Sporting KC Earns Historic 3-3 Draw vs. Minnesota
March 16, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City (0-3-1, 1 point) erased a three-goal deficit to secure a result for the first time in club history on Saturday, roaring back with three unanswered second-half goals in a remarkable 3-3 thriller against regional rivals Minnesota United FC (2-1-1, 7 points) at snowy Children's Mercy Park.
After Minnesota built a commanding 3-0 lead behind Hassani Dotson's wonderstrike and a Tani Oluwaseyi brace, Sporting bagged three goals in 12 rapturous minutes to snap the team's 10-game losing streak dating back to last September. Daniel Salloi kickstarted the comeback with a well-taken goal in the 68th minute, Shapi Suleymanov forced a Minnesota own goal four minutes later, and star striker Dejan leveled terms on a superb finish with 10 minutes remaining to ensure a share of the spoils.
Saturday's wild encounter marked only the 19th time that an MLS team has overturned a three-goal deficit to claim a win or a draw in the regular season. The historic result generates palpable momentum for a Sporting side that will return to Children's Mercy Park next Saturday, March 22, when LAFC (2-2-0, 6 points) visits Kansas City for a 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff. Tickets for the Western Conference clash are available at SeatGeek.com.
Making his 50th regular season appearance, center back Robert Voloder accounted for the lone change to Sporting's lineup from last weekend's 2-1 defeat at D.C. United, replacing the injured Dany Rosero. With watery flakes of snow swirling in the sky, the backdrop for an unforgettable game was aptly set as the hosts dominated territory and possession in the early stages.
However, the visiting Loons would strike first on an undeniably superb long-range belter from Dotson in the 15th minute. After Sporting failed to fully clear a set piece delivery, Robin Lod nodded the ball in the direction of Dotson, whose right-footed volley from 22 yards rippled the top left corner of the net to give Minnesota a 1-0 advantage.
Sporting sustained another haymaker near the half-hour mark when Minnesota doubled its cushion. Bongokuhle Hlongwane kickstarted a counter attack down the right side before squaring a low cross to Oluwaseyi, who slotted past John Pulskamp for his first goal of the 2025 campaign.
The hosts had two opportunistic attempts go begging on the cusp of halftime, Suleymanov forcing a save from Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and Erik Thommy narrowly missing the target at the top of the box.
Less than a minute into the second half, the Loons thought they had put the game to bed as Joaquin Pereyra received a probing diagonal ball from Lod and steered a ball across the face of goal for Oluwaseyi to finish at the doorstep, digging Kansas City into a 3-0 hole.
Down but not out, Sporting staged a stunning rally that spanned the final quarter-hour of the contest. With 68 minutes on the clock, a pair of impact substitutes combined as left back Tim Leibold lofted an inch-perfect ball over the top for Salloi to dink past St. Clair near the left edge of the six-yard area. Salloi, whose 258th career appearance for Sporting passed Seth Sinovic for eighth most in club history, now has 85 regular season goal contributions (48 goals, 37 assists) in a Kansas City uniform, breaking a tie with Chris Klein for fourth most on the club's all-time charts.
In the 72nd minute, Sporting landed another blow when Suleymanov squared up his defender on the right side of the penalty area and uncorked a low cross that Minnesota center back Morris Duggan inadvertently pinged into his own net. It marked the first time that Sporting had scored from an own goal since April 20, 2024-coincidentally a match that also ended 3-3 against rivals St. Louis City SC at Children's Mercy Park.
Brimming with belief, Sporting thrust forward again on 79 minutes when St. Clair corralled a 30-yard effort from Salloi. Seconds later, Sporting's Designated Players delivered to restore parity in dramatic fashion. Spanish midfielder won a crucial tackle on the edge of the penalty area to set up Joveljic, whose predatory strike from 15 yards caromed off the far right post before nestling into the net, completing the wild fightback and knotting the score at 3-3.
The dying embers of the match unfolded frantically with both sides gunning for a winner. Hlongwane embarked on a mazy solo run before prompting a save from Pulskamp, who then delivered a gigantic stop in the 83rd minute to deny Duggan off a Loons corner kick. The visitors thought they had been awarded a penalty kick on 85 minutes when Joaquin Fernandez was penalized for a handball infraction on his sliding block of Jeong Sang-Bin's piledriver. VAR Robert Schaap instructed head referee Joe Dickerson to take a second look at the play, and the initial decision was overturned after replays confirmed that the shot struck Fernandez's head.
Leibold had a decent look at an unlikely winner in the 89th minute, dragging wide near the left corner of the box, then Sang-Bin had a guilt-edged chance go begging by rifling over the crossbar with an empty net at his mercy in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time.
QUOTES
Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match...
Am I happy with the result? I'm very happy with the mentality to come back. That part was very good. I also think that in the first half we deserved a lot more from the half. But you don't deserve it when you give up the two goals that we did. We come out at halftime and same thing. We can't do that on a regular basis. You can't keep chasing games. The guy who scored the first goal; it was a great strike, but he should never be that open. That ball should never be there without us being able to clear it. But I can say this. It shows that at least the guys are fighting and that part is very good. It's easy for a team not to fight, but they did. They could have given up. I'm probably most disappointed at the end with the fact that after we tied, I think we took our foot off the gas pedal just a little bit. I think we had them at that point. We could have kept going but for whatever reason, maybe they felt good that they got back into the game and they didn't want to then give something away, but we had them.
On the halftime message...
I think halftime now doesn't mean anything. I think the guys that came on in the game, they all had a really positive contribution to the team. They drove the game. There were some things that we worked on that those guys, when they came in, they actually got to it right away. They were very good from that perspective.
On SKC's first goal giving momentum...
