Down a man? Didn’t matter.
This Decision Day battle belonged to Sporting Kansas City.
Reduced to 10 men following a contentious Seth Sinovic red card, Sporting KC entered the final half-hour of Sunday’s regular season finale in a 1-1 deadlock with LAFC. The winner would lock up first place in the Western Conference and a bye to the conference semifinals, while the loser would fall into the Knockout Round.
With their backs against the wall, short-handed Sporting KC delivered in the 72nd minute. Homegrown forward Daniel Salloi came up clutch with a cool left-footed strike in front of the Cauldron, igniting wild celebrations at sun-drenched Children’s Mercy Park.