Late goals by Manu García and Stephen Afrifa rally Sporting KC to 2-1 victory over Austin

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Manu Garcia and Stephen Afrifa both scored late in the second half to rally Sporting Kansas City to a 2-1 victory over Austin FC on Saturday night.

Sporting KC had lost all five of its previous matches at Q2 Stadium.

Neither team found the net in the first half until defender Mikkel Desler scored one minute into stoppage time to give Austin a 1-0 lead at halftime.

It was the second career goal in 35 appearances for Desler after scoring once last season in 20 matches. Defender Guilherme Biro notched his second assist this season and Owen Wolff picked up his first after posting a career-high eight last season.

Sporting KC didn't come up with the equalizer until Garcia took a pass from Shapi Suleymanov in the 79th minute and scored for the first time this season. It was his third goal in 40 career appearances. Suleymanov's assist was his first after collecting four last season — his first in the league.

Sporting KC grabbed the lead three minutes later on an unassisted goal by Afrifa — his first. Afrifa's first four goals all came in 24 appearances in 2024.

Former Austin goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland saved two shots for Sporting KC (3-8-2) in posting back-to-back victories after finishing off a season sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy last time out.

Brad Stuver totaled seven saves for Austin (3-6-5), which was coming off the most lopsided loss in club history — 5-0 to San Diego FC on the road.

Sporting KC improves to 2-5-0 on the road after being outscored 14-0 in its previous three matches away from home

Austin drops to 3-2-2 at home.

Up next

Kansas City: Hosts the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

Austin: Visits St. Louis City on Saturday.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer