Sporting KC Fights Back for 2-2 Draw at St. Louis
May 15, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City (3-8-2, 11 points) overcame a two-goal halftime deficit to earn a spirited 2-2 road draw against archrivals St. Louis City SC (2-6-5, 11 points) on Wednesday in a pulsating derby battle at Energizer Park.
After Celio Pompeu and Cedric Teuchert gave St. Louis a 2-0 advantage, Sporting rallied late on a clever finish from substitute Tim Leibold in the 71st minute and a superb header from Dejan Joveljic in the 77th minute. The result gave Sporting four points of a possible six against their cross-state rivals this season and pushed St. Louis' winless drought to a club-record nine MLS matches dating back to mid-March.
With his team playing its second of three road matches in eight days, interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin made three changes to the starting XI-one on each line-from Sporting's 1-0 loss at the Portland Timbers on Saturday. In defense, Zorhan Bassong replaced Leibold for his first start since March 15 and his first start at left back since July 2024. Midfielder Jake Davis logged his first start in over a month by entering for Nemanja Radoja, while captain Erik Thommy landed his first start since March 22 in place of right winger Shapi Suleymanov. For the first time this year, Sporting's lineup featured 11 starters all age 30 or younger.
Pompeu vaulted the hosts ahead with a stunning strike in the 15th minute. After Marcel Hartel's corner kick was nodded away to the opposite side of the penalty area by Jansen Miller, Pompeu settled into possession and unleashed a 22-yard curler that nestled into the far right corner for his opening goal of the season and his first since April 20, 2024, in a 3-3 draw against Sporting at Children's Mercy Park.
Midfielder Manu Garcia sprung a good look for the visitors at the half-hour mark with a lofted ball down the left channel for forward Daniel Salloi, who gave chase, squared up his defender and lashed a right-footed effort over the crossbar. Shortly thereafter, Salloi connected on Jacob Bartlett's corner kick with an admirable side volley attempt that was blocked through traffic, then had a mid-range shot drag wide.
Sporting was the victim of awful luck prior to halftime, falling behind 2-0 when Tomas Ostrak's 30-yard drive deflected fortuitously off Teuchert near the penalty spot and dribbled into the back of the net past a helpless John Pulskamp. Kansas City's frustrations were exacerbated on the stroke of intermission as Joveljic's close-range shot was repelled by St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Burki, who had made his return to the pitch after missing two months with a hand fracture.
Pompeu could have doubled his haul less than 30 seconds into the second stanza but misfired from a tight angle on the left edge of the six-yard box.
At the opposite end, Sporting broke on a quick counter as Salloi slipped a through ball to Joveljic, who couldn't steer his left-footed blast on frame with a defender draped on him. The Serbian striker was thwarted yet again in the 54th minute, playing a brilliant combination with Garcia only to see his low belter blocked by Burki. Pulskamp was then called to action less than a minute later, coming off his line and dropping low to deny Hartel in a one-on-one situation.
Sporting suffered an injury setback near the hour juncture when Radoja, who had relieved Davis at halftime, was forced to exit early. Leibold was summoned as a replacement, pushing Bassong into his more customary central midfield position.
Right back Andrew Brody crafted a pinpoint cross into the middle for an unmarked Salloi in the 59th minute, but the homegrown forward was unable to place his header on target. Salloi had yet another chance go begging seconds later, receiving a pass from Joveljic and pulling a shot wide of the far post.
With Sporting committing numbers forward, St. Louis nearly bagged a third only for Hartel's breakaway blast to be touched aside by the outstretched Pulskamp, the 24-year-old goalkeeper producing his best save of the night.
Joveljic was foiled once more in the 67th minute. Brody clipped another excellent cross into the mixer for Sporting's DP striker, but his header lacked the direction to beat Burki.
Sporting grabbed a deserved goal back in the 71st minute off the patented left foot of Leibold. Garcia probed the edge of the penalty area and floated a ball leftward to Leibold, who had an incisive exchange with Salloi before rifling a shot under the legs of Burki to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Sporting now has four goals from substitutes this season, second most in MLS, while Salloi's assist gives him 100 career goal contributions (56 goals, 44 assists) in MLS competitions and 40 regular season assists, tied for sixth most in club history.
