Minnesota United Battles Back for 2-2 Draw with Austin FC
MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Battles Back for 2-2 Draw with Austin FC

Published on May 10, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota United erased a first-half deficit to earn a 2-2 draw against Austin FC on Sunday night at Allianz Field. Defender Anthony Markanich and Joaquín Pereyra each found the back of the net in the second half to give the Loons a late lead, but Austin answered shortly after to split the points in Saint Paul. Minnesota now turns its attention to a quick turnaround as the Loons return home to host the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday, May 13 at Allianz Field, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. CT.

11' - Austin FC created the first dangerous chance of the match after Christian Ramirez brought the ball down and found Myrto Uzuni in space. Uzuni fired a shot on target, but goalkeeper Drake Callender got his fingertips to the attempt and pushed it over the crossbar.

14' (0-1) - Austin earned a penalty kick after a foul inside the area. Uzuni stepped up to the spot and buried the attempt into the bottom-left corner to give the visitors the early lead.

27' - Minnesota United was awarded a penalty kick after defender Anthony Markanich was brought down inside the box. Kelvin Yeboah's initial attempt was saved by Brad Stuver, but the referee ordered a retake after Stuver came off his line early. Yeboah stepped up again, but his second attempt rattled off the crossbar.

43' - The Loons earned a free kick near the right edge of the attacking third. Joaquín Pereyra delivered a curling service into the six-yard box that connected with Jefferson Díaz, whose header drifted just wide of the left post.

45' - Moments later, Díaz laid the ball off for Nicolás Romero outside the top of the penalty area, but Romero's long-range effort sailed wide left.

45'+8' - Austin nearly doubled its lead before halftime when Facundo Torres slipped Uzuni through on goal. Uzuni found himself one-on-one with Callender, but the Sacramento native made the stop before the danger was cleared away.

56' - Nectarios Triantis whipped a cross into the penalty area where Markanich met it with a header, but the attempt rose over the crossbar.

58' - Pereyra switched play toward the left side of the box to find Tomás Chancalay, who struck a first-time effort that narrowly cleared the crossbar.

69' (1-1) - Minnesota found the equalizer through Markanich. James Rodríguez delivered a floated ball across the six-yard box from the left side of the area, allowing Markanich to head the ball over the line and level the match.

77' (2-1) - The Loons took the lead after Pereyra combined with Rodríguez on a quick give-and-go inside the right side of the penalty area. Pereyra curled his finish toward the far post and into the back of the net to put Minnesota in front.

79' (2-2) - Austin responded just minutes later when Christian Ramirez capitalized on a loose ball bouncing around the penalty area. Ramirez settled the ball, created space with a touch and fired his shot into the back of the net to restore parity.

90' + 1' - Callender came up with a crucial late save after Uzuni unleashed a long-range effort toward goal, with the MNUFC goalkeeper diving to deny the attempt and keep the match level.

GOAL SUMMARY

0-1 ATX - Myrto Uzuni (penalty kick) - 14'

1-1 MIN - Anthony Markanich (James Rodríguez, Wil Trapp) - 69'

2-1 MIN - Joaquín Pereyra (James Rodríguez) - 77'

2-2 ATX - Christian Ramírez (Facundo Torres) - 79'

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

MIN - Jefferson Diaz (caution) - 29'

MIN - Nectarios Triantis (caution) - 40'

MIN - Tomás Chancalay (caution) - 42'

ATX - Facundo Torres (caution) - 45'+2'

MIN - Joaquín Pereyra (caution) - 45'+12'

ATX - Jon Gallagher (caution) - 45'+12'

MIN - Owen Gene (caution) - 47'

Notable Stats

2 - Midfielder James Rodríguez recorded his first and second goal contributions for Minnesota United, providing assists on Anthony Markanich's equalizer and Joaquín Pereyra's go-ahead goal.

17 - Defender Anthony Markanich scored his 17th goal across all competitions in his professional career and his 13th career MLS regular-season goal with Minnesota United.

