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MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Secures 4-1 Victory Against St. Louis City SC on Decision Day

October 19, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota United secured a 4-1 victory against St. Louis CITY SC on 'Decision Day' at Allianz Field. MNUFC's victory on Saturday night moved them into sixth place in the Western conference. Next, the Loons will travel to face Real Salt Lake in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, Round One Best-of-3 series.

AUDI 2024 MLS CUP PLAYOFFS INFORMATION:

With the Loons' win over St. Louis, and other results around MLS on 'Decision Day', Minnesota will be the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 Real Salt Lake in the Round One Best-of-3 series. All Round One games, with a full schedule, will be announced tomorrow, Sunday, October 20.

For the Game 1 fixture, MNUFC will travel to America First Field in Sandy, Utah. Game 2 will be played at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and a Game 3 - if necessary - will return to Utah.

Each Round One game will have a winner, with no ties and no aggregate score. If a match is tied at the end of regulation, there will be no extra time, and teams will participate in a penalty kick shootout to determine the winner. The first team to win two matches will advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.

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13' - Minnesota United found their first close chance on goal after Joseph Rosales gained possession on the left side of the field where he took space toward goal. The Honduras international sent a driven ball across goal, but couldn't connect with Kelvin Yeboah on the opposite side, before the ball went wide and out of bounds.

17' - MNUFC continued to find goal scoring opportunities after a sequence from Rosales to Joaquín Pereyra, who then found the 2024 MLS All-Star Robin Lod in the center of the 18-yard box. Lod was able to slip the ball in-behind to Rosales for a close-range shot on goal, but was deflected out by Joakim Nilsson.

21' - Minnesota scored the opening goal of the match after quickly gaining possession on the counter attack in their own half. Midfielder Hassani Dotson played the ball up towards forward Kelvin Yeboah who quickly turned and placed a well-timed through ball into the path of Lod, who took a touch past St. Louis CITY SC defender Joakim Nilsson and scored.

25' - On the opposite end of the field, Cedric Teuchert fired a threatening shot from distance. From the right side, the St. Louis forward curled the ball, aiming towards the left top corner of goal, but Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was in position to protect the net.

72' - The Loons doubled their lead after a sequence between Minnesota's first three second half substitutes Tani Oluwaseyi, Franco Fragapane, and Sang Bin Jeong. Oluwaseyi, with possession in the opposition's half, flicked the ball to Fragapane, who took open space towards goal before finding Sang Bin on the right side. The South Korean forward took one touch on top of the six-yard box, scoring the second goal for MNUFC.

74' - St. Louis got back into the game and scored their first goal of the match. Midfielder Marcel Hartel worked his way up the middle of the pitch and passed it out wide to the left side to find teammate João Klauss, who sent in a low driven pass into the box. Even with a slight deflection, Klauss' pass found Hartel, who put it past St. Clair.

78' - MNUFC took back their two-goal lead after Rosales crossed a dangerous ball from the corner into the six-yard box. Rosales' cross connected with CITY SC defender Henry Kessler's head who accidentally headed the ball into his own goal, scoring an own goal for the Loons.

83' - The South Korean international scored the fourth goal for MNUFC. Sang Bin Jeong ran the ball up through the middle of the field, passing it up towards Oluwaseyi, who made a run on the left side of goal and into the box. Taking a touch back and playing the ball towards the left flank, finding Sang-Bin who found the back of the net.

GOAL SUMMARY

1-0 MIN - Robin Lod (Kelvin Yeboah, Hassani Dotson) - 21'

2-0 MIN - Sang Bin Jeong (Franco Fragapane, Tani Oluwaseyi) - 72'

2-1 STL - Marcel Hartel - 75'

3-1 MIN - Henry Kessler (own goal) - 78'

4-1 MIN - Sang Bin Jeong (Tani Oluwaseyi) - 83'

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

MIN - Joaquín Pereyra (caution) - 59'

MIN - Kelvin Yeboah (caution) - 66'

STL - Rasmus Alm (caution) - 74'

NOTABLE STATS

1 & 6 - Kelvin Yeboah recorded his first MLS assist in the 21st minute, which was his sixth goal contribution in his last four MLS regular season home games (5 goals, 1 assist).

13 - Minnesota United has scored 13 goals this season via substitutes - including Sang Bin Jeong's two goals tonight against St. Louis CITY SC. Only Inter Miami CF scored more goals by players from the bench (14).

15 - MNUFC earned the club's 15th win of the season against St. Louis, tying the record for the most wins in a single regular season in club MLS history (15 in 2019).

22 - Per MLS Communications, Robin Lod has produced the second-most goal contributions (22) in a single regular season in MNUFC's MLS history.

58 - MNUFC ended the 2024 MLS regular season with 58 goals, including a season high of 30 goals at home, surpassing the previous record of 52 goals set in 2019.

ATTENDANCE: 19,881

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Robin Lod

LINEUPS:

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

Bench: GK Alec Smir; D Miguel Tapias, Anthony Markanich; M Franco Fragapane, Tani Oluwaseyi, DJ Taylor; F, Loïc Mesanvi, Sang Bin Jeong, Teemu Pukki

St. Louis CITY SC XI: GK Roman Bürki; D Joakim Nilsson, Henry Kessler, Tomas Totland, Akil Watts, Jannes Horn; M Eduard Löwen, Marcel Hartel; F João Klauss, Simon Becher, Cedric Teuchert

Bench: GK Ben Lundt; D Jake Nerwinski, Josh Yaro, Kyle Hiebert, Jayden Reid; M Jake Girdwood-Reich, Rasmus Alm; F Nökkvi Thórisson

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC @ REAL SALT LAKE

America First Field | Sandy, Utah

TBD | Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs | Best-of-3 Series

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ERIC RAMSAY

On his thoughts on tonight's match ...

"It's an easier situation standing up here after a result like that. I would say a balance of where we deserve to be, I'm really pleased we managed to climb to places and the consequences of that really solidifies some very good form over the course of the ten games and I felt like we've been able to crawl back probably what we threatened to do early on in the season so it's a really good finish on the back of an obviously very positive performance for lots of reasons. I stand here really optimistic going into the playoffs knowing that we are the, or one of the, in form teams going into what is now effectively to be a cup competition and I'm really pleased that we've been able to put right what felt like a big wrong, a big glaring hole in how the season has gone in that we had not capitalized on what is a phenomenal home atmosphere here. Between this game and Colorado [Rapids], we've corrected that, we got a real sense of self, a real conviction in the way we play, almost a real arrogance and confidence, which you have to have at home particularly when you've got an atmosphere like this. I'm really pleased we were able to consolidate that Colorado performance here, so obviously a really good night."

On the substitutions made...

"I felt, just as everyone in the stadium would have felt, we didn't start the game as we wanted to. As we finished the first half, we did look like we were pretty content to defend the one-nil lead, which is a symptom of us knowing that we can do that well, knowing that over the course of the last ten games, have shown ourselves to be certainly in our division, one of, if not the best defensive team. We're very comfortable defending for long periods of time. It's certainly not something that we want to do by design but I just felt in the second half, the players had almost resigned themselves to that being the case or felt like it was probably justified to have made that triple change slightly earlier than we did but we did for a good reason and obviously its paid dividends and I was really pleased that we were able to contribute off the bench in such a meaningful way. Over the course of the last couple of months really recaptured the sense of having a really strong squad and almost that guarantee that players that are coming on are going to be able to give us what we need, which at that point was energy, more aggression how we defended, more of a threat on the last line and for someone like Sang Bin [