Dejan Joveljic scored a brace in the final 19 minutes Saturday night as Sporting Kansas City snapped a 13-match winless streak that dated back to last year with a 2-0 verdict over visiting St. Louis City SC.
The outcome gave Sporting KC (1-5-1, 4 points) a victory in Kerry Zavagnin’s first game as the interim coach while sending St. Louis (2-3-2, 8 points) to its third straight shutout loss.
Joveljic found his scoring touch late. A pretty buildup from the middle led to the first goal. Manu Garcia feathered a beautiful touch pass to send Joveljic down the right side and he finished clinically, beating Ben Lundt with a right-footed boot just inside the left post.
Joveljic then sealed the verdict in the 88th minute with his fourth marker of the season. Lundt got a hand on Garcia’s strike from the box that was ticketed for the top of the net. But the ball caromed off the crossbar and Joveljic pounced on it between defenders, slotting it to Lundt’s right.
Each team finished with 11 shots on net. Sporting KC goalie John Pulskamp made four saves in the team’s first clean sheet of the year.
There were two significant storylines prior to opening kick. Most notably, Sporting KC was playing with a new coach for the first time since 2010 after firing Peter Vermes on Monday. Vermes was by far MLS’ longest-tenured coach with 15 years under his belt.
While Sporting KC was adjusting to a new hand at the helm, St. Louis was attempting to find the back of the net for the first time in three weeks. Its last goal was in a 1-0 home win over the Seattle Sounders on March 15.
Neither team scored in a first half that was mostly controlled by the visitors, even though Sporting KC enjoyed an early edge in possession by more than eight percent. Joveljic got the only shot on frame in the 38th minute, but it was denied by Lundt.
–Field Level Media
