Dejan Joveljić scores as Sporting Kansas City beat Minnesota

Dejan Joveljić celebrates a goal for Sporting Kansas City.

Dejan Joveljić opened the scoring as Sporting Kansas City defeated Minnesota United 2-1. The Serbian striker scored after twenty-eight minutes at Children's Mercy Park.

Manu Garcia doubled the lead in the fifty-fourth minute. Devin Padelford answered for Minnesota, but Sporting kept its advantage through stoppage time.

Minnesota create the first clear chances

Minnesota produced three strong opportunities during the opening fifteen minutes. Sporting goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland stopped two efforts and watched another strike the post.

Kelvin Yeboah directed a central header toward goal, but Cleveland made the save. Yeboah then hit the far-left post with a right-footed attempt.

Morris Duggan also tested Cleveland from outside the penalty area. The goalkeeper dived to his right and kept the shot out.

Those saves kept the game level during Minnesota's strongest early period. Sporting then created the move that produced the opening goal.

Cleveland completed the match with nine saves. His total exceeded the five stops recorded by Minnesota goalkeeper Drake Callender.

Joveljić scores from close range

The first goal arrived in the twenty-eighth minute. Capita carried the move down the right side of Minnesota's penalty area.

His pass reached Joveljić near the top of the six-yard box. The striker finished with his right foot and placed Sporting ahead.

The goal was Joveljić's eighth in the 2026 league season. It also continued his regular starting role after the World Cup break.

Sporting protected the 1-0 score until halftime. Minnesota had created more early shots but entered the interval behind.

Joveljić's finish remained the only first-half goal. The next change came nine minutes after play resumed.

Garcia adds the second after halftime

Jake Davis supplied a short pass back toward Manu Garcia in the fifty-fourth minute. Garcia met it near the penalty area's edge.

Dejan Joveljić challenges a Minnesota United defender.

The midfielder curled a right-footed shot inside the near-right post. The finish gave Sporting a two-goal advantage.

It was Garcia's second league goal of the season. The strike followed Joveljić's opener from a different area of the box.

Sporting later replaced Garcia with Kwaku Agyabeng. Stephen Afrifa also entered for Capita during the second half.

Minnesota made several attacking changes after falling two goals behind. The visitors found their response from a set piece.

Padelford scores with a header for Minnesota

Joaquin Pereyra delivered a corner in the seventy-fifth minute. Devin Padelford met the ball unmarked near the far post.

The defender headed past Cleveland and reduced the score to 2-1. It was Padelford's first goal of the campaign.

Minnesota continued attacking during the final quarter-hour. Sporting used Cleveland's saves and several clearances to preserve the lead.

Anthony Markanich came close to an equaliser in the ninetieth minute. His turning left-footed shot travelled just wide of the left post.

No later attempt changed the score. Sporting completed its second home league victory of the season.

The match statistics show Minnesota's pressure

Minnesota held sixty-six percent of the recorded possession. Sporting finished with the remaining thirty-four percent.

The visitors completed five hundred accurate passes, compared with Sporting's 235. That difference did not produce a second Minnesota goal.

Cleveland's nine saves became a central part of the final result. Callender made five saves at the opposite end.

Sporting improved to four wins, ten defeats and two draws. The victory moved the club to fourteen league points.

Minnesota left with six wins, six defeats and four draws. The team remained on twenty-two points after the loss.

Dejan Joveljić carries the ball for Sporting Kansas City.

Sporting end a five-match winless run against Minnesota

Sporting had not beaten Minnesota in its previous five meetings. The sequence contained four defeats and one draw before this result.

Minnesota reached the match without a win in four league games. The 2-1 defeat extended that run to five.

Joveljić's goal provided Sporting's first advantage after Minnesota's early pressure. Garcia's goal proved decisive after Padelford reduced the gap.

The final record contains three scorers and two assists. Capita assisted Joveljić, while Davis assisted Garcia and Pereyra supplied Padelford.

Joveljić started, scored and raised his league total to eight. Sporting collected three points from the completed 2-1 home win.

Both teams make substitutions after the second goal

Sporting made its first two changes after the second goal. Kwaku Agyabeng replaced Garcia, and Stephen Afrifa replaced Capita.

Jayden Reid later entered for Emir Karić in Sporting's defence. Those changes came before the closing period of stoppage time.

Minnesota introduced Mamadou Dieng and Bongokuhle Hlongwane after sixty-four minutes. Hlongwane replaced Kelvin Yeboah following his early chances.

Two more Minnesota changes followed in the seventy-sixth minute. The visitors made their final substitution four minutes before full time.

Padelford scored between those groups of changes. His header arrived one minute after Sporting replaced Capita with Afrifa.

The match ended after three minutes of added time. Sporting's two first-half and early second-half scorers remained decisive.

Minnesota had scored nineteen goals across sixteen league matches after the game. Padelford supplied the latest goal in that total.

Sporting's fourteen points came from four wins and two draws. Ten defeats complete the club's first sixteen league results.