Sporting KC Comeback Falls Short in 2-1 Defeat to Red Bull New York
Published on May 23, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City (3-9-2, 11 pts.) saw the team's attempted comeback fall just short in a 2-1 setback against Red Bull New York (6-5-4, 22 pts.) at Sporting Park on Saturday night. Calvin Harris scored his second goal of the season to reduce the deficit in the second half, but Sporting was unable to find an equalizer in the closing stages.
Following back-to-back victories over the LA Galaxy and Austin FC, head coach Raphael Wicky stuck with the same starting XI for the third consecutive match.
The visitors capitalized on a chaotic start to the match and took the lead in just the fourth minute when Jorge Ruvalcaba tallied his sixth of the season with a composed finish after Julian Hall and Gustav Berggren were first to pounce on a loose ball in midfield.
Sporting responded well and twice went close before the 10-minute mark as first Taylor Calheira's header was claimed by Ethan Horvath before Harris' low strike was palmed away by the RBNY goalkeeper.
The hosts continued to push forward in search of an equalizer and again went close in the 18th minute when Dejan Joveljic picked up a cross from Jake Davis but pulled the shot wide on his weaker left foot.
Joveljic created the next opportunity of the match in the 41st minute, dispossessing Sean Nealis inside the area and setting up Taylor Calheira, but the forward's effort was well saved by Horvath. Two minutes later, Davis sprung Harris in behind but again the finish with just the 'keeper to beat was snuffed out.
Despite Sporting controlling much of first-half proceedings, it was visiting RBNY who doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time when Ruvalcaba bagged his second of the night after Rafael Mosquera and Hall had pounced on a turnover.
Sporting started the second half strongly and should have pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute when Capita Capemba broke free down the right wing but Harris was unable to turn home his low cross in front of goal. Moments later, Joveljic thought he had reduced the deficit when he turned the ball into an empty net but the flag went up for offside.
The hosts found the goal they were craving through Harris in the 64th minute. The introduction of Manu Garcia in the midfield paid immediate dividends as the Spaniard set up Harris with a brilliant, chipped pass over the RBNY backline before Harris lofted an excellent finish over Horvath for his second goal of the season.
Garcia continued to create and in the 78th minute freed fellow substitute Stephen Afrifa down the left channel and his low strike flashed agonizingly wide of the post.
RBNY almost sealed the points in the 82nd minute when Cameron Harper jumped on a turnover deep inside Sporting's half but pulled his finish narrowly wide. Sporting poured forward in the closing stages as Joveljic forced another save out of Horvath but the comeback ultimately fell just short despite an encouraging performance.
Sporting KC and Major League Soccer will now go on hiatus for the next seven weeks coinciding with the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Sporting returns to action when the team takes on archrivals St. Louis at Energizer Park on Thursday, July 16. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on Apple TV, while the game will be air on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
QUOTES
Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match...
I evaluate the performance. The performance was good. That's what I just told the players. I want to win. The players want to win. But I always tell the players to leave an effort on the field and if we have good performances, our chances to win games are bigger than to lose games. That's what I told them. I cannot ask for wins. Everyone wants to win so I always say if we perform well our chances will be better to have winning games. And I think if we keep performing like we did these last games then we will win in the future more games than we lose. Now, of course, it hurts. No one wants to hear this right now. The players are already sad in there. It hurts myself as well. But that's how I have to also analyze that the performance was good today. We conceded these two goals in the worst moments of the game. Every game has a little bit of the story. After three minutes, you concede. We react well. I think we created good chances. We played well. We dominated and then you concede just before halftime. That is obviously then hard to swallow, but I feel like the team reacted really well. We came out with energy. We came out and created more. We said step one is not to concede the third one and score one. We did. We had chances. We were there. We pushed. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way tonight, but again the performance was good tonight. I'm happy about the performance, not happy about the result.
On Manu Garcia's impact off the bench...
Manu was really good when he came in today. He has been really good coming in these last games. He has been impactful. He has scored. He gave assists. He had the big impact in the game. This is very positive. Now, I think for me as a coach, it's also good to see that Taylor (Calheira) played well these last games and that we have other options. It gives me more options for the future. But Manu came in really well. And he will do good for us. If he's fit and if he's healthy and he plays like that, he will be important to this team, of course. But I made a technical decision. I think he reacted well, coming in from the bench. That's what you want from players, right? And he did that.
On the team's push for an equalizer...
I think it's difficult to manage that in the moment of the game. You score, you push, you create, you want to come back. Of course, the team wants to score as quick as possible and sometimes then you may lose a little bit of the game plan. You may lose a little bit of the moment or you try to play maybe too direct. I don't think I have to put that against their favor tonight. At the end of the day, I have to say that Red Bulls were very smart in breaking the rhythm of the game. When there were goal kicks, throw-ins, fouls, they broke that rhythm. I think our team then wanted to play and wanted to score as quick as possible. I think overall the effort was fine. I think we had enough chances to at least draw this game.
On the team's response after going down...
The team responded well. I think the team responded really well in the last three games. Even before that, Portland was obviously a tough one, but even before, the team responded well. I think I have to look at the last four or five games and I see very positive signs. I think that's something we can really build on. I believe that if we keep playing like this and we keep competing like this, we will get there. I believe that.
On the play of Calvin Harris and Capita Capemba...
