Sporting Kansas City got first-half goals from Dany Rosero and Daniel Salloi and cruised to a 3-0 victory over Minnesota United on Saturday night, their first home win of the season.
It was the second straight MLS victory for Sporting (2-7-3, 9 points) after starting the season with 10 straight winless matches.
After scoring two goals in a match for the first time all season in its last match in Seattle, Sporting bettered it against Minnesota (3-5-3, 12 points).
Sporting iced the match in the 84th minute on Gadi Kinda’s first goal of the season. He broke behind the Minnesota defense for a clear shot past Minnesota keeper Dayne St. Clair.
Sporting KC lost keeper Tim Melia in the 69th minute with a hip-flexor injury. He was replaced by Kendall McIntosh. Melia faced just three shots, including a penalty kick in the first half.
Rosero electrified the home crowd in the ninth minute with a header from right in front of the goal. Salloi’s corner was right where it needed to be for Rosero to rise up and redirect it past St. Clair.
Alan Pulido just about put the home side up 2-0 in the 15th minute, but his shot from close range clanged off the left upright and harmlessly away.
Salloi gave Sporting the 2-0 lead with a goal in the 23rd minute. Remi Walter brought the ball into the box and then served it over to Salloi, who fired a shot from the left-hand side of the box.
The crowd got even louder moments later when Melia stopped a penalty kick. Jeong Sang-Bin drew a foul on Melia in the box, but his shot was right at Melia and collected easily.
It was Melia’s first penalty save of the season. He has a .588 goals-conceded percentage on penalty kicks (20-of-34) in the regular season, best in MLS regular-season history among keepers with at least 20 penalties faced.
That was the only shot Minnesota had in the first half, as SKC dominated the first-half stats. They owned 61 percent of the possession and went to the locker room up 2-0.
–Field Level Media
