Harris and Ian James each made an excellent goal-mouth clearance for their respective clubs, while Santos and Logan Ndenbe each hit a goalpost.
–Field Level Media
