Sporting KC was missing key pieces vs. Real Salt Lake. Here’s how the match unfolded

Playing with a makeshift lineup, Sporting KC held off Real Salt Lake for roughly 80 minutes on Saturday night.

But Sporting’s issues defending set pieces showed up late, as Cristian Arango’s header off a free kick in the 80th minute doomed Sporting KC to a second straight road defeat.

Following the 1-0 loss, Sporting has 2 wins, 4 losses, 5 draws on the season and hasn’t won a match since March 30, going 0-3-2 in that time.

Captain Johnny Russell made his first start since Sporting KC’s win over the San Jose Earthquakes on March 16 and played 60 minutes. But other regulars were absent.

Remi Walter and Dany Rosero didn’t make the trip due to injury. Nemanja Radoja was a late scratch due to illness; he was replaced in the midfield by Marinos Tzionis. John Pulskamp started in goal over Tim Melia.

Sporting KC’s best chances came in the first half, but the game remained a scoreless draw through 45 minutes. When Russell came off the field in the second half, Sporting KC slowly took on more and more pressure from Real Salt Lake.

Arango’s goal came off a free kick that was curled to the back post. His downward header had enough juice on the bounce to clear Pulskamp and multiple defenders before crossing the line.

Sporting KC will travel north to Omaha for U.S. Open Cup play on Wednesday night. The club will face Union Omaha at Caniglia Field on the campus at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.