Calvin Harris scored for Sporting Kansas City and Eduard Lowen tallied for St. Louis City as the teams played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday in Kansas City, Kan.
St. Louis City (8-6-6, 30 points) extended their MLS unbeaten streak to 10 games (8-0-2), matching Nashville SC for the longest such stretch in the league this season.
Kansas City (4-13-2, 15 points) remained in last place in the Western Conference but stopped a three-match losing streak. SKC earned a point for the first time since a 2-1 victory against Minnesota United on July 22.
Lowen, whose penalty-kick goal in the 86th minute spurred host St. Louis to a 3-2 victory against Kansas City on July 16, opened the scoring on Wednesday.
His free kick from just outside the penalty area deflected off Sporting midfielder Lasse Berg Johnsen and into the net in the second minute of first-half stoppage time. Simon Becher drew a foul moments earlier to put St. Louis in position.
Sporting Kansas City netted the equalizer in the 55th minute, setting the tone for a frenzied second half. Calvin Harris gathered a feed from Taylor Calheira and finished a left-footed shot at the near post to beat goalkeeper Roman Burki.
Officials initially called Harris offside, but the decision was reversed on a VAR review.
The rivals traded chances the rest of the way. Jeong Sang-Bin of St. Louis sent a drive off the crossbar in the 60th minute. Dejan Joveljic had an opportunity near the goal for Sporting off a header from Zorhan Bassong but sent the ball over the net.
Kansas City created more chances in the first half, producing eight shots, though just one on net, while earning five corner kicks. Coach Raphael Wicky’s recent switch to a 4-4-2 formation paid dividends in pace of play if not on the scoreboard.
St. Louis did not win its first corner until the second half. Sporting Kansas City held a 9-2 edge in that category on the night.
The shots on frame wound up level at 2-2, while Sporting had 18 shots overall to seven for St. Louis City.
St. Louis midfielder Christopher Durkin was assessed a yellow card in the 21st minute for a foul on Harris and will miss the team’s Saturday match against the visiting Houston Dynamo due to yellow-card accumulation.
Harris’ tally marked the 1,000th home goal for Sporting Kansas City across all competitions.
–Field Level Media