ATTENDANCE: 18,749

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: James Rodríguez - Centro Tyrone Guzman

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Drake Callender; D Devin Padelford (Michael Boxall 82'), Nicolás Romero, Morris Duggan, Jefferson Diaz, Anthony Markanich; M Tomás Chancalay (James Rodríguez 63'), Owen Gene (Mauricio González 88'), Nectarios Triantis (Wil Trapp 63'), Joaquín Pereyra ©; F Kelvin Yeboah

Substitutes Not Used: GK Alec Smir; D DJ Taylor, Kieran Chandler; M Dominik Fitz; F Mamadou Dieng

Austin FC XI: GK Brad Stuver; D Guilherme Biro, Oleksandr Svatok, Brendan Hines-Ike (Jonathan Bell, 44', Zan Kolmanic 90'+3'), Mikkel Desler; M Jon Gallagher (Owen Wolff 70'), Ilie Sanchez (Dani Pereira 70'), Joseph Rosales, Facundo Torres; F Christian Ramirez (Brandon Vazquez 84')

Substitutes Not Used: GK Damian Las; M Besard Sabovic, Nicolas Dubersarsky; F CJ Fodrey

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. COLORADO RAPIDS

Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota

05.13.2026 | MLS 2026 Regular Season | Match 13

7:30 p.m. CT (Apple TV/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH CAMERON KNOWLES

On his overall thoughts on the match...

"I mean, after going ahead, it's disappointing, obviously, to concede the equalizer, but I think a ton of character from the guys to come in 1-0 down and go into the second half and play really well, did some really disciplined with the way that they played on both sides of the ball and created enough for us to take three points."

On conceding the equalizer after the second goal...

"It's always tough. And then the nature of it, where it's sort of a messy goal. We get dragged out of position, looks like it takes a deflection on the way in. But we can be better, and we still have chances to win the game."

On James Rodríguez's performance...

"I think it settled us a little bit in possession. We're feeling a little bit rushed. I think we have a lot of guys that care so much, that want to, when we go down, impact the game, and sometimes that looks a little frantic. I think he just calmed us down in possession, helped other guys around him make really good decisions, and then you see Joaquín [Pereyra] in both those goals driving forward with the ball and creating the action that leads to one and then finishing the other. So yeah, really pleased."

On Joaquín Pereyra's scoring with James' assist...

"It's a fantastic pass. The weight of pass through two players, and for Joaquín [Pereyra] to be able to walk on and finish it. It's a real high-level technical ability, but also really good to see Joaquín in both of those moments being goal dangerous and running towards the box with the ball, running towards the box without the ball."

On first-half officiating and MNUFC players' reactions...

"I think you don't want to react emotionally to things that are happening in the game. We talked about that at halftime. There's going to be challenges within the game, and if we can remain disciplined emotionally within that, disciplined tactically, then we get a chance to get ourselves back in the game. You don't want to let those things get to you. It's the nature of the game. Calls go your way, sometimes they don't go your way, others, you see something one way and the opposition sees it another, so you just have to get on with it, get to the next play, and try and maintain a level head."

On the halftime talk...

"Exactly that. Discipline. Maintain discipline. We're right in this, we've had the chances that we could easily have come in level at halftime. We knew the chances were going to be there in the second half. We've been in difficult situations before and come back from those situations. So there was no need to have any sort of lack of belief or anything like that, that we would get ourselves back in the game, and just for them to trust each other and trust that you'll get the chances to get back in the game."

On Nectarios Triantis handball call...

"I haven't seen the replay of it. In real time, I didn't even notice it hit his hand, and then on the bench we saw the replay, and yeah, it hit his hand. I think that's a really difficult one. It's a difficult situation for Nectar [Nectarios Triantis] to be in. I'm not too sure what more he can do in that situation, so it's just unfortunate. These plays happen, and those calls happen."

On Kelvin Yeboah's penalty kicks... "Again, a difficult situation. He's been in it before where he's had the retake and scored, and for that amount of time to elapse and the emotion that goes through that with reviewing it, then thinking it's being completely overturned, that it's a goal, and it's a retake. But he's been an outstanding penalty taker. I think he's certainly one of the best I've seen in the time that he's been here at this club and has shown tremendous composure in those moments, so I don't doubt that he would score the next one."

On the formation setup changing placing Anthony Markanich on the right side...

"I think he has a good relationship with Joaquín [Pereyra] on that side. I think it's difficult, he hasn't played a lot of these more ingrained in being on that left side for us, but he still has that quality where he's able to be wide for us. He's able to come inside when Joaquín is playing a little wider, and I think that same understanding that we've seen from Kyle [Duncan] on this side we saw from Ant [Anthony Markanich]."

On highlights from tonight's match that MNUFC can take to the next game against Colorado Rapids...

"A ton of positives. We created a number of really good chances. We got ourselves back into a game from being down, where we continue now in an unbeaten run, and the next game comes quickly. We've shown that over this previous stretch we've been good in those situations, turning it around and putting one game behind us and focusing immediately on the next one, and that'll be no different this week."

