Almirón has assists on goals by Jacob and Picault as Atlanta United beats Sporting KC 2-1

Published Aug. 23, 2026 9:15 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Tomas Jacob and Fafa Picault both scored goals with an assist from Miguel Almiron and Atlanta United beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Sunday night for its first three-match MLS win streak in five years.

Jacob used assists from Almirón and 18-year-old Cooper Sanchez to score his third goal and give Atlanta United a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

Picault scored off a corner kick by Almirón with an assist from rookie defender Elias Baez in the 24th minute for a 2-0 lead. Picault has three goals in his first 14 matches with Atlanta United and 63 in 258 career appearances.

Sanchez has five assists in his first full season, while Almirón and Báez both have four.

Sporting KC cut its deficit in half in the 70th minute when Stephen Afrifa was in the right place to score his second goal — unassisted.

Lucas Hoyos finished with one save for Atlanta United (6-12-3), which entered with the second fewest points in the league before finishing the day three points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Stefan Cleveland saved one shot for Sporting KC (4-14-3), which has the fewest points at 15.

Luke Brennan subbed in for Atlanta United in the 62nd minute and left with an injury in the 77th. Báez was hit with a yellow card in the 76th minute and will be suspended for a match for accumulation.

Sporting KC held out leading scorer Dejan Joveljic amid rumors he was headed to the Seattle Sounders in a cash-for-player trade. The club is 0-4-1 in its last five matches with only two goals scored.

Also, Atlanta United announced earlier in the day it had acquired Swiss international striker Breel Embolo from French Ligue 1's Stade Rennais.