KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For 55 minutes this was Sporting Kansas City's night, and for the last 35 it was Myrto Uzuni's. Stephen Afrifa put the hosts ahead in the 55th minute at Sporting Park; Uzuni levelled in the 64th by following in his own saved header, and won it in the 86th when a defender's attempted back-heel clearance dropped the ball at his feet in front of goal. Austin's 2–1 comeback win — their first victory since September 13 — was one man's brace, built entirely out of second balls and other people's mistakes.
Las keeps Austin in it
Kansas City controlled the first half and Austin survived it because of their goalkeeper. Damian Las made all three of his saves on Afrifa — including consecutive close-range stops in the 43rd and 45th minutes — while Austin's one early escape came at the other end, Guilherme Biro clearing off his own line. Sporting attempted 19 shots on the night to Austin's 13; the first half was nearly all of their pressure, and it produced nothing.
Uzuni, meanwhile, was having the chances that foreshadow a brace: one in the opening minute, another denied by Stefan Cleveland shortly before he finally scored.
Afrifa breaks through
The goal Kansas City had been threatening arrived on 55 minutes. André Luiz, hounded by two defenders at the edge of the area, poked the ball through to Afrifa, who finished right-footed low into the net. It was the lead the run of play had earned — and it lasted nine minutes.
Austin's response nearly came at once: in the 62nd minute Joseph Rosales had a header clawed off the line by Cleveland and a follow-up headed off the line by Jansen Miller. The equaliser was two minutes away.
Uzuni, twice
On 64 minutes Uzuni's header was kept out by Cleveland — deflected off the post, in the AP account — and Uzuni was first to the rebound, tapping in from the right side of the net. On 86 minutes he was first again: Cleveland pushed a shot wide, Emir Karic attempted a back-heel clearance inside his own area, and the ball went straight to Uzuni near the penalty spot, who beat Cleveland left-footed into the bottom-right corner for the winner.
The brace was Uzuni's eighth and ninth MLS goals of the season and his first multi-goal game in league play since joining Austin in 2025 — a team-high 13th goal of the season in all competitions, per Austin FC's official recap. Between the two goals, Afrifa dragged a shot inches wide on 75 minutes and headed off target from close range three minutes later; Kansas City had their chances to take the game back and took none of them.
What it means
Austin (8-13-10, 34 points) snapped a three-game losing streak and a five-game winless stretch, keeping their playoff hopes flickering — they remain 14th in the West, five places below the final postseason berth. Sporting Kansas City (6-21-4, 22 points), already eliminated and last in the West, are winless in five (0-4-1) — beaten at home, before 13,928, by the two scrappiest goals of their season.
Austin are home to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday; Kansas City travel to Minnesota the same night, still looking for a first win since September.
Full box score, linescore and play-by-play: Game Center — Austin at Sporting Kansas City. More: MLS coverage · Stats Hub
Sources · 4 sources
- ESPN (link) — ESPN summary API — final score, scorers and key events, Sporting Kansas City vs. Austin FC (event 761899)
- Associated Press via TSN (link) — AP game story — both Uzuni goals in detail, Las's three saves on Afrifa, Cleveland's five saves, the standings picture
- Austin FC (link) — Official club recap — Biro's goal-line clearance, Uzuni's team-high 13th goal in all competitions, scoring summary
- Field Level Media via Deadspin (link) — FLM game story; hero photograph is the Imagn wire frame (Peter Aiken) carried as that story's art
