Cristian Maidana scored a late winner as the Philadelphia Union beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 at Sporting Park.

In an open start to the match it was Philadelphia who created the first opportunity, as Eric Kronberg was forced to react to keep out a powerful effort from Leonardo Fernandes.

Cruz became the next player to test Kronberg's reflexes in the 19th minute when he linked well with Vincent Nogueira before stinging the Kansas goalkeeper's hands.

However, it was the hosts who came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half when Salvatore Zizzo saw a close-range header saved by Zac MacMath.

The opening goal arrived just four minutes after the break as Kronberg's luck finally ran out when his save to deny Cristian Maidana saw the ball reach Cruz, who was able to convert from just a few yards out.

Kansas struggled to respond after falling behind, with Philadelphia coming close to a second goal when Andrew Wenger's drilled effort was kept out by Kronberg.

However, the hosts managed to equalise with just 10 minutes of normal time remaining thanks to Dominic Dwyer's unstoppable effort from the edge of the box.

Kansas were only level for a minute as Philadelphia struck what proved to be the winning goal when Maidana calmly slotted the ball home following good work from Wenger.

Despite the victory, it was a disappointing finish to the match for Philadelphia as Corben Bone was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Jacob Peterson just a few moments after coming on.