Capita Capemba, Dejan Joveljic and Calvin Harris each scored as host Sporting Kansas City earned a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday.
Harris also had two assists and Manu Garcia had one for Sporting KC (2-8-2, 8 points), whose previous win also came against the Galaxy (4-5-4, 16 points) on March 14.
Gabriel Pec added a late goal for the Galaxy.
Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute when Berg Johnsen forced a turnover at midfield, played a pass wide to Harris, whose run on the ball drew a defender before his cross found a streaking Capita whose sliding shot beat JT Marcinkowski.
In the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, Zorhan Bassong lofted a pass to Harris, who settled it and slipped a pass to Joveljic, whose chip shot gave SKC a 2-0 lead.
SKC extended its advantage to 3-0 in the 70th minute when Garcia battled for possession at midfield and found Harris, whose shot nestled inside the back post.
Pec blasted a left-footed shot from outside the box in the 89th minute to cut the SKC lead to 3-1.
A strategic adjustment to start the match paid dividends as SKC aligned in a 4-4-2 rather than their usual 4-3-3, giving Harris extra space to fire off a shot in the 11th minute.
The Galaxy tested Stefan Cleveland in the 14th minute with Mauricio Cuevas’ shot from outside the box. Marco Reus sailed a shot over the crossbar from distance in the 25th minute.
Forced to settle for long-range attempts, Reus launched a right-footed shot from 18 yards out in the 39th minute that again missed high.
Moments later, Harris pressed again, but Marcinkowski smothered the shot at point blank range to keep the Los Angeles’ halftime deficit at 2-0.
Early in the second half, Joseph Paintsil’s shot bent from left to right from the corner of the box, but Cleveland made the save.
Both Cleveland and Marcinkowski were credited with six saves, as the Galaxy attempted 17 shots to 15 for SKC.
–Field Level Media
