Zavagnin frustrated after Sporting KC’s ‘lifeless’ defeat to Austin

Sporting Kansas City interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin believes his side did not deserve even a draw in their “lifeless” loss to Austin FC.

Despite taking the lead at home through a Dejan Joveljic penalty in the 16th minute, Owen Wolff scored an equaliser ahead of half-time before assisting CJ Fodrey’s winner eight minutes from time.

Sporting KC were on top in the early stages of the game and went on to produce more expected goals (xG) than Austin, 2.06 to 1.16, but failed to build on their opening goal.

Austin’s winner came from a corner, and Zavagnin was less than impressed with his side’s inability to defend set pieces.

“It's kind of a microcosm of the season. You give up a goal that's very much preventable and set pieces have done us in over the course of this year,” said Zavagnin.

“If I'm not mistaken, that might be the 13th set piece [goal] that we've taken this year. Going back all the way to the beginning of the year, they won 1-0 on a set piece and now we find ourselves in a similar fate.

“We had a lot of the ball tonight, but I don't necessarily think we created incredible chances with it. I think we leave a lot to be desired from the game, knowing that with a better performance we could have got a better result.

“All the players on the field gave effort. I just think the game played out in a very lifeless way.

“But at the end of the day, we weren't good enough on the day to get anything more out of the game.”

Data Debrief: Age is just a number for Wolff

Twenty-year-old Wolff has now directly contributed to eight goals in his last seven MLS games (five goals, three assists), helping Austin strengthen their hold on sixth place in the Western Conference. He is both Austin's top scorer and assist provider this season.

This was also Austin's first win after trailing in a match since July 2024, failing to win their previous 19 MLS matches after going a goal down.