Sporting Kansas City were supposed to easily beat Toronto FC on Saturday night at Livestrong Sporting Park and they won, but it certainly was not easy. After falling behind 1-0, Sporting came back to score twice, the second time in the 87th minute to win 2-1 and move into a tie for the Supporters' Shield lead with the Earthquakes.
Sporting Kansas City Vs. Toronto FC, 2012 MLS: SKC Storm Back To Win
The opening of the match was dominated by Sporting, but they didn’t have anything to show for it. The Reds really had nothing going for them, struggling to string together passes and defensively depending on luck and poor Kansas City finishing to keep from falling behind.
Then out of nowhere, Toronto shocked Kansas City with a goal just before halftime. Robert Eckersley hit a ball over the top for Ryan Johnson, who snuck in behind the Sporting defense and took one touch before firing past Jimmy Nielsen for the opening tally.
A fortunate deflection got Kansas City level at the hour mark. A free kick was cleared out to Paulo Nagamura at the top of the box, which he struck well on the volley. It also took a deflection that sent it looping over Freddy Hall before dipping under the bar to equalize.
As the match went on, Toronto began to play better and even things out, but it was Kansas City who tallied late. Chance Myers took a pass from Nagamura down the right and cut it back for Oriol Rosell, who side-footed on the first touch for the far post. It was well-aimed and while Hall had a chance to get to it, he couldn't keep the winner out of the net.
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