Sporting Kansas City finished Wednesday night’s match with nine men, but Daniel Salloi scored a pair of goals as SKC snapped a lengthy winless streak in league play by topping the Colorado Rapids 2-1 in Kansas City, Kan.
The victory was the first for Sporting KC (3-7-3, 12 points) in MLS play since March 26. The Rapids (4-5-3, 15 points) lost for the third time in their last four matches across all competitions.
Four red cards were handed out in the match. Rapids defender Auston Trusty was sent off with his second yellow card after a hard tackle in first minute of second-half stoppage time. Then, in a later scuffle, three more red cards were given out.
It began with the game’s two goal scorers, when Lucas Esteves shoved Salloi with two hands in the back after Salloi tried to restart the match with an aggressive kick at the ball after a stoppage in play. Andreu Fontas then retaliated for SKC, and he, Salloi and Esteves were sent off with red cards for violent conduct.
But before all that, Salloi scored his third and fourth goals of the season.
On a breakaway after getting a feed from Oriol Rosell in the 24th minute, Salloi danced through a pair of defenders near the edge of the box, then dodged another as he tucked a right-footed shot between the near post and Colorado’s stunned goalkeeper, William Yarbrough.
The Rapids responded moments later though. In the 29th minute, with SKC’s defense bunkered down, the Rapids drove the ball into the box and a scramble ensued. Gyasi Zardes poked the rebound back out to winger Esteves, who easily punched the score in.
It was the first goal of the season for Esteves and just the second of his MLS career. It was Zardes’ first assist in a Rapids’ kit.
Salloi then netted his second goal of the night in the 50th minute, scoring unassisted. He ran onto a ball that was misplayed by Colorado defender Lalas Abubakar and rifled a hard and low right-footed shot past Yarbrough.
The Rapids nearly equalized on a set piece in the 95th minute, but Tim Melia tipped Colorado’s attempt over the bar. He finished with three saves.
SKC’s Nikola Vujnovic left the match in the 34th minute with what appeared to be a non-contact leg injury.
–Field Level Media
