St. Louis City score 4 goals in second half, roll past Sporting KC

Updated: Oct 1, 2023, 04:30 am

Joao Klauss recorded a brace, leading host St. Louis City to a 4-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.

Samuel Adeniran and Jared Stroud added second-half goals two minutes apart for St. Louis (17-10-5, 56 points), which set a new MLS record for wins by an expansion franchise and further cemented its spot atop the Western Conference.

William Agada responded with a goal for Sporting KC (10-14-8, 38 points), who are three points behind the playoff line in the Western Conference. The loss drops Kansas City to 2-8-6 in road matches this season.

Adeniran got the home side on the board off a set piece, heading Eduard Lowen's cross past SKC goalkeeper Tim Melia for his eighth goal of the season in the 73rd minute.

Two minutes later, Stroud intercepted a Kansas City clearing attempt and put a left-footed strike past a diving Melia for his fifth of the season.

Klauss added to the lead in the 80th minute, putting Lowen's feed past Melia. The Brazilian striker added his second tally of the night in the 85th minute and now has 10 goals on the season.

St. Louis controlled the possession in the opening 45 minutes, but both teams had three shots on target in a scoreless first half.

The two sides exchanged quality scoring chances in the opening 10 minutes. SKC defender Dany Rosero's header was stopped by St. Louis keeper Roman Burki in the third minute.

Then, four minutes later, St. Louis midfielder Indiana Vassilev had a glorious chance from the center of the box, but Melia got enough of his arm on the strike to deflect it wide.

Klauss had a couple of opportunities to put St. Louis on the board. In the 30th minute, Melia made a diving save on Klauss' right-footed strike from in close. Then, two minutes later, Anthony Markanich sent a cross for Klauss, who couldn't get enough of his foot on the ball to redirect it on goal.

Before the first-half whistle, Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi split two St. Louis defenders, but Burki got a hand on Salloi's shot to keep it out.

--Field Level Media