Sporting Kansas City lost two starters, one match, and their chance for a second straight trip to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Midfielder Benny Feilhaber and right back Igor Juliao both went down injured before halftime, and already-depleted Sporting couldn't hold off Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa in Thursday night's group stage finale.
Saprissa's 2-0 home win evened the head-to-head series between the two sides at three goals each, and the Costa Rican club advanced on away goals on the strength of last month's 3-1 loss at Sporting Park.
Saprissa, needing that 2-0 scoreline or a victory by three goals outright to guarantee advancing, loaded their lineup with attackers and nearly saw that pay off on the quarter-hour, only to be denied when Eric Kronberg made a diving parry of Juan Bustos' hard, swerving shot.
Seven minutes after that, Kronberg went down again to save a wide-open header off a corner kick – but he couldn't control the ball, and Heiner Mora poked in the rebound to put Saprissa up 1-0 and narrow Sporting's margin of safety to a single goal.
Kansas City, their position already precarious after the goal, then took two blows from injury even before halftime.
First, Feilhaber appeared to land awkwardly and roll his right ankle in the 37th minute. He went off on a stretcher and was replaced by winger Soony Saad, taking away Kansas City's only true box-to-box player.
Then, in the 44th, Juliao pulled up lame with a strained left hamstring and had to be replaced by Jacob Peterson – another winger forced to play out of position. With more than 45 minutes to go, Sporting were down to one remaining sub.
A minute after the half, Saprissa moved into the driver's seat. A cross from Mora found Ariel Rodriguez mismatched against winger C.J. Sapong, and Rodriguez slotted home from close range for his fifth goal of the group stage.
Sporting manager Peter Vermes went all in with 25 minutes to go, inserting Dom Dwyer up top – but it wasn't enough for Kansas City, who didn't even get a shot on goal until Saad's attempt was saved in the 66th.
Kansas City managed to create several chances down the stretch but could not put the ball in the net. Their best late opportunity came on a set piece in the 87th minute, but Peterson headed Saad's corner kick over the bar.
Another corner in the third minute of stoppage time proved to be Sporting's last gasp. Saprissa keeper Donny Grant punched it clear, and Kansas City never got off another shot.
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