For Capita, it's going to be really important to have a preseason with us. He didn't have a preseason. He came in in a difficult moment to the team. That's always not easy for players coming in. But I think he shows in every game what he's capable of with his speed and with his 1v1. But I think it's important for him to have a full preseason with the team. Calvin has shown since the beginning, not only these last games where he scored and gave assists, but he has shown from the beginning that he's a player who can always hurt teams with his speed and with his verticality. He created chances also before he scored the first goal I think 10 days ago. He's a dangerous player. I want him to keep doing this and pushing.
On the upcoming World Cup break...
Now it's time for the players to go and relax and be with their families and enjoy that. But then we come back and we have time to work and we will work hard. I think those last games gave us very good information on what to do and how we can do things. I have to say, it gave us competition in the team. I think having guys back from injuries and having Taylor playing up there, it brings competition. When you have competition in a team, I believe that everyone maybe needs to give a little bit more. I think this is what we want to build and I believe that this will be positive in the future. When everyone comes back healthy, hopefully they're all back and we will add some players and then there will be lots of competition in this team.
On Zorhan Bassong's contributions to the club...
He has done really well for us. He's an important player for us and I'm really happy with the way he came back after his injury. Obviously, it was very unfortunate that he missed almost all season. Now the rest is not in my control, right? I don't know what the roster looks like for Canada. I've played in the World Cup. It's the biggest thing you can play as an athlete and as a soccer player. When you can play a World Cup for your country, I think there's a lot of pride in there so I cross fingers for him that he can be in the roster and that he can enjoy that. All I want is that he comes back healthy and that he can keep helping us to get better.
On the team's defense...
The defense is not just the back four or back five or whoever plays there. I think defending, for me, is always as a team and I think we showed in these last games the way we want to defend. We want to defend together. Dejan (Joveljic) and Taylor, Dejan and whoever plays next to him, are our first defenders. If they work hard, it helps the team to defend better. The first goal I have to watch again. It was a 50/50 ball or a duel or something, but the second goal has nothing to do with our defending. The second goal is a mistake in playing out. The wrong decision in this moment and then we got punished there in a really bad moment of the game. But I think we have to keep working like we did in the last three or four weeks, keep working on defending as a team and as a group in the shape we've had and then we will get better.
Sporting Kansas City forward Calvin Harris
On the game...
I think it was a positive performance. I think we played well. We imposed ourselves. I think they come out of the game saying they were a tough team to play against. That's the main thing that we have to do to give ourselves a chance to win games. Today it was just one of those games of football where you have chances. You feel like you're imposing yourself and you're the better team, but it just doesn't show in the result at the end of the day. I think from the game we can take a lot of positive things, but at the end of the day, we want three points.
On his goal...
I see Manu and, when he gets the ball, I just run forward and try and get in behind and he plays that ball perfectly over the top into a gap that I didn't even think was possible, to be honest. It bounces just before me. The only way I could finish it was to just push it over the keeper. I'm just happy (Manu) was performing the way he was because he's a great player.
On the timing of the goal...
I think both teams were knackered by the end of it, to be honest. I think both teams gave everything, kind of fully emptied the tank, and I mean, that's the bare minimum. That's the way the game goes sometimes.
On returning after the break...
I think that's the feeling we all want to have when we come back and the feeling we want to have each week. Going forward, that's going to be our standard now.
-- SportingKC.com --
Major League Soccer Stories from May 23, 2026
- Galaxy Earn Point against Houston in 1-1 Draw at Home - LA Galaxy
- Houston Dynamo FC Earn Important Road Point with 1-1 Draw at LA Galaxy - Houston Dynamo FC
- Whitecaps FC Head Into the FIFA World Cup 2026 Break Top of the West - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- FC Cincinnati Match Club Record for Goals in an MLS Match - FC Cincinnati
- Andrew Gutman Tallies Game-Winning Header in 2-1 Victory over Toronto FC - Chicago Fire FC
- Revolution Stunned by Charlotte as Pre-World Cup Break Begins - New England Revolution
- Penalty Drama: Nashville Edges NYCFC - New York City FC
- Quakes Earn First-Ever Road Win in Portland in MLS Era - San Jose Earthquakes
- Timbers Fall, 3-1, to San Jose Earthquakes at Providence Park - Portland Timbers
- Sporting KC Comeback Falls Short in 2-1 Defeat to Red Bull New York - Sporting Kansas City
- Nashville SC Remains Atop MLS Standings with 2-1 Win over New York City FC - Nashville SC
- FC Dallas Takes Down Colorado for Third Consecutive Road Win - FC Dallas
- Paxten Aaronson Scores, Rapids Drop Home Result with FC Dallas - Colorado Rapids
- D.C. United Draw, 4-4, against CF Montréal at Audi Field - D.C. United
- The Crown See Off Revs With 10 Men; Now Enter Two-Month World Cup Break - Charlotte FC
- Orlando City SC Falls, 6-2, to FC Cincinnati - Orlando City SC
- Booth Scores Debut MLS Goal in 1-1 Draw at Minnesota - Real Salt Lake
- Minnesota United Rescues a Point in 1-1 Draw against Real Salt Lake Before World Cup Break - Minnesota United FC
- St. Louis CITY SC Shuts out Austin FC 3-0 at Home on Saturday Afternoon - St. Louis City SC
- Sounders FC Faces LAFC on Sunday Night at BMO Stadium in Final Game Before FIFA World Cup Break - Seattle Sounders FC
- Inter Miami CF in Search of Fourth Consecutive Victory this Sunday against Philadelphia Union - Inter Miami CF
- St. Louis CITY SC Adds Colin Welsh to Roster on Short-Term Loan Agreement - St. Louis City SC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