With momentum firmly on the side of Sporting, Joveljic nodded his team level in the 77th minute, rising above the rest to snap a header past Burki. Suleymanov tabbed the assist on a well-delivered free kick from the right wing, restoring parity at 2-2 and setting the stage for a tense final quarter-hour. Joveljic has a team-leading six goals on the year, three of which have come against St. Louis after he put them to the sword with a brace in Kansas City's 2-0 home triumph on April 5.
Sporting will conclude its daunting road swing with a visit to upstart expansion side San Diego FC on Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium. The Western Conference clash will kick off at 9:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and 103.7 FM.
QUOTES
Sporting KC interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin
On the comeback...
We never gave up. Although things at different points in the game weren't going our way, we never gave up. There have been different points in the last 6 weeks that we've excelled in. There have been games where we exploded offensively. There have been games where we held really strong and defended a result with zero shots on goal. We've defended set pieces, 12 of them in a game, in a fantastic way. Tonight was one of those moments where courage and bravery and the winning mentality really shone through. That's probably the story of the night because I don't think we necessarily deserved to be down 2-0. But we were and we can't control that. We can't control the result. But we can control our attitude. And the way the guys persevered throughout the game was probably what the storyline is all about.
On the ability to recover from the two goals conceded...
I think it's being consistent with the message. You can talk about how you can't control the results. And then you lose every game and then everyone says, 'Yeah, but...' because it's a results orientated business. Our approach is we can't do anything about yesterday and we can't do anything about tomorrow. All we can deal with is the moment. That was the message at halftime, that we have to put the half behind us and show that we have the character at least to compete and push forward. We did and we got a result from it.
On the play of John Pulskamp...
I don't want to talk to him because he's playing so well. He's playing a perfect game, you know? Maybe that's a bit excessive, but I think that he's growing as a goalkeeper. We say that after every week when he's put in a performance that is just a little bit better than the last one. The question recently was 'what's his ceiling?' and I would hate to put anything on that, because he just keeps growing. It's really great to see how he's improving and improving the team
On the play of Jansen Miller...
I spoke to the team before the game and I told them, 'Guys, we have to win the game.' And all the guys kind of looked and they said, 'Coach never says that.' I said, 'because Jansen has 200 people coming to the game and they'll never let him live it down.' From a playing perspective, he's been outstanding. He's young and he will make mistakes and he made a few tonight, but it never let him affect how he conducted himself the rest of the game. And that goes for all the players. Great mentality, great courage, great bravery. But now we have got a short turnaround. We have got to get ready for the next.
On the physicality...
I actually really enjoy that in a rivalry game that there's emotion and passion that spills just on the borderline of going over the top. I think it's entertaining. I couldn't tell what the confrontation was but with St. Louis and Kansas City, no matter if it's soccer or anything else, I think you're always going to have a heated and passionate battle. That was no different tonight. In terms of how the referee conducted or managed the game, I try to pay so little attention to what that is, because you can't control that. I would have to say, without thinking too much, he was generally good. He managed the game and if there's a call tit for tat here and there, I don't have really much interest in it. Overall, I think it was a well-competed game.
On Nemanja Radoja's injury...
I think it's a muscular quad injury. And one of the reasons why we didn't start him is because he put in a really big effort over the weekend. We thought we'd be somewhat conservative by at least playing 30-45 minutes. We thought that would keep him in the clear but unfortunately he pulled up with a quad injury. I don't know how serious it is at the moment. We'll have to wait until we get back to Kansas City.
On the intensity of Shapi Suleymanov...
He's such a nice guy and has integrated himself with the group. He's got a great personality and a great sense of humor. But when he gets on the field he's a completely different person. He puts the mask on, if you will, and does embrace that villain role. He doesn't really care what people think or say or do from the fan perspective. I think that actually energizes him. For us, I think that helps us. It helps us from an energy and an emotional level that we can join him. You're always competing in games like this that are rising to the level of just of being over the edge. He's our leader in that regard.
On Erik Thommy getting the start...
I thought Thommy was going to be able to get in behind a little bit more. As a winger playing against the line with Shapi, who always comes from the line or receives the ball at his feet or rotates with our outside back, Thommy was more of a central player getting in behind since they were playing with three in the back. So we wanted him to penetrate there. As a team, we collectively couldn't get him in the right positions and we had to open up somebody up against the line on that right side in the second half. I would attribute much of that decision to a tactical decision.
On the impact from the substitutes...
