Myrto Uzuni scored his second goal in the 86th minute and visiting Austin FC kept its flickering playoff hopes alive by rallying for a 2-1 victory over last-place Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.
Austin (8-13-10, 34 points) snapped a three-game losing streak after entering Saturday eight points outside the playoff field with four matches remaining. The club remained 14th in the Western Conference, five places below the final postseason berth.
Uzuni broke a 1-1 tie after Emir Karic failed to clear the ball from the penalty area. Uzuni collected the loose ball near the penalty spot and beat Stefan Cleveland with a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner.
Uzuni also scored from the middle of the box in the 64th after Cleveland made a diving save with his right hand on a header. Cleveland did not control the rebound and Uzuni pounced for the easy tap-in at the right side of the net.
The Albania native scored his eighth and ninth goals of the MLS season and recorded his first multi-goal game in league play since joining Austin in 2025.
Stephen Afrifa scored nine minutes before Uzuni’s first goal for Sporting Kansas City (6-21-4, 22 points), which is winless in its past five matches (0-4-1). Afrifa ended the deadlock with a right-footed shot to the lower side of the net after getting a pass from Andre Luiz, who was hounded by two defenders.
Austin goalie Damian Las made all three of his saves on Afrifa in the first half.
Cleveland stopped five shots as Austin had 13 shot attempts while Sporting Kansas City attempted 19 shots.
Uzuni had several chances before scoring for Austin, including one in the opening minute and another Cleveland denied shortly before the equalizer.
Las made consecutive stops on Afrifa from close range in the 43rd and 45th minutes as Austin withstood Sporting Kansas City controlling the possession for most of the opening half.
–Field Level Media
