Andre Luiz scored from the spot in the 76th minute on Saturday and visiting Sporting Kansas City ended a long, disappointing season with a 1-0 win over San Diego FC.
After earning a penalty when Kieran Sargeant fouled him, Luiz stroked his kick into the lower-right corner for his eighth goal in just 13 MLS matches. His goal enabled Kansas City (7-22-5, 26 points) to avoid finishing with the league’s worst record. CF Montreal also finished with 26 points but won fewer matches.
Stefan Cleveland came up with four saves to log Sporting Kansas City’s second clean sheet of the year. San Diego earned a 17-15 edge in shots but Sporting Kansas City got six shots on frame to the home team’s four.
Pablo Sisniega made five saves for San Diego (9-14-11, 38 points), which finished 13th in the West table after finishing atop it last year in its expansion season. The result was a fitting one as San Diego managed just one victory in its final 12 fixtures.
Neither team had anything to play for except contractual obligation and personal pride. Sporting Kansas City was eliminated from playoff consideration several weeks ago and San Diego was eliminated on Oct. 28 with a loss in Vancouver.
Marcus Ingvartsen got a chance in the fourth minute to give San Diego an early lead but Cleveland denied his shot from the left side of the box. Cleveland then turned away Bryan Zamble’s header in the 16th minute.
Ingvartsen then missed wide with a header in the 39th minute that had a goal expectancy of 18%. A minute later, Stephen Afrifa was denied by Sisniega on a point-blank shot in the box with a goal expectancy of 27%.
Zamble nearly put San Diego up a goal in the 54th minute, but his attempt from the left side of the box struck the post. After Luiz’s goal, San Diego’s bid to find the equalizer in the 79th minute fell short when Jeppe Tverskov’s header from the center of the box went over the crossbar.
–Field Level Media