There was a lot of time left. And like I said, if you take away the two goals in the first half, we played very well. We were good with the ball. This is a team that's hard to break down and we were in moments right on top of their box. Maybe (we needed) a little bit more composure. You have got to give them a little credit. What they do well is those guys step to the ball and get their body always in front of the ball. We were in and around the box, but we weren't really killer yet. The second half was a much different mentality with much more aggressiveness in that regard. And it was hard for them because of our movement off the ball. They were in all over the place. And you could see the tide change in the group for sure.
On the second goal coming in quick sucession...
On the first goal, when we scored, we didn't grab the ball and pick it up and run it back to half. On the second goal, we did. And you could see that the mentality even changed more in our favor in that way.
On the importance of the comeback...
I don't want to say that what's possible is coming back from 3-0 all the time. But I think what I have been speaking about here recently is that the front guys and them just needing some time because you can see that they're driving the team in a positive direction and it was good for them to get rewarded with a bunch of goals like that today. It was really good because it's been there in the last couple of games. We were just off a little bit. Maybe the pace of the ball on the final pass isn't strong enough. Or maybe a guy over hits it just a little bit. Tonight, some things actually worked out really well and that was good, especially in the second half.
On the aggressiveness of Shapi Suleymanov...
He's not only very technically skilled in his position, but he also is a real worker. He's a fighter and it's great to have that within the group. He's tough. I think any guy that goes up against him is going to have his work cut out for him on any day that he plays because he does also play both sides of the ball. He's very honest in that regard, which is very helpful, especially if you're the right back on your team.
On the play of Daniel Salloi...
Everybody on this roster -- like any other time on this team -- if you want to be upset with me because you're not playing or you're not playing the position you want to, that's fine. But you always have to be prepared for when you come in. And as I said, all the guys that came off the bench were very, very positive for us and that's what the team needs. It's not going to always fall your way. This is the way sports are and when you do get called upon, you have to be ready to perform. That was good. It was good by all those guys.
On Khiry Shelton's return...
We got him in the game because we wanted to get some more height, especially with all the set pieces. And then the other thing is, we wanted to get him back on because at the end of the day, we're taking some real attributes away from Jake (Davis) when he's in the midfield. I thought Memo (Rodriguez), when he came on, he was very good. (Nemanja) Radoja was working. He was in the game and it was a hard one to switch out. We need the guys on the roster right now. This is the way it is. And the fact that those guys haven't played, getting them minutes tonight again in a game like this was very good.
On Jake Davis at right back versus in the midfield...
In his position, that was by design for tonight. Then in the second half, he was a lot more pushed in as a midfielder at times. Again, I think that's where he's unpredictable in a good way.
On the effect of this result in the group...
I think we have to create perspective. I don't think in the first three games we played that we deserved not to get any points in any of those games. That I don't think. But that's the game. The other is that sometimes goals are going to happen. They're just going to happen and when they do, the most important thing you have to look at is response. And in each one of the games that we've played in thus far, our response has been good. But if you don't get rewarded for it, you miss something. You don't build confidence in certain aspects. I think tonight, by coming back that way, it should give a little confidence to the guys as we move through. This past week was our first week we had four days training in a row before a game since the first phase of preseason. We need training. We have a lot of new guys in our team. We're playing a different way. They have to gel together and all that is going to happen between playing games and training and we need a lot more training. It's great that we have another week of training ahead of us.
Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi
On his goal...
I just felt like we needed to make a couple runs behind. We talked about it with Tim (Leibold) as we went in to try it a couple of times. It worked very quickly. I'm glad I could score.
On when the momentum shifted...
Probably after the second one. I think we came alive immediately. We've been in that position on the other side. All of a sudden, the field shifted towards the other side. We could have won it, but we could have lost it as well. It was a hectic game at the end. I'm just glad we got a point. Coming back from 3-0? That's huge.
On coming off the bench to make a difference...
We're all professionals. I'm just going to do my part and then hopefully it will change and I'll be in the lineup again.
On sparking the rally...
I'm glad because what I've noticed is that this team has potential. I just think confidence is lacking a little bit because we need a couple wins. We all know this. A goal can change any player's perspective. I'm glad I could score. Shapi (Suleymanov) set up the next goal. (Dejan Joveljic) scored right after. That's when things get rolling. Now everybody has a little bit more confidence going into the next game and the next game. That's what we need as a team. I'm glad I could get the wings, but I would say Dejan took us flying so it's good. It's teamwork.
On the fan support...
First of all, we've had some crazy weather. I don't even know what's going on. And I don't blame our fans for having limited seating right now, but we can definitely hear them as we were coming back and their support mattered. I understand. The results haven't been there lately and it's their choice to come out and support or wait until we get back on the winning part. Whenever they show up, they are definitely helping us. So I hope they believe in us. And it's very early on. I hope they see the potential (like) what we see. It's going to take some time to gel, but these moments matter a lot. We're onto the right track.
On the outlooking moving forward...
We need a couple wins. We need to get as many wins as possible going into the summer and see where we are at that moment. We've had bad starts the past couple of years and we're just hoping to get as many points as possible. It's not easy. As you can see, other teams are making additions as well. We just need to get used to each other as quick as possible.
Sporting Kansas City is owned by Sporting Club, an entity comprised of local business and community leaders. Sporting prides itself on a commitment and vision to provide high-performance experiences. Sporting Club purchased the team from the Hunt Sports Group in 2006, and under its direction has launched Swope Soccer Village, Children's Mercy Park, Compass Minerals Sporting Fields, Compass Minerals National Performance Center and Central Bank Sporting Complex while investing in the Sporting KC Academy and Sporting Kansas City II for developing local youth into homegrown talent. A charter member of Major League Soccer, Sporting are two-time MLS Cup champions (2000, 2013) and four-time winners of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017).
-- SportingKC.com --
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