Sporting Kansas City scored two goals in 2 1/2 minutes of second-half stoppage time to claim a 2-1 victory over Charlotte FC on Wednesday night in Kansas City, Kan.
Mason Toye, a late substitution for Sporting KC, received a beautiful pass from Manu Garcia and redirected it past Charlotte keeper Kristijan Kahlina at the 93-minute mark. Less than three minutes later, Dejan Joveljic scored with a left-footed shot from the center of the box.
Idan Toklomati had put Charlotte FC on top in the 34th minute.
It was the first match ever between the two sides, who both were playing their first match in 11 days.
Sporting KC (5-10-4, 19 points) earned just their third home victory of the season.
Charlotte (8-10-1, 25 points) lost for the first time in five opportunities when leading at halftime.
The match in Kansas City was Charlotte’s fourth in a five-match road stretch. Charlotte is 2-8-1 on the road this season.
Both sides started the second half in attack mode, with SKC getting the most opportunities. However, the hosts could not find the back of the net until stoppage time.
Charlotte’s Kerwin Vargas had multiple chances in the final 10 minutes to close out the game, but he missed three straight opportunities.
Charlotte FC dominated possession and chances in the first 20 minutes, with six shots (three on goal) before Sporting KC had its first. But Sporting had the best chance to break the scoreless tie in the 20th minute.
Daniel Salloi picked off a pass and raced untouched up the left flank. As he drew near to Kahlina, he had two teammates to his right.
Unfortunately for Sporting, he couldn’t find either one with a shot at the goal.
Sporting had another golden opportunity in the 29th minute, but Shapi Suleymanov’s shot attempt from just outside the box caromed off the left post and rolled through the box with no one to retrieve it.
After a brief period of control by SKC, Charlotte finally took the lead with a beautiful finish by Toklomati. Souleyman Doumbia fed Toklomati in the middle of the 6-yard box, and Toklomati back-heeled it past John Pulskamp.
–Field Level Media