DEFENDER ANTHONY MARKANICH

On being on the receiving end of James Rodríguez's assist...

"He's just a different player. When he came on the field, the game kind of changed. I knew he was a good crosser, a good passer, so I'm just always ready in the [goalkeeper's box] for [the ball]."

On what he sees in the opposing team's reactions when James Rodríguez enters the match...

"I'm sure it can be a little bit intimidating when you see a big player, a big name out there. I think you're a bit more conscious of him, where he's going, where he's at. They probably know that we want to give him the ball more."

On how Joaquín Pereyra was able to get freed up and create an impact...

"Obviously he [Joaquín Pereyra] is one of the playmakers on the team, so we also want him to get more of the ball, try and create more. Yeah, he's a good player."

On his fourth goal of the season...

"It was awesome. I gave myself a goal - I was aiming for three goals [scored] this year - I passed that. Obviously, it's awesome to score."

On playing to a draw tonight against Austin FC...

"Every time we're at home, we expect to win. Especially in the first half, I think we let ourselves down with big yellow cards, and that affected us as a team and as individuals as well. That first half, I think we just hurt ourselves by being down 1-0."

On the importance of discipline in the second half...

"Discipline was everything in this game, especially, like I said, in the first half, five yellow cards for us or something like that. It can't happen. Also going one down, 1-0 down at home, it just can't happen either against a team that we know we are better [than], especially at home, that we know we should've been able to handle."

On if he felt he had entered the goalkeeper's box early during the first Kelvin Yeboah penalty kick attempt...

"I feel like everyone was, not just me. I could've, but I didn't really see the replay or anything. It could be, but I am not sure."

MIDFIELDER JOAQUÍN PEREYRA

On scoring his first goal of the season...

"Well, very good. I'm very happy. I've been seeking out a goal for many matches now; today it finally happened for me. Today I got the chance to score and help the team. The win slipped away from us right at the end, but I'm very happy to have scored my first goal of the year."

On James Rodríguez changing the rhythm of the match once he came on...

"Well, we all know about the quality and caliber of James [Rodríguez] as a player; we know that when he comes into the game, he helps us tremendously. That was evident today. It was clear on the pitch that he imposed his authority, and we were able to take control of the match. I'm also happy for him, as he provided two assists and on one of them, I was able to score the goal myself."

On walking us through his goal and the assist from James Rodríguez...

"Well, it was a switch pass that came in right at the end. I managed to control the ball just before it went out of play. When I turned around, I saw that James [Rodríguez] was inside the area all alone, so I decided to pass it to him; and when I saw there was space ahead for me to keep running, I knew that wherever he could thread that ball through, he would do it and that's exactly what happened. I kept making my run forward, he threaded the ball through, and well, all that was left for me to do was finish it off."

On the refereeing and his yellow card... "What happened was plain for everyone to see; I don't think the team was very pleased with how things went with the referee. But, we also know that these things happen, and that we, out there on the pitch, have to put the referee out of our minds and just focus on doing our job. Just do our job, keep playing the way we did throughout the entire second half. But anyway, I think we let ourselves get too caught up in the situation and the calls the referee was making, and we forgot to actually play the game. And so, when we were finally able to calm down in the second half - to think clearly and start building the kind of plays we know how to create - the shift was obvious; we were able to score two goals and really turn the match around."

On head coach Cameron Knowles' halftime speech about how discipline can help the team...

"Yes, we talked a little bit about what had happened in the last game against Columbus [Crew]. We came out for the second half, they scored on us again - leaving us down 2-0 - yet we managed to turn the match around and ultimately secure a 3-2 victory. So, we discussed that a bit: the importance of being disciplined, of getting back to doing what we know how to do - what we've been training for all these weeks - since the team has been playing very well lately. I believe we were able to do just that; we managed to return to that defensive discipline we always maintain, to working as a team, and to staying compact. The result speaks for itself. But the conversation was, above all, about ensuring we continue to be as disciplined as this team knows how to be."

On his personal goals before the World Cup break...

"Well, undoubtedly, the plan is to keep doing the same thing and to keep scoring, to keep creating plays for the team, and to contribute individually however I can to help the team improve. We certainly want to take it game by game, but our goal for these last three matches remaining before the break is to win them - so that we can head into the holidays with peace of mind, knowing that we are doing things right."

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