As the saying goes, two is company but three's a crowd.
Not the case for Sporting Kansas City.
Manager Peter Vermes' men delivered a resolute road display on Sunday, using a 48th-minute strike from Felipe Gutierrez to emerge 1-0 winners at the expense of Columbus Crew SC.
The well-earned result at MAPFRE Stadium gave Sporting their first MLS away win of the season and lifted the side within a point of the seventh and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Gutierrez's point-blank header three minutes after the restart, set up brilliantly by the indefatigable Gerso Fernandes, was his seventh goal of the MLS campaign and vaulted the Chilean into a three-way tie for most on the team.