Playing the team’s 600th all-time regular season match, Sporting Kansas City came from behind for a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Sunday with two goals in second-half stoppage time.
Jalil Anibaba pulled the home side level in the 91st minute to set the stage for Krisztian Nemeth’s game-winner – the club’s 1,000th goal in team history across all competitions – in the 94th minute.
The visiting Union took an early lead in the game’s third minute from a corner kick swung in by Sebastien Le Toux. Anibaba nearly cleared the ball – last touched by Jacob Peterson under pressure from Andrew Wenger – off the goal line, however assistant referee Adam Garner immediately signaled for the own goal to be awarded by referee Ismail Elfath.
Sporting Kansas City responded with a goal of its own off a corner kick in the 16th minute. Dom Dwyer headed home Benny Feilhaber’s service at the back post for his first goal of the season after setting the team’s single-season record with 22 goals in 2014.
His 25th career regular season goal – and third in his last four games against Philadelphia – came on a night in which 10,000 fans in the sold-out crowd in Kansas City, Kan., received commemorative Dwyer posters courtesy of adidas.
The momentum from the equalizer was short lived as Philadelphia re-gained their advantage just over three minutes later.
Le Toux’s free kick from the right flank found Fernando Aristeguieta, who powered his header past the outstretched arms of Luis Marin from 10 yards out for his team-leading third goal of the year.
The two sides continued to exchange chances in an entertaining back-and-forth affair nationally televised. Dwyer’s header from a Matt Besler throw-in forced a fingertip save by Rais Mbolhi in the 28th minute. On the opposite end, Luis Marin made a pair of saves on Wenger in the 37th and 63rd minutes.
With regulation nearing an end, the Chilean goalkeeper kept Sporting KC in contention with important saves in back-to-back minutes.
He held a deflected attempt from Aristeguieta in the 87th minute and made his best save of the night a minute later to push Le Toux’s effort onto the post in a one-on-one situation. The rebound fell to Michael Lahoud, whose first-time shot carried well over the bar with a vacated net in front of him.
Set pieces would once again prove pivotal as six minutes of second half stoppage time commenced with the score still 2-1 in Philadelphia’s favor. Aristeguieta cleared away Feilhaber’s free kick from the left sideline but Roger Espinoza was first to the loose ball and lofted an entry pass back into the penalty area.
Anibaba won the aerial and snapped his header downward inside the post for his fifth career MLS goal and first since October 2013.
The late-game heroics culminated in a milestone moment when Feilhaber’s corner kick – flicked on by Besler – was pushed over the line by Nemeth. A second-half substitute, the newcomer’s first MLS goal goes into the record books as the team’s historic 1,000th goal across all competitions.
Sunday’s match was Sporting Kansas City’s first to feature two goals in second half stoppage time since 2007 and moves the team into a tie with Real Salt Lake for third place in the Western Conference. The two teams will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., in a rematch of MLS Cup 2013.
A limited number of tickets, including standing room only tickets, are available online at Ticketmaster.com. The first 10,000 fans will receive Sporting KC spirit sleeves,
– Story from Sporting KC