I think the subs, for the most part this year, have come on and contributed in a positive way. We had a contingency plan that if we had lost too many central midfielders, Zorhan (Bassong) would be able to go into that central role as he's performed more often than not as opposed to left back. (Tim) Leibold came in, positioned himself extremely well and again was part of that courageous group that just kept penetrating forward. For him to score a goal right in front of the goal as a left back says a lot about his commitment to get forward and try to get the result.
Sporting Kansas City forward Dejan Joveljic
On scoring against St. Louis three times this year...
It looks like I like these derby games. Can we playe them maybe every week? That would be awesome. A bad start, but in the end we showed that we can come back and I'm happy because I scored and we bounced back. It's huge and a good one point. Maybe we could take all three points, but at the end I think that's a fair score to share the points.
On staying persistent...
I know it has been hard in the past three of four games. I didn't have chances so it's hard to stay focused. At the end, I'm just waiting and preparing myself so if I get in those positions that I need to put ball behind the back. Maybe I could score on one more shot at least. A little bit better and maybe I could have two goals but at the end I'm happy with this one. It's good for the confidence.
On the challenge for the team to stay focused after going 2-0 down...
Of course. As you know, the goal we conceded against Cincinnati and against Portland and those two goals today so it's hard to stay focused. But we showed that we can and shout out to the team. We are happy and we go to prepare for the next game in San Diego.
On the nature of the goals conceded...
I hope that they're not going to score another bicycle kick or deflection like this.
On his scoring history against St. Louis...
I don't know. I played a few times against them. I think that I have four goals against St. Louis. You probably heard that I said, can we play them every week? That would be maybe good for me and good for the team. I don't know. I just was lucky enough to be in the right position today to score. Hopefully I will have more chances and goals in the next games.
On his teammate Shapi Suleymanov...
I know Shapi longer than the other guys in this team because I played against him maybe two or three times in the national team. He's the same age as me. He was playing for the Russian national team and I played against him many times. We need to have guys and players like him who are good outside of the field and when you step on the field they're like fighters. I'm happy that I have him as a teammate. He's such a good person and an amazing player. Hopefully he's going to help us with goals and with assists. So far he has four assists so I expect a lot of more from him.
2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 13
Energizer Park | St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 22,423
Weather: 77 degrees and partly cloudy
Watch: Full match highlights
Download: Tim Leibold pulls one back
Download: Dejan Joveljic nets equalizer
Download: Kerry Zavagnin post-match
Download: Dejan Joveljic post-match
Score 1 2 F
Sporting Kansas City (3-8-2, 11 points) 0 2 2
St. Louis City SC (2-6-5, 11 points) 2 0 2
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Andrew Brody (Khiry Shelton 76'), Jansen Miller, Robert Voloder, Zorhan Bassong; Jacob Bartlett, Jake Davis (Nemanja Radoja 46', Tim Leibold 56'), Manu Garcia; Erik Thommy (C) (Shapi Suleymanov 46'), Dejan Joveljic (Mason Toye 90+1'), Daniel Salloi
Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Dany Rosero, Stephen Afrifa, Santiago Munoz
St. Louis City SC: Roman Burki (C); Kyle Hiebert, Josh Yaro, Timo Baumgartl (Henry Kessler 78'); Akil Watts (Joey Zalinksy 78'), Tomas Ostrak (Jake Girdwood-Reich 82'), Marcel Hartel, Conrad Wallem; Cedric Teuchert (Xande Silva 60'), Joao Klauss (Simon Becher 60'), Celio Pompeu
Subs Not Used: Ben Lundt, Joakim Nilsson, Jayden Reid, Michael Wentzel
Scoring Summary:
STL -- Celio Pompeu 1 (unassisted) 15'
STL -- Cedric Teuchert 3 (Tomas Ostrak 1) 44'
SKC -- Tim Leibold 1 (Daniel Salloi 3) 71'
SKC -- Dejan Joveljic 6 (Shapi Suleymanov 4) 77'
Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Robert Voloder (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 31'
SKC -- Daniel Salloi (yellow card; dissent) 45+2'
SKC -- Zorhan Bassong (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 50'
STL -- Joey Zalinsky (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 85'
STAT SKC STL
Shots 17 16
Shots on Goal 5 7
Saves 5 3
Fouls 12 17
Offsides 1 2
Corner Kicks 5 5
Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Assistant Referee: Lyes Arfa
Assistant Referee: Mike Nickerson
Fourth Official: Edvin Jurisevic
VAR: Joshua Patlak
AVAR: Rubiel Vazquez
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