Andres Gomez scored a goal in each half as Western Conference-leading Real Salt Lake held on to defeat Sporting Kansas City 4-3 on Wednesday in Kansas City, Kan.
RSL (10-2-7, 37 points) extended their unbeaten streak to 15 matches (9-0-6) and increased their road unbeaten run to 10 matches (4-0-6).
Sporting KC (3-11-5, 14 points) have won just twice in 10 home matches this year. Sporting had 30 shots, with 11 of them on goal.
Salt Lake won despite having only 14 shots, nine on goal.
Gomez scored his second goal in the 51st minute. He picked up a loose ball just inside the SKC zone and ran untouched up the right side. As Sporting keeper Tim Melia approached, Gomez calmly chipped it over him and into the net for a 3-1 lead.
Sporting halved the deficit when Willy Agada scored from just outside the 6-yard box in the 70th minute. Zorhan Bassong lofted a pass into the middle of the box. Agada collected it and pushed it past RSL keeper Gavin Beavers.
A giveaway in Sporting’s own end led to RSL’s fourth goal. Second-half substitutes Cristian Arango and Matt Crooks combined on the 84th-minute play that resulted in Crooks’ first MLS goal.
Agada headed in a corner kick from Memo Rodriguez for his second goal of the match in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to pull SKC within one.
RSL took the lead in the 14th minute. Diego Luna fed Gomez, who fired it past a diving Melia for a 1-0 lead.
Sporting KC had a chance to level the match when Braian Ojeda was called for a foul on Erik Thommy in the box in the 20th minute. However, Beavers got both hands on Johnny Russell’s penalty kick and deflected it clear.
Sporting tied it in the 28th minute. Nemanja Radoja held the ball in the RSL zone before finding Stephen Afrifa at the top of the box. Afrifa slid the ball past Beavers.
The momentum didn’t last long. Luna fed a pass from the midfield stripe to Anderson Julio, who got behind the defense and chipped it over a charging Melia in the 33rd minute.
Luna almost gave RSL a two-goal lead in the 44th minute, but Melia stopped a point-blank shot, and Luna’s response was wide left.
–Field Level Media
