Sporting KC falls to 3-1 defeat at Real Salt Lake

By Patrik Bergabo – SportingKC.com

Sporting Kansas City (1-4-1, 4 pts.) fell to a 3-1 defeat against Real Salt Lake (4-1-1, 13 pts.) at America First Field on Saturday afternoon.

Head coach Raphael Wicky made two changes to the team’s defeat against Colorado prior to the international break as Ian James replaced the injured Wyatt Meyer (ankle) and Justin Reynolds entered the lineup in place of Jacob Bartlett, pushing Jake Davis back into the midfield.

Sporting got off to a nightmare start with RSL opening the scoring with the first shot of the match. USMNT midfielder Diego Luna was picked out 20 yards from goal and he did the rest, slamming a left-footed shot into the bottom corner to give the hosts an early lead.

Looking to muster a response, Sporting went close in the 11^th minute when Calvin Harris sprung away down the left wing but his powerful ball into the area flashed just over the bar. Harris continued to threaten and went even closer in the 17^th minute, meandering through a myriad of RSL challenges in the midfield before taking aim from just inside the penalty area, forcing a smart save out of Rafael Cabral in the Salt Lake goal.

Moments later, Zavier Gozo almost doubled the lead for the home side but John Pulskamp stood up well to beat away his powerful drive from close range. RSL continued to pile on the pressure and rattled the woodwork in the 22^nd minute when Luna’s cross picked out Sergi Solans inches from goal but could only force the ball onto the crossbar.

Solans and the crossbar would get reacquainted in the 41^st minute when the Spaniard lashed an effort from 12 yards off the woodwork after picking up a neat cutback. The 23-year-old made it a hat-trick of first-half misses in the 43^rd minute when he was played in one-on-one with Pulskamp, but the Sporting ‘keeper did well to spread himself and block the attempt.

Video Assistant Referee Ismir Pekmic attempted to spare Solans’ blushes by initiating a video review for Ethan Bartlow’s challenge as the forward was shooting, but center referee Tim Ford declined to change his on-field decision of no foul after viewing the challenge on the monitor.

Sporting created a golden opportunity in the opening moments of the second half when Manu Garcia sent Reynolds in behind the RSL backline but the right back dragged his effort just wide after composing himself in front of goal.

After a profligate first half, Solans made no mistake with his first chance in the second stanza as he doubled RSL’s lead in the 55^th minute after receiving a well-timed pass from Gozo on the counterattack.

Sporting responded brilliantly and cut the deficit in half four minutes later through Dejan Joveljic’s fourth goal of the season. After some intricate build-up down the right wing involving Garcia, Davis and Reynolds, the latter picked out Joveljic on the edge of the area who buried a brilliant half-volley off the post to make the score 2-1.

Despite some enterprising moments into the final third, Sporting was unable to build on Joveljic’s goal and RSL eventually reclaimed their two-goal cushion when Gozo struck a stupendous volley into the top corner from the edge of the area to seal the points for the hosts in the 82^nd minute.

Sporting returns home next weekend to host the San Jose Earthquakes at Sporting Park on Saturday, April 11. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on Apple TV, while the game will be available on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.

2026 MLS  Season | Game 6
America First Field | Sandy, UT
Attendance: 20,290
Weather: 59 degrees and clear

Sporting Kansas City 1-3 Real Salt Lake

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Ian James (Zorhan Bassong 64’), Jansen Miller, Ethan Bartlow (Diego Borges 46’); Justin Reynolds (Jacob Bartlett 64’), Jake Davis, Lasse Berg Johnsen, Shapi Suleymanov; Manu Garcia, Dejan Joveljic (C), Calvin Harris (Stephen Afrifa 74’)

Subs Not Used: Jack Kortkamp, Kwaku Agyabeng, Cielo Tschantret, Taylor Calheira

Real Salt Lake: Rafael Cabral (C); Philip Quinton, Justen Glad, Lukas Engel; Zavier Gozo (Jesus Barea 92+), Noel Caliskan, Stijn Spierings (Griffin Dillon 84’), Alexandros Katranis (Sam Junqua 72’); Diego Luna (Dominik Marczuk 84’), Sergi Solans (Victor Olatunji 72’), Morgan Guilavogui

Subs Not Used: Max Kerkvliet, Luca Moisa, Pablo Ruiz

Scoring Summary:
RSL – Diego Luna 1 (Noel Caliskan 2, Zavier Gozo 2) 4’
RSL – Sergi Solans 3 (Zavier Gozo 3, Morgan Guilavogi 3) 55’
SKC – Dejan Joveljic 4 (Justin Reynolds 1, Jake Davis 2) 59’
RSL – Zavier Gozo 2 (Noel Caliskan 3, Stijn Spierings 1) 82’

Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Morgan Guilavogui (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 88’

Match Statistics

Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Referee: Adam Garner
Assistant Referee: Stephen McGonagle
Fourth Official: Trevor Wiseman
VAR: Ismir Pekmic
AVAR: John Krill