Summary: Agada brace and late goal from Rodriguez help Sporting to wild 3-2 win over Dallas

Willy Agada’s double in the first half and a sensational goal by Memo Rodriguez in the final phase helped Sporting Kansas City (5-13-5, 20 points) to a thrilling 3-2 victory over FC Dallas (6-11-5, 23 points) on Sunday evening at Children’s Mercy Park.

Agada scored two headers in 23 minutes to give Sporting the lead, but the visitors responded with a goal just before and after half-time to level the scores. Sporting had the last laugh, however, as Rodriguez fired a 15-yard shot into the corner with eight minutes left to give Kansas City its second consecutive home win.

With Sunday’s result, manager Peter Vermes became the third head coach in MLS history to win 200 regular-season games as Sporting swept the first of two meetings between the clubs in four days. The founding members of MLS will face off again Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are available at SeatGeek.com and live coverage will be available on Apple TV and Sports Radio 810 WHB.

With his team enduring a difficult stretch of seven games in 22 days, Vermes deployed a lineup that featured seven changes from Thursday’s 2-1 loss at Colorado Rapids. Veteran goalkeeper Tim Melia, captaining the club for the first time, was protected by a back four of Kayden Pierre, Robert Castellanos, Andreu Fontas and Tim Leibold. Rodriguez and Jake Davis formed a double six in midfield, while Alenis Vargas, Alan Pulido and Daniel Salloi were in advanced positions behind lone striker Agada.

The hosts seized the initiative early and needed just 11 minutes to score the first goal. Rodriguez’s inbound corner kick from the left was met by a leaping Agada, who headed the ball past Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes for Sporting’s second-earliest goal of the 2024 regular season. Rodriguez has led his team in scoring goals this year with six assists and Sporting is third in MLS with 10 goals from set pieces.