Winless streak reaches five games for Minnesota United with 4-1 loss at Sporting KC

Minnesota United continued two winless streaks in Saturday's resounding 4-1 loss at Sporting Kansas City.

The Loons now have gone five games overall without a victory, losing four times and tying Los Angeles FC on Wednesday with a playoff spot on the line.

They also still haven't won at Kansas City in the regular season since they entered MLS in 2017. The Loons won a 2020 Western Conference semifinal game 3-0 there, but now are 0-7 in regular seasons games after they allowed SKC a 3-0 lead by halftime.

Despite the loss, they remain in the Western Conference's fifth place, two points behind fourth-place Nashville and a home playoff game and three points out of the playoffs altogether.

"You can't feel sorry for yourselves," Loons coach Adrian Heath said. "We know what we have to do. We have to win a couple games and we've got two chances to do it. So dust yourself, get yourself back in training next week, work hard and see where that puts us."

Now with the playoffs very much on the line, Heath lamented his team's lack of energy and tendency to play off the back foot in a first half when the Loons allowed goals in the 31st, 41st and 45th minutes.

"I could still play football if it was about a nice game of football," he said. "You have to make people play quicker than they want and get them out of their comfort zone. We did that in the second half. We got people forward, ran forward without the ball, got crosses in the box. At 3-1, we were still in the game."

That is, until newcomer William Agada got a brace with his second goal in the 81st minute that clinched it after Loons rookie Mender Garcia scored his first MLS goal in the 57th minute.

The Loons played without suspended star midfielder Emanuel Reynoso and injured Robin Lod, whose calf will keep him rehabbing in Blaine rather than join his Finland national team in the upcoming FIFA international break.

Teammates Michael Boxall (New Zealand) and Kervin Arriaga and Joseph Rosales (both Honduras) were headed off after Saturday's game. The Loons don't play again until an Oct. 1 game at San Jose.

Defender DJ Taylor called the break "huge" for his team.

"It's always tough when you're in a spot for the playoffs but you're not there yet," Taylor said. "It'll be a good rest for us. We've got to be super sharp in training and get ourselves back together for this final push. I expect to win the rest of the games to put ourselves in a good spot."

Heath said he's hopeful this coming week will allow his team time to "recalibrate" and allowed players with lingering injuries — such as defenders Kemar Lawrence and Brent Kallman — time to heal.

"We've got too many players not 100 percent fit," Heath said. "That's pretty evident. I think we need to regroup, think about when we're at our best and hopefully get everybody in the right frame of mind for San Jose in a couple weeks."

Reynoso was suspended for a senseless yellow card he earned late in Tuesday's 1-1 home draw with Los Angeles FC. Heath replaced him by putting attacker Frago Fragapane back into the 11 after a two-game suspension and asked him to play more of Reynoso's role with both Reynoso and injured Bongokuhle Hlongwane missing.

Fragapane was subbed out in the 71st minute with his team trailing 3-1.

Sporting KC's three first-half goals started with a Michael Boxall own goal in the 31st minute. It came after goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair stopped Johnny Russell's angled shot from the right side, but couldn't contain it. It bounced off the grass and hit Boxall's body just ahead of him before it bounded backward, across the goal line.

"We know Dayne well enough," Heath said. "I expect him to hold on to that one or certainly push it out."

Sporting KC entered Saturday's game 12th in the Western Conference but it had been 4-1-2 in its last seven games, the Western Conference's best winning percentage during that time. It has scored 0.73 goals through July and 2.43 goals starting in August.

They had scored nearly half of their goals — 17 of 36 — in nine games since they added Erik Thommy and Agada to its roster and brought a five-game unbeaten streak into Saturday's game.

The Star Tribune did not travel for this game. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the game.