Sporting Kansas City: Gianluca Busio shines in first start

It had been well over a month since Sporting Kansas City last secured a win. They finally got back to their winning ways with help from 16 year old Gianluca Busio, who had an assist in his first MLS start.

Sporting Kansas City finally found their way into the win column again, but it didn’t come easy. While Gianluca Busio was making his first Major League Soccer start (at just 16 years old), it took until the 74th minute for Sporting to find the back of the net. Fortunately that was all it took to win the match.

Houston had three total players removed from the game due to penalty (not to mention their manager was removed at half time per the broadcast). Alejandro Fuenmayor was given a red card early on, but Darwin Cerén and Alberth Ellis got into trouble during the five minutes of stoppage time when all hell seemingly broke lose in Houston.

Going back to that goal, however, Busio had the assist and Diego Rubio was the one who got the ball into the net. Busio looked good in his first full game and it really has to get Sporting Kansas City fans excited for what’s to come with the 16-year old out of North Carolina.

The win puts SKC in a three-way tie for second place in the Western Conference. Not only that, but it will hopefully get this team’s confidence back to where it was at the beginning of the season. That losing streak wasn’t fun at all and it’d be great if the guys could finish the season strong and get a home playoff game in the process.

More from KC Kingdom

• Win $650 GUARANTEED Plus $100 Off NFL Sunday Ticket With Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings Kansas Promos!
• This Plus-Money Bobby Witt Jr. Prop Bet is on Fire (Hit in 15/21 Games)!
• How to Bet on the Chiefs vs. Cardinals in NFL Preseason Week 2
• The Royals Need to Extend Bobby Witt Jr. Immediately
• The 3 Most Intriguing Games on the Chiefs’ Schedule

Here’s what’s trending in Sporting Kansas City news.

Slump buster? Sporting KC shuts out Houston 1-0 with late goal [Sam McDowell, The Kansas City Star]

"On a night in which he became the youngest player to start a match in franchise history, Busio curled a ball to Rubio, who scored his fourth goal of the season, all of them in a substitute role."

Sporting KC’s Gianluca Busio becomes 3rd-youngest player to start MLS game [Dave Zeitlin, MLS.com]

"Busio’s night got off a to an eventful start when Houston’s Alejandro Fuenmayor elbowed him in the head and was sent off with a straight red card in the 14th minute."

It would have been easy for SKC to have been baited into doing something dumb during stoppage time, but they refrained and held onto their 1-0 lead for the win. Busio was the highlight of the game though, starting his first ever game and notching an assist in the process. This kid is going to be fun to watch.

Next up for Sporting KC is a trip to Los Angeles next weekend where they’ll square off with LAFC. Let’s keep the winning going, boys!