Reggie Cannon, Rafael Navarro Score as Colorado Rapids Beat Nine-Man Sporting KC 2-0

Sporting Kansas City spent most of Saturday night in Commerce City trying to survive, first a man down and eventually two. For 65 minutes, it held. Then Youssef Maziz, nine minutes into his Colorado Rapids debut, swung in a corner, Reggie Cannon met it at the back post, and the dam finally broke.

Colorado won 2-0 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, with Rafael Navarro adding a stoppage-time second on the counterattack. Kwaku Agyabeng's first-half red card and Moisés Mosquera's late sending-off left Sporting with nine players by the end, and the Rapids, who won 4-1 in Kansas City in April according to the club, are now two for two against Sporting this season.

Thirty-Eight Minutes of Even-ish Soccer

Sporting coach Raphael Wicky made one change, per the club, starting Shapi Suleymanov in place of the suspended Lasse Berg Johnsen and switching to a 4-4-2. Colorado still started on the front foot. Georgi Minoungou had the first big chance in the third minute, and Sporting's recap said he had robbed Mosquera inside the area and, with just the keeper in front of him, sent it over the bar. Navarro headed wide in the 14th minute, and Rob Holding headed just wide off a set piece three minutes later.

Sporting eventually found some footing. Calvin Harris, facing his former club according to Sporting, tested Nico Hansen from distance in the 28th minute, and Dejan Joveljic forced another save from a tight angle a minute later. Colorado answered with Paxten Aaronson's direct free kick off the crossbar in the 31st minute, and Shapi Suleymanov brought a low save out of Hansen in the 37th.

Then the match tilted for good. Sporting took a corner, the Rapids broke the other way, and Agyabeng slid in on Miguel Navarro as the counter developed. He was shown a straight red in the 38th minute, which Sporting said was the first red card of his professional career. It was the second straight match Sporting had gone down to 10 men in the first half, per the club.

The Siege

What followed was a full-scale occupation. Colorado finished with 74.3 percent of the possession and 28 shots, only three of which hit the target. Wayne Frederick headed a corner off the crossbar in the 51st minute, Stefan Cleveland stopped Dante Sealy a minute later, and Sporting lost Or Blorian to an injury in the 62nd minute.

Maziz, described by Colorado as the club's newest signing, replaced Frederick in the 56th minute. In the 65th minute, he stood over a corner and curled it toward the back post, where Cannon bounced a header past Cleveland into the bottom left corner. Colorado said it was Cannon's first goal of the season and his second for the club, and Maziz's first assist as a Rapid. Cleveland, after watching the replay, credited the routine: "They executed well, but I think we need to respond with the experience that we have a little bit better in that moment."

A VAR check in the 71st minute ended with no penalty for Colorado, and Sporting nearly stole a point anyway. In the 87th minute, Taylor Calheira slipped Harris through on goal, and Harris hit the post from outside the box. A minute later Mosquera was booked, and in stoppage time he was sent off, with Sporting saying he was shown red for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity after bringing down Cannon on the break.

Nine men against a Colorado side that had the ball for nearly three quarters of the night was never going to end well. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Aaronson drove at the Sporting back line and slipped the ball to Navarro, who finished low into the bottom right corner with his left foot.

The Men Who Mattered

Reggie Cannon scored the winner on his only shot of the night and was at the center of Mosquera's sending-off.

Rafael Navarro took four shots and finished the one that mattered. Colorado said he now has 38 MLS regular-season goals in his career, which the club said ties Diego Rubio for the third most in club history.

Paxten Aaronson had five shots, hit the bar with a free kick and set up the second goal.

Youssef Maziz came off the bench, took three shots and delivered the assist in his debut.

Nico Hansen made three saves to keep Sporting's few real chances out.

The Turning Point

Agyabeng's red card in the 38th minute. Sporting had just started to find some rhythm, with three shots on target in a 10-minute spell. After the red, the visitors spent the rest of the night defending, and Colorado's pressure eventually told. Wicky defended his midfielder afterward: "I think Kwaku (Agyabeng) instinctively felt he could tackle and get the ball."

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Colorado held 74.3 percent.
• Shots: Colorado 28, Sporting 6, though both sides put three on target.
• Passes: Colorado completed 488 to Sporting's 128.
• Corners: Colorado won eight to Sporting's two.
• Clearances: Sporting made 32, nearly double Colorado's 17.

What It Means

Colorado moved to 8-1-10 (wins, draws, losses) with 25 points, its second straight win, and its recap listed the Rapids eighth in the Western Conference. It was Colorado's third straight home win with a clean sheet, and the club said it has kept six clean sheets in 11 home matches across all competitions this season. LAFC visits on Wednesday.

Sporting fell to 4-2-13 with 14 points, 15th in the West per Colorado's notes. Sporting has now lost three straight MLS matches without scoring, after a 4-0 loss at LAFC and a 2-0 home defeat to Houston. St. Louis visits Sporting Park on Wednesday.

The Closing Take

Wicky put the frustration plainly. "It's just obviously very disappointing that we concede the decisive goal on a set piece," he said. Goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland was blunter. "We've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and make the plays that we need to make," he said. Two straight games of playing a man down is not a strategy, it is a rerun nobody in Kansas City wants to keep watching. Colorado, meanwhile, will take the clean sheet and the bragging rights.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by Sporting Kansas City. Additional details from the Colorado Rapids.