Loons surge late for first win in ten regular season tries at Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Sept. 21, 2024) — Despite a two-hour weather delay after half time, Minnesota United were able to capture a 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on the backs of goals by Kelvin Yeboah and Bongokuhle Hlongwane on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park. Next, Minnesota heads home to play the Colorado Rapids on September 28.

8’ – Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair made a diving save early in the match after William Agada connected a header to goal off of a cross that was served in by Dániel Sallói.

17’ – MNUFC created a goal scoring opportunity after pressing high against Sporting Kansas City’s defense, where they were able to create a turnover after Joaquín Pereyra intercepted a pass inside the 18-yard box. Pereyra took space inside the box and crossed the ball, placing it on top of the six-yard box but wasn’t able to connect with Tani Oluwaseyi on the run.

30’ – Agada found two consecutive shots on goal, he first tried to chip Minnesota’s back line but the Loons captain Michael Boxall was able to head the ball out. But Agada found the other side of the clearance and struck the ball from distance but wasn’t able to get his shot on frame.

32’ – Minnesota continued to create chances on goal from the left side of the pitch after Joseph Rosales passed it off to Kelvin Yeboah in the middle third who passed it to Jefferson Diaz inside the Loons’ attacking third. Diaz on the front foot, dribbled to the left flank and tried to pass it back but was blocked by Sporting’s defense.

44’ – MNUFC conceded a dangerous foul just above the penalty ark, allowing Kansas City to take a free kick just before half-time which Erik Thommy stepped up to take. Thommys’ shot on goal was easily saved by St. Clair, keeping the score 0-0 going into half time.

49’ – Minnesota continued to build chances from the left side in the second half after Rosales crossed the ball from outside of the 18-yard box, finding Yeboah on the left corner of the six-yard box. Yeboah connected with the cross but couldn’t get his shot on goal going wide of the left post.

54’ – Sporting Kansas City nearly scored after Alan Pulido found a close-range shot inside Minnesota’s 18-yard box, but that shot hit the side of the net.

65’ – MNUFC scored the opening goal of the match after second-half substitute Robin Lod sent a through ball up the field to Yeboah inside the 18-yard box. Yeboah created enough space to get a shot off and was able to curve the ball into the goal, finding the lower right corner to give the Loons the 1-0 lead.

82’ – Kansas City nearly leveled the score after Thommy curled the ball in-behind Minnesota’s back line, but wasn’t able to connect with Agada before the ball went out of bounds.

88’ – After SKC’s Memo Rodríguez was fouled inside the box, the home side was granted a penalty kick. Agada stepped up, taking the penalty kick, but wasn’t able to convert the shot into a goal after hitting the ball off the crossbar.

90’ + 4’ – In the last minute of added second-half stoppage time, Bongokuhle Hlongwane scored the second and final goal of the night after Lod slotted him the ball for a one-versus-one with Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia, where he tapped the ball past Melia, finding the right corner of the goal to secure the win.

GOAL SUMMARY
1-0 MIN – Kelvin Yeboah (Robin Lod) – 65’
2-0 MIN – Bongokuhle Hlongwane (Robin Lod) – 90’+4’

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
SKC – Jake Davis (caution) – 36’
MIN – Miguel Tapias (caution) – 79’

NOTABLE STATS
14 & 56 – MLS All-Star midfielder Robin Lod against Sporting Kansas City provided his 13th and 14th assists of the regular season on both goals scored. Those assists notably were Lod’s 55th and 56th goal contributions (regular season) since joining MNUFC. He now surpassed Emanuel Reynoso (55) for the most regular-season goal contributions in club MLS history.

5 – Recently-acquired forward Kelvin Yeboah scored his fifth goal since joining Minnesota United in the summer transfer window. The Italian-Ghanaian has now scored in three consecutive matches.

7 & 11 – With Yeboah’s goal against SKC, the Loons have extended a regular-season scoring streak on the road to seven games. Overall, the scoring streak is at 11 straight regular-season fixtures.

1 – The victory on the road against Sporting Kansas City Saturday night was the Loons’ very first win in regular-season action over SKC at Children’s Mercy Park.

7 – Minnesota United on Saturday night won their seventh road game of the regular season, which is now the most regular-season road victories in a single season in the club’s MLS history.

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Kelvin Yeboah

LINEUPS:
Minnesota United XI: GK Dayne St. Clair; D Joseph Rosales, Carlos Harvey, Michael Boxall ©, Jefferson Diaz; M Joaquín Pereyra, Wil Trapp, Hassani Dotson, Bongokuhle Hlongwane; F Tani Oluwaseyi, Kelvin Yeboah

Bench: GK Alec Smir; D Devin Padelford, Anthony Markanich, Miguel Tapias; M Franco Fragapane, Robin Lod; F Samuel Shashoua, Sang Bin Jeong, Teemu Pukki

Sporting Kansas City XI: GK Tim Melia ©; D Khiry Shelton, Dany Rosero, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold; M Jake Davis, Rémi Walter, Stephen Afrifa, Erik Thommy, Dániel Sallói; F Willy Agada

