Sporting overcomes two-goal deficit in thrilling 2-2 draw at rivals St. Louis

By Sam Kovzan – SportingKC.com

Sporting Kansas City (3-8-2, 11 points) overcame a two-goal halftime deficit to earn a spirited 2-2 road draw against archrivals St. Louis City SC (2-6-5, 11 points) on Wednesday in a pulsating derby battle at Energizer Park.

After Celio Pompeu and Cedric Teuchert gave St. Louis a 2-0 advantage, Sporting rallied late on a clever finish from substitute Tim Leibold in the 71st minute and a superb header from Dejan Joveljic in the 77th minute. The result gave Sporting four points of a possible six against their cross-state rivals this season and pushed St. Louis’ winless drought to a club-record nine MLS matches dating back to mid-March.

With his team playing its second of three road matches in eight days, interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin made three changes to the starting XI—one on each line—from Sporting’s 1-0 loss at the Portland Timbers on Saturday. In defense, Zorhan Bassong replaced Leibold for his first start since March 15 and his first start at left back since July 2024. Midfielder Jake Davis logged his first start in over a month by entering for Nemanja Radoja, while captain Erik Thommy landed his first start since March 22 in place of right winger Shapi Suleymanov. For the first time this year, Sporting’s lineup featured 11 starters all age 30 or younger.

Pompeu vaulted the hosts ahead with a stunning strike in the 15th minute. After Marcel Hartel’s corner kick was nodded away to the opposite side of the penalty area by Jansen Miller, Pompeu settled into possession and unleashed a 22-yard curler that nestled into the far right corner for his opening goal of the season and his first since April 20, 2024, in a 3-3 draw against Sporting at Children’s Mercy Park.

Midfielder Manu Garcia sprung a good look for the visitors at the half-hour mark with a lofted ball down the left channel for forward Daniel Salloi, who gave chase, squared up his defender and lashed a right-footed effort over the crossbar. Shortly thereafter, Salloi connected on Jacob Bartlett’s corner kick with an admirable side volley attempt that was blocked through traffic, then had a mid-range shot drag wide.

Sporting was the victim of awful luck prior to halftime, falling behind 2-0 when Tomas Ostrak’s 30-yard drive deflected fortuitously off Teuchert near the penalty spot and dribbled into the back of the net past a helpless John Pulskamp. Kansas City’s frustrations were exacerbated on the stroke of intermission as Joveljic’s close-range shot was repelled by St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Burki, who had made his return to the pitch after missing two months with a hand fracture.

Pompeu could have doubled his haul less than 30 seconds into the second stanza but misfired from a tight angle on the left edge of the six-yard box.

At the opposite end, Sporting broke on a quick counter as Salloi slipped a through ball to Joveljic, who couldn’t steer his left-footed blast on frame with a defender draped on him. The Serbian striker was thwarted yet again in the 54th minute, playing a brilliant combination with Garcia only to see his low belter blocked by Burki. Pulskamp was then called to action less than a minute later, coming off his line and dropping low to deny Hartel in a one-on-one situation.

Sporting suffered an injury setback near the hour juncture when Radoja, who had relieved Davis at halftime, was forced to exit early. Leibold was summoned as a replacement, pushing Bassong into his more customary central midfield position.

Right back Andrew Brody crafted a pinpoint cross into the middle for an unmarked Salloi in the 59th minute, but the homegrown forward was unable to place his header on target. Salloi had yet another chance go begging seconds later, receiving a pass from Joveljic and pulling a shot wide of the far post.

With Sporting committing numbers forward, St. Louis nearly bagged a third only for Hartel’s breakaway blast to be touched aside by the outstretched Pulskamp, the 24-year-old goalkeeper producing his best save of the night.

Joveljic was foiled once more in the 67th minute. Brody clipped another excellent cross into the mixer for Sporting’s DP striker, but his header lacked the direction to beat Burki.

Sporting grabbed a deserved goal back in the 71st minute off the patented left foot of Leibold. Garcia probed the edge of the penalty area and floated a ball leftward to Leibold, who had an incisive exchange with Salloi before rifling a shot under the legs of Burki to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Sporting now has four goals from substitutes this season, second most in MLS, while Salloi’s assist gives him 100 career goal contributions (56 goals, 44 assists) in MLS competitions and 40 regular season assists, tied for sixth most in club history.

With momentum firmly on the side of Sporting, Joveljic nodded his team level in the 77th minute, rising above the rest to snap a header past Burki. Suleymanov tabbed the assist on a well-delivered free kick from the right wing, restoring parity at 2-2 and setting the stage for a tense final quarter-hour. Joveljic has a team-leading six goals on the year, three of which have come against St. Louis after he put them to the sword with a brace in Kansas City’s 2-0 home triumph on April 5.

Sporting will conclude its daunting road swing with a visit to upstart expansion side San Diego FC on Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium. The Western Conference clash will kick off at 9:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and 103.7 FM.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 13
Energizer Park | St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 22,423
Weather: 77 degrees and partly cloudy

Sporting Kansas City 2-2 St. Louis City SC

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Andrew Brody (Khiry Shelton 76′), Jansen Miller, Robert Voloder, Zorhan Bassong; Jacob Bartlett, Jake Davis (Nemanja Radoja 46′, Tim Leibold 56′), Manu Garcia; Erik Thommy (C) (Shapi Suleymanov 46′), Dejan Joveljic (Mason Toye 90+1′), Daniel Salloi

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Dany Rosero, Stephen Afrifa, Santiago Munoz

St. Louis City SC: Roman Burki (C); Kyle Hiebert, Josh Yaro, Timo Baumgartl (Henry Kessler 78′); Akil Watts (Joey Zalinksy 78′), Tomas Ostrak (Jake Girdwood-Reich 82′), Marcel Hartel, Conrad Wallem; Cedric Teuchert (Xande Silva 60′), Joao Klauss (Simon Becher 60′), Celio Pompeu

Subs Not Used: Ben Lundt, Joakim Nilsson, Jayden Reid, Michael Wentzel

Scoring Summary:
STL — Celio Pompeu 1 (unassisted) 15′
STL — Cedric Teuchert 3 (Tomas Ostrak 1) 44′
SKC — Tim Leibold 1 (Daniel Salloi 3) 71′
SKC — Dejan Joveljic 6 (Shapi Suleymanov 4) 77′

Misconduct Summary:
SKC — Robert Voloder (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 31′
SKC — Daniel Salloi (yellow card; dissent) 45+2′
SKC — Zorhan Bassong (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 50′
STL — Joey Zalinsky (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 85′

Match Statistics

Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Assistant Referee: Lyes Arfa
Assistant Referee: Mike Nickerson
Fourth Official: Rubiel Vazquez
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Joshua Patlak