By Sam Kovzan – SportingKC.com
Sporting Kansas City (0-2-0, 0 points) fell to a frustrating 2-1 loss against the San Jose Earthquakes (2-0-0, 6 points) on Saturday in the club’s MLS home opener at Children’s Mercy Park.
Freshly minted Designated Player Dejan Joveljic opened his Sporting KC scoring account with a 27th-minute penalty kick, but San Jose took an early 2-0 lead through newcomers Chicho Arango and Josef Martinez before hanging on down a man in the second half after Hernan Lopez was ejected from the game.
The result gave Sporting just its second home-opening loss in MLS play since Children’s Mercy Park opened in 2011, while the Earthquakes snapped an 11-game winless drought at the stadium dating back to 2016.
Led by newly appointed head coach Bruce Arena, San Jose drew first blood inside three minutes. Martinez received a through ball and was tackled cleanly on the edge of the penalty area, but the ball fell fortuitously to Arango who slotted low past Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp for his fifth career goal against Kansas City.
The hosts responded positively, however, and peppered the San Jose box during a breathless first half. Spanish midfielder Manu Garcia embarked on a slaloming run inside the area before firing wide on nine minutes before Zorhan Bassong forced a save from Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel and winger Shapi Suleymanov dragged a shot marginally amiss.
Against the run of play, the visitors doubled their lead off a corner kick in the 19th minute. Cristian Espinoza’s in-swinging corner kick was delivered into a crowded goalmouth area, where Martinez prodded home the 117th goal of his heralded regular season career, moving into a tie for sixth on the league’s all-time scoring chart.
Sporting deservedly cut the deficit in half near the half-hour juncture. Shortly after Suleymanov’s leaping header drifted off target from a Tim Leibold cross, Garcia uncorked an 18-yard shot that cannoned off the arm of San Jose midfielder Ian Harkes inside the box. Referee Sergii Boiki pointed to the spot and Joveljic promptly dispatched his penalty into the right corner for his 50th career goal contribution in the MLS regular season (35 goals, 15 assists). Joveljic now has goals in six straight MLS home matches dating back to his time with the LA Galaxy last fall, and his seven career goals against San Jose are his most versus any MLS opponent.
Buoyed by Joveljic’s strike, Sporting almost found an equalizer on 31 minutes when Jake Davis’ cross was steered goalward by Leibold, whose first-time attempt was smothered by Daniel. The Earthquakes then had a good look of their own at the opposite end, Pulskamp diving at full extension to cast aside an impressive scissor kick effort from Martinez.
The final play of the first half saw Sporting denied by the crossbar, with center back Joaquin Fernandez’s glancing header smacking the woodwork off a searching Suleymanov free kick.
In the 52nd minute, San Jose was reduced to 10 men as Lopez received his second yellow card for a dreadful tackle from behind on captain Erik Thommy. Sporting dominated territory and possession from there, with left back Logan Ndenbe coming off the bench and dragging a shot agonizingly wide in the 61st minute.
San Jose defended deep during the final half hour and successfully preserved their 2-1 advantage to the final whistle, condemning Kansas City to a fourth consecutive loss to open the 2025 campaign.
Sporting will look to rebound next Saturday, March 8, in an inter-conference visit to D.C. United (0-0-2, 2 points) at Audi Field. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 2
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 16,277
Weather: 37 degrees and clear
Sporting Kansas City 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes
| Score | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sporting Kansas City (0-2-0, 0 points) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| San Jose Earthquakes (2-0-0, 6 points) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Jake Davis (Andrew Brody 56′), Joaquin Fernandez, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold (Logan Ndenbe 56′); Jacob Bartlett (Nemanja Radoja 56′), Zorhan Bassong (Memo Rodriguez 77′), Manu Garcia; Shapi Suleymanov, Dejan Joveljic, Erik Thommy (C) (Daniel Salloi 77′)
Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Ian James, Dany Rosero, William Agada
San Jose Earthquakes: Daniel; Rodrigues, Bruno Wilson, Dave Romney; Cristian Espinoza (C), Beau Leroux (Nick Lima 76′), Ian Harkes, Jamar Ricketts; Hernan Lopez, Josef Martinez (Mark-Anthony Kaye 61′), Cristian Arango (Ousseni Bouda 81′)
Subs Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Vitor Costa, Max Floriani, Daniel Munie, Niko Tsakiris, Amahl Pellegrino
Scoring Summary:
SJ — Chicho Arango 1 (unassisted) 3′
SJ — Josef Martinez 1 (unassisted) 19′
SKC — Dejan Joveljic 1 (penalty kick) 27′
Misconduct Summary:
SKC — Tim Leibold (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 5′
SKC — Jacob Bartlett (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 16′
SKC — Jake Davis (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 45′
SJ — Hernan Lopez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 45+5′
SJ — Hernan Lopez (red card/2nd yellow card; unsporting behavior) 52′
SKC — Nemanja Radoja (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 67′
Match Statistics
| STAT | SKC | SJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fouls | 13 | 15 |
| Offsides | 3 | 1 |
| Corner Kicks | 6 | 2 |
Referee: Sergii Boiko
Assistant Referee: Andrew Bigelow
Assistant Referee: Stephen McGonagle
Fourth Official: Calin Radosav
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
AVAR: Jozef Batko