Bench: GK John Pulskamp; D Andreu Fontàs, Logan Ndenbe, Robert Castellanos, Zorhan Bassong; M Memo Rodríguez; F Alan Pulido, Alenis Vargas, Johnny Russell

UP NEXT:
MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. COLORADO RAPIDS
Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota
09.28.2024 | MLS 2024 Regular Season | Match 31
7:30 p.m. CT (MLS Season Pass/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET
HEAD COACH ERIC RAMSAY
On his thoughts on the match…

“That was a really odd evening, but it was a monumental win for us, a very difficult place [Sporting Kansas City] to come. I gather it’s the first time we’ve ever won here in the regular season or in the MLS, for that matter. We weren’t in any way dominant in the game and I’m sure they’ll [Sporting Kansas City] feel aggrieved for being on the end of a two nil scoreline. But we’ve been in that position plenty of times ourselves over the course of, even in the last month or so and certainly early on in the season. I’m really satisfied with the fact that we really looked like a team that was desperate to win and that’s what we needed to do today. No matter how we ended up doing it, the three points on the board was the biggest thing. We rode our luck at times but what you saw at the end was a group of players that are desperate to put the points on the board that is required to do what we want to do this year. It’s another big step forward albeit in a different way, to the way in which I would have liked it to be a step forward today, I suppose.”

On what the team did during the delay to stay ready…
“It’s really odd and I’ve got to say from a coaching perspective, it’s tough as well because you almost have too much time to think about how the second half could pan out. Obviously you feel like you’re starting the game fresh again. They [Sporting Kansas City] make three changes but we make one. You’re set on doing one thing after the first 15 or 20 minutes but can’t help but start watching the first half back and then you feel like it might benefit you to do something slightly different. In some senses that time to think as both a player and a coach is unhealthy, very abnormal. I must say, I don’t think we really got going after that break, we ended up finding ourselves defending very deep, we looked pretty lethargic, we weren’t able to get good pressure on the ball, build pressure in the way that we wanted to do so. It ended up being that pretty classic away performance where once you find yourself bedded in and defending your box, it’s difficult no matter how much we try to chance the level of energy, change the level of aggression with the number of subs that we made, we never really saw it. No matter how much we preached at half time that we wanted to have more control of the ball, we didn’t want to turn it over quite as easily as we did in the first half, we wanted to build a touch more slowly in the middle third of the pitch, we still turned the ball over easily and we did end up largely defending probably the first third of the pitch. We restricted them with a lot of the ball, I wouldn’t say very little, but, not a huge number of very clean cut chances and that ended up, I suppose, being by design with the way in which the team took it upon themselves to defend deep and make sure there was no space in behind and be really aggressive on the top of the box. The will to win is what sticks out to me.”

On how the team prepared physically during the weather delay…
“It’s strange because you are waiting for the clock to get set at thirty minutes and obviously that took a long while today. Once we felt that it was a strong probability of that happening it was a case of the players re-doing what they would have done prior to the game and spend some time in the dressing room with re-activation, music on, tactical messages, conversations, final messages from the coach and they are out on the pitch and going through their pre-match warmups. It’s very much like its two different games. When you add to that, the incredible humidity to the air it’s really difficult to produce a performance that is full of energy, full of aggression and certainly that huge break contributed to that.”

On what he saw from Jefferson Diaz in tonight’s match…
“I hope nothing significant [regarding him being subbed out after getting treatment] because he has obviously made a decent mark since he has been here. We have had some issues in the back line and we wanted to try something different. Freshness and rotation comes into it as well with us having played so recently and having put in such a big effort midweek. I think he [Jefferson Diaz] did well. I think at times it was a touch awkward for him not being a left-footer on that side, but he also found some moments where he was able to come back in on his right foot and find some passes in the middle. He did what he did against [FC] Cincinnati a couple of times from the left, which is really to speed the game up for us when we can switch play quickly and he can join in and he’s obviously an attacking threat given his athleticism and his power and ability to make the box. Largely it was a decent night for him. I feel for Mickey [Tapias] when he comes into the game, because it’s a really tough situation to go into. The other ten players are really dialled into the difficulty of it, they are really in the game. You are coming in cold, into a situation where you have to defend a lot. He had found himself in hot water, so it’s a tough night for him, but I’m sure he will bounce back. He is an experienced player and someone that no doubt we will rely on as the year goes on.”

On what he can say about Kelvin Yeboah…
“He [Kelvin Yeboah] is first and foremost a good player. It’s not by chance, that’s the reason that you bring in someone like him. That’s the nature of the system in MLS [Major League Soccer], the way that the rosters are put together; the squads are put together. There is always that Designated Player focal point. If you bring in someone like Kelvin that is a number nine that is approaching his peak – as I’ve said on a number of occasions – someone who wants to make a real mark, that is what you expect from him. On top of what he contributed in front of goal, he defended really well. We made a big point prior to the game and we have made a big over the course of our time so far that we need to make sure, as a team, a real top to bottom effort, that we make sure we restrict the opposition and he is very much the star-point of that. Even as the game goes on you see he has got an absolute desire to close the game out. He’s a genuine focal point, a number nine that can work on both sides of the ball.”

Courtesy: Minnesota United FC