Kansas City Win Cup Final After Penalty Shootout
Sporting Kansas City won their second MLS Cup title in dramatic fashion on Saturday, coming from a goal down before beating Real Salt Lake 7-6 in a pulsating penalty shootout following a 1-1 tie after extra time.
Aurelien Collin, who scored Sporting's equaliser in the second half, broke the deadlock in sudden-death with a thunderous shot inside the right post to beat Real goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
Lovel Palmer, aiming to extend the sudden-death shootout, then hit the crossbar to send the home crowd into rapturous celebration on a freezing night at Sporting Park in Kansas City.
Salt Lake opened the scoring in the 52nd minute after Kyle Beckerman found Alvaro Saborio with a pinpoint pass and the Costa Rican chested the ball down before beating Kansas City goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen with a powerful low shot.
Sporting, previously hoisting the giant silver cup in 2000, levelled in the 76th minute when Collin headed the ball inside the far post after a corner kick from Graham Zusi.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Thousand Oaks, California; Editing by Gene Cherry)
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