
Minnesota United Breaks Through in Salt Lake with 3-1 Victory
Published on August 24, 2025 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release
SANDY, Utah - Minnesota United secured its first ever win at America First Field on Saturday night, defeating Real Salt Lake 3-1 behind goals from Robin Lod and Joaquín Pereyra, along with an early own goal. Dayne St. Clair added a series of crucial saves to preserve the Loons' advantage as they claimed a key western conference victory. Minnesota now returns home to Allianz Field to face the Portland Timbers on Saturday, August 30, at 7:30 p.m. CT.
7' (1-0) - Minnesota United took the lead after Joaquín Pereyra stepped up to deliver a corner kick. His service deflected off Brayan Vera, who inadvertently scored an own goal from the center of the box, sending the ball into the back of the net.
11' - After a sequence of give-and-go passes between Pereyra and Joseph Rosales, Rosales carried the ball from the middle third into the attacking third. He drove into the penalty area and unleashed a left-footed shot that deflected off Justen Glad and went out for a Loons corner.
15' (1-1) - Minutes later, Real Salt Lake found the equalizer. Vera carried the ball past midfield before playing it wide to Sam Junqua on the left flank. Junqua made a switch into the 18-yard box and found Victor Olatunji running in to tap the ball over the line for goal.
23' - Salt Lake continued to be a threat as Olatunji received possession of the ball near the top of the 18-yard line. Olatunji made a quick turn and fired a long-distance shot, but Dayne St. Clair reacted quickly and deflected the ball out of danger.
27' - St. Clair made a crucial save to maintain the score leveled after Minnesota conceded a free kick near the top of the penalty area. Vera stepped up to take it, aiming for the top right corner, but St. Clair was able to get a hand to the shot to keep it out.
36' (2-1) - After a bit of bouncing around in the opposing penalty box, Nicolás Romero gained possession along the defensive line and slipped a short pass to Finnish player Robin Lod. Lod took a one-touch shot to find the back of the net to restore Minnesota's lead.
51' (3-1) - The Argentine Pereyra extended Minnesota's lead with the team's third goal of the night. After a defensive mistake by Salt Lake, Pereyra pounced on the loose ball near the top of the penalty area and played it forward to Lod, making a run into the box. Lod returned the pass, setting up Pereyra to fire a shot to make it a 3-1 for the Loons.
71' - Salt Lake created danger as Braian Ojeda made a long switch from the right flank into the penalty area, connecting with Olatunji for a header. However, St. Clair read it well and got his hands on the ball easily.
90' + 5' - In stoppage time, Real Salt Lake pressed for a late goal as Justen Glad sent a long ball into the penalty area from the left side. Alexandros Katranis rose to make contact, but his header drifted wide of the net.
GOAL SUMMARY
1-0 MIN - Brayan Vera (own goal) - 6'
1-1 RSL - Victor Olatunji (Sam Junqua, Brayan Vera) - 15'
2-1 MIN - Robin Lod (Nicolás Romero) - 36'
3-1 MIN - Joaquín Pereyra (Robin Lod) - 51'
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
RSL - Rwan Cruz (caution) - 52'
MIN - Nicolás Romero (caution) - 58'
MIN - Dayne St. Clair (caution) - 74'
RSL - DeAndre Yedlin (caution) - 75'
Notable Stats
37 - Robin Lod scored another goal, bringing his total to 37 and extending his lead as Minnesota United's all-time top scorer across all competitions.
1 - After a 3-1 victory, Minnesota United earned its first-ever win at America First Field.
ATTENDANCE: 20,137
BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Robin Lod
LINEUPS:
Minnesota United XI: GK Dayne St. Clair; D Anthony Markanich (Morris Duggan 74'), Nicolás Romero, Michael Boxall ©, Jefferson Diaz (D.J. Taylor 81'), Bongokuhle Hlongwane; M Joaquín Pereyra, Wil Trapp (Owen Gene 74'), Robin Lod, Joseph Rosales (Tani Oluwaseyi 63'); F Kelvin Yeboah (Julian Gressel 75')
Substitutes Not Used: GK Alec Smir; D Kieran Chandler; F Darius Randell
Real Salt Lake XI: GK Rafael Cabral ©; D Sam Junqua (Alexandros Katranis 61'), Brayan Vera, Justen Glad (Philip Quinton 90' + 5'), DeAndre Yedlin; M Diogo Gonçalves (Ariath Piol 46'), Noel Caliskan, Emeka Eneli (Braian Ojeda 68'), Johnny Russell (Pablo Ruiz 61'); F Victor Olatunji, Rwan Cruz
Substitutes Not Used: GK Maximillian Timothy Kerkvliet; F Tyler Wolff, Jesús Barea
UP NEXT:
MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. PORTLAND TIMBERS
Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota
08.30.2025 | MLS 2025 Regular Season | Match 29
7:30 p.m. CT (MLS Season Pass/1500 ESPN)
MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET
HEAD COACH ERIC RAMSAY
Thoughts on tonight's match...
