Sporting Kansas City earned their first home playoff game in five years, and they duly delivered their first playoff win in that same amount of time for the eager fans that packed the house at Children's Mercy Park. They didn't make it easy for themselves, though.
With Sporting up 3-1 on aggregate going into the second half, Real Salt Lake twice pulled within a goal of flipping the tie in their favor and nearly did find that decisive goal. However, Sporting held their nerve during a chaotic 10-minute flurry at the end of the game and eventually pulled out a 4-2 win on the night, advancing to the Western Conference Championship of the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.