Sporting KC falls 2-1 at league leaders FC Cincinnati

By Kurt Austin – SportingKC.com

Sporting Kansas City (2-7-1, 7 points) suffered a 2-1 loss at MLS Supporters’ Shield leaders FC Cincinnati (7-2-1, 22 points) on Saturday at TQL Stadium. Designated Player Kevin Denkey scored both goals — including a bicycle kick for the game-winner — for FC Cincinnati, who have now won five straight, while Sporting KC midfielder Zorhan Bassong scored late for the first goal of his professional career.

After a five-goal performance last week on the road in San Jose, Sporting Kansas City was held scoreless in a first half on Saturday in which the visitors outshot FC Cincinnati by a 6-4 margin. FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano was called into action for the first time in the 13th minute, dropping low to his right to turn away a shot from Dejan Joveljic.

Sporting Kansas City threatened again five minutes later on a set piece as Jansen Miller was first to Daniel Salloi’s service however his header from the edge of the six-yard box was off target. SKC came close once more from a header just two minutes later when Joveljic connected with a cross from Manu Garcia only to see the effort bounce narrowly wide of the far post.

After holding FC Cincinnati without a shot for more than 30 minutes, Sporting KC fell behind in the 43rd minute when Denkey opened the scoring with an opportunistic volley. John Pulskamp had turned away an initial attempt from Lukas Engel but the rebound fell directly to Denkey for a first-time finish.

Sporting Kansas City nearly equalized six minutes into the second half when Joveljic slipped a pass behind the Cincinnati backline for Salloi, whose shot was superbly saved by Celentano.

Pulskamp produced a strong stop of his own in the 77th minute to turn away a deflected shot from Evander, however FC Cincinnati doubled their lead on the ensuing corner. Denkey, a 24-year-old Togo international, scored his second of the day in remarkable fashion with a bicycle kick from eight yards out on an assist from Luca Orellano.

Denkey came close to completing a hat trick if not for a sprawling save from Pulskamp in the 87th minute. The Sporting KC goalkeeper logged a season-high fave saves on Saturday, moving past Chris Snitko for seventh place on the club’s all-time regular season saves chart.

Sporting Kansas City would salvage a late consolation goal in the 89th minute as a trio of second-half substitutes combined to spoil the shutout. Erik Thommy collected a well-won header from Andrew Brody in midfield and played the ball forward for Bassong, who rifled a shot into the roof of the net. Sporting KC now has three goals from substitutes this season, most of any team in MLS, and Thommy has come off the bench in back-to-back weeks to log three total goal contributions (one goal, two assists).

After back-to-back road trips, Sporting will return home to host reigning MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday, May 4 for Star Wars Night at Children’s Mercy Park. Tickets for the match are available online at SeatGeek and are also included in the Original ’96 Pack, which comes with a Kansas City Wiz drink tumbler. The Sunday Night Soccer showdown will be available to watch with an Apple TV+ or MLS Season Pass subscription.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 10
TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 25,513
Weather: 56 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City 1-2 FC Cincinnati

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton (Andrew Brody 86′), Jansen Miller, Robert Voloder, Logan Ndenbe; Jacob Bartlett, Manu Garcia, Nemanja Radoja (Zorhan Bassong 66′); Shapi Suleymanov (Stephen Afrifa 86′), Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi (C) (Erik Thommy 73′)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Ian James, Tim Leibold, Memo Rodriguez, Mason Toye

FC Cincinnati: Roman Celentano; DeAndre Yedlin, Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga (C) (Sergio Santos 63′), Nick Hagglund, Lukas Engel (Brad Smith 86′); Pavel Bucha, Brian Anunga (Obinna Nwobodo 63′), Evander; Luca Orellano (Alvas Powell 85′), Kevin Denkey (Corey Baird 90+1′)

Subs Not Used: Gilberto Flores, Evan Louro, Stefan Chirila, Gerardo Valenzuela

Scoring Summary:
CIN – Kevin Denkey 5 (unassisted) 43′
CIN – Kevin Denkey 6 (Luca Orellano 2) 78′
SKC – Zorhan Bassong 1 (Erik Thommy 2, Andrew Brody 1) 89′

Misconduct Summary:
CIN – Brian Anunga (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 17′
SKC – Dejan Joveljic (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 65′
CIN – Kevin Denkey (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 79′

Match Statistics

Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referee: Logan Brown
Assistant Referee: Gianni Facchini
Fourth Official: Fotis Bazakos
VAR: Craig Lowry
AVAR: Thomas Snyder