"It was a phenomenal win. It's the first time that we've ever won here as a club, and I think that speaks to how difficult a task it is, and I don't think it should be glossed over that you're playing in difficult conditions. It's not easy playing in the mountains, as we discussed the other day. To have won in the way that we won, very convincingly for me, in spite of the fact that the game finishes in the way it finishes, with us defending our box for large periods, that was a really convincing win. We won in the way that we knew we'd have a good chance of winning today, and I think you also saw a side in them [Real Salt Lake] that is absolutely desperately fighting to get above the playoff line, and I think the combination of that, the combination of the conditions here, and the fact that we've won with a decent margin is credit to all the players in there, because it is not an easy place to come and play."
On what made this game so comfortable to play...
"Well, we've talked a lot about what it takes to see leads out in these situations. If you look across the Seattle [Sounders] game, and the game today, we've shown firstly, organization, discipline, and there's a real framework and strategy, but also the players then have to fill that with life. I've talked a few times about the real desperation to keep the ball out of the net, and the real grit and determination that goes with that, and we've seen that in bucket loads over the course of the last two games. I never really got too hung on the narrative about us not being able to close games out in comparison to other teams, because I think we're a team that most often leading across all 30 teams and it's natural that we get to the end of games and the opposition are throwing everything at us, and from time to time, you are going to concede goals and give leads up. But in very difficult circumstances against Seattle last week, a very good team, one of the better teams in the league, and then today, a team [Real Salt Lake] that's not up there, but they have good players, they are a team that has a very clear playing style, and they are absolutely desperate to win. So given our position going into the last 15-20 minutes, it was always going to be a case of having to defend the box in the way that we did, and I never thought it was in that. I felt we were really comfortable at the top of the box, and the players were phenomenal to a man in that sense."
On sectioning out the season for a spot in playoffs or potentially winning a trophy...
"No, we talk about winning trophies because I feel we're positioned to do so, and we have been positioned to do so for a while, and it's an ambitious group. I'm an ambitious coach. I feel like this is a situation that we have to try and take advantage of as a club. When you consider where we are in the table and the [Lamar Hunt U.S.] Open Cup that you're in every year, and it's very difficult to come by a situation like this, we've done a really good job to get ourselves in this position, and we've got to make sure that we treat every game between now and the end of the year as if it's a cup final, and we'll see where that takes us. We have a group of players in there that are really motivated to take that spot above us now, and we'll see what happens over the course of six huge games left in MLS."
On the importance of Joaquín Pereyra...
"He's really important in what we create and what we do with the ball. And I want to make sure that for the opposition, there is a degree of unpredictability to the positions that he takes up. Obviously with the situation around Tani [Oluwaseyi] is what it is, I'm not going to speak about that in great detail, but obviously it's fairly plain why Tani wasn't in the starting 11 tonight. And we haven't got loads and loads of depth in those attacking options and felt like the way in which we use Joaquin alongside Kelvin [Yeboah] was good for this game. And I'm sure it's something that we can consider as we move forward."
On not starting Tani Oluwaseyi...
"It doesn't need me to nod to what's being talked about in the media and what is likely to happen, I would say, over the course of the week. But Tani has been here, been engaged, but hasn't been able to train as fully as I would have liked over the course of this week, and I don't want to take any risks in that sense. It's obviously a pretty pivotal moment in his career, and I think the fact he was able to come on and help us at the end in the way that he does in those situations was big. He demonstrated tonight what a strong team player he is, what a strong defensive forward he is in those moments, and how he can really help us and has helped us up until this point."
On where Kelvin Yeboah is as a player at this moment of the season...
"It'll be interesting to see how the next week pans out in that sense and where that leaves us. But crucially for me, Kelvin has to, and does, perform what is required of a forward from a defensive perspective. He's really improved in that sense, and I think he's putting that as a real team player there, too. Sometimes forwards, particularly with the way that we play, they make some sacrifices in terms of what the attacking output is. But Kelvin now has an opportunity to take center stage. If you look at what he gave us over the course of the run-in last year, it was remarkable. And that player is there, and we've seen that in lots of moments over the course of the last weeks and months. He is capable of big moments, and I'm fairly adamant we will see that in the coming weeks."
On getting an own goal from Brayan Vera after last year's incident between Vera and Michael Boxall...
"I don't take much satisfaction. I didn't know it was him who scored the own goal, actually. I mean, we've played Real Salt [Lake] so often since I've been here, played them obviously over the course of the playoffs last year, a couple of games late on last year, we played them, ironically, in the first preseason game back this year, and we've had two good games against them this year. I always feel there's a bit of an edge to the game, and particularly given the context now, us fighting for a position at the top of the table, those guys fighting to get over the line for the play-in game, and that brings with it a real tension. We handled that really well and we certainly did our bit to win the game."
On looking at scores from Vancouver Whitecaps and San Diego FC...
"I think it's very difficult not to. I think with the way the games have gone tonight and the guys that are around us playing as we speak, it's hard to ignore as you get in. Obviously, everyone's talking about the results and everyone, of course, has that vision up toward the top of the table, and we want to make sure that we're really well positioned to fight for that top spot over the course of the remaining six games. We've put ourselves in a really good position tonight and we've tackled two really difficult games in the last two [weeks]. We've got Portland [Timbers] heading into the international break and we really want to finish this little chunk of games well before we hopefully welcome the new guys in and we can feel that we've got slightly more depth and we can properly attack the remainder of what we have."
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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