Dejan Joveljic Ties Sporting KC Record as Fastest to 20 Regular-Season Goals in 2-2 Draw With Columbus Crew

The score was 2-2, the clock had ticked into the 87th minute and a sold-out home opener was holding its breath. Wessam Abou Ali stepped up to the spot. John Pulskamp stretched out his right hand and kept it out, and Sporting Kansas City kept a point it had spent the whole second half fighting for.

Sporting KC and the Columbus Crew drew 2-2 on Saturday night at Sporting Park, and Dejan Joveljic scored both home goals. That double carried him into the club record book. Sporting says Joveljic now has 20 regular-season goals in 34 games, tying Preki's 1997 mark as the fastest player in team history to reach 20.

Joveljic had the best line of the night about the save that preserved the draw.

"Actually, that save gave us the wings," he said. "So hopefully for the next game we are going to fly."

Columbus Punches First

Sporting started with real energy. Ethan Bartlow, making his SKC debut, rose to meet a Manu García cross in the 24th minute and forced Patrick Schulte into a save in the bottom right corner.

Columbus made the first one count. Abou Ali headed over from a Taha Habroune delivery in the 32nd minute, then got a second look a minute later and finished left-footed from the middle of the box, Habroune again providing the assist. According to SKC, the goal came from a turnover inside Sporting's own penalty area, and the club noted Abou Ali has now scored in five straight MLS matches dating to last season.

It nearly got worse for the hosts before halftime. Shapi Suleymanov's effort from outside the box in the 42nd minute needed a save from Schulte in the top right corner, and two minutes later Diego Rossi hit the right post from point-blank range after a Max Arfsten cross. Dániel Gazdag's follow-up was blocked. Columbus led 1-0 at the break.

Sporting coach Raphael Wicky liked the effort, if not the errors.

"Then these mistakes happened, right? That's football, that's the way things happen," he said. "What was important was the reaction, not to have their heads down, and they reacted well."

Joveljic Takes the Wheel

It took three minutes of the second half to prove him right. Sporting broke quickly through the middle, Jake Davis squared the ball, and Joveljic finished right-footed into the bottom right corner in the 48th minute. SKC said he sent both his defender and Schulte the wrong way.

Columbus tried to reset. The Crew made a double change in the 64th minute, Hugo Picard for Gazdag and Sékou Bangoura for Habroune, but in the 72nd minute Sporting broke again. Suleymanov's shot was blocked, the ball fell to Joveljic and he tucked it into the bottom left corner in front of the South Stand. It was the ninth multi-goal game of his MLS regular-season career, according to the club, and his fourth with Sporting.

He nearly had a hat trick in the 78th, when García slipped him through and his left-footed shot slid just wide.

Then Things Got Wild

Columbus would not go quietly. In the 82nd minute Rossi found space on the right side of the box and drilled a shot into the bottom left corner, his second goal in two games this season. A minute later substitute Jamal Thiaré went down under a challenge from Ian James, and after a video review the referee awarded a penalty. In the MLS pool report, the referee said he observed a tripping foul by James inside the box.

Abou Ali, who had already scored once, took it in the 87th minute. Pulskamp got there at full stretch, saving in the bottom left corner with what the club described as his right hand at full extension. Abou Ali then headed just wide from an Arfsten cross in the 90th, and the fourth official put up nine minutes of stoppage time. Pulskamp still had one more job, saving a Picard shot from outside the box in the 94th minute.

The Men in the Middle of It

Dejan Joveljic had two goals on three shots and wore the captain's armband. The club said he led SKC with 18 goals in his debut season a year ago and has scored the last five goals by Sporting KC players dating to Aug. 30, 2025. His explanation was simple.

"I just try to stay focused and try to make that one extra run because I know that the ball will come," he said.

John Pulskamp made three saves, and Wicky made clear which one mattered most.

"At the end, he helps us with the penalty save to keep this point here at home against a very good Columbus team," Wicky said.

Wessam Abou Ali experienced the full range of emotions: five shots, two on target, a goal, a missed penalty and a late header that slipped wide.

Diego Rossi hit the post, then scored the equalizer.

The Turning Point

The penalty save, obviously. Columbus had all the momentum after Rossi's equalizer, it was the side with more of the ball, and Abou Ali had a chance to steal three points on the road. Pulskamp's save flipped the emotional script. After it, Columbus managed only Abou Ali's header wide and a Picard shot that Pulskamp held.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Columbus 58.4 percent, Sporting KC 41.6 percent.
• Shots: Columbus 10 (5 on target), Sporting KC 8 (4 on target).
• Saves: Pulskamp 3, Schulte 2.
• Crosses: Columbus attempted 30 and completed 6.
• Clearances: Sporting KC 38, Columbus 21.

What It Means

Both teams sit at 0-1-1 with 1 point after two matches. Sporting opened with a 3-0 loss at San Jose, so this was its first point of the season, and it came in Wicky's first home game as head coach of the club. Columbus opened with a 3-2 loss at Portland and is still waiting on its first win despite getting goals from Abou Ali and Rossi in both matches.

Sporting hosts San Diego FC on Saturday, March 7. Columbus returns home to face the Chicago Fire that same weekend.

Closing Take

Joveljic summed it up like a man who knows a point is a point, even when it stings a little.

"Unfortunately, we didn't win all three points, but one point in front of our fans, good enough," he said.

This was the soccer version of a cliffhanger finale that does not resolve anything but leaves everyone desperate for the next episode. Sporting has its striker scoring and its goalkeeper making big stops. Columbus has two forwards who cannot stop scoring and a penalty it will be thinking about all week.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and club notes from Sporting Kansas City (sportingkc.com); referee comments via the MLS pool reporter as published by the club.