Sporting Kansas City’s uphill battle became even steeper Saturday night after being reduced to 10 men, falling 2-0 to the Houston Dynamo at Sporting Park.
A first-half red card to midfielder Lasse Berg Johnsen shifted the momentum in Houston’s favor, allowing the visitors to capitalize after the break with goals from Guilherme and Agustín Bouzat. The loss drops Sporting KC to 4-12-2 (14 points), while Houston improved to 9-6-2 (29 points).
Sporting entered the match with a depleted lineup and made three changes to the starting XI. Defender Moisés Mosquera earned his first start for the club, rookie Kwaku Agyabeng returned to the midfield, and winger Capita Capemba was back in the lineup after recovering from illness.
Houston threatened early, nearly opening the scoring in the third minute when Lucas Halter headed a corner kick over the crossbar. Sporting answered with an opportunity of its own as Dejan Joveljić slipped Capemba behind the defense, but his low effort was comfortably saved by Dynamo goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.
The visitors continued to create chances, with Jake Davis making a crucial goal-line clearance in the 25th minute to deny Héctor Herrera.
The turning point came moments before halftime when Berg Johnsen received his second yellow card, forcing Sporting KC to play the entire second half down a man.
Houston quickly took advantage of the extra space after the restart. In the 55th minute, MLS All-Star Guilherme fired a strike from outside the penalty area that slipped past goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead.
The visitors doubled their advantage in the 71st minute after forcing a turnover high up the pitch. Agustín Bouzat broke free and calmly finished past Cleveland to put the match out of reach.
Despite being down a player, Sporting continued to fight. Joveljić nearly pulled one back in the 75th minute after being played through on goal by Dany Rosero, but Bond produced another strong save. Late chances from substitutes Jayden Reid and Shapi Suleymanov also tested the Houston goalkeeper, but Sporting was unable to find a breakthrough.
The defeat sends Sporting KC into the upcoming bye week before returning to MLS action on Aug. 15 with a road match against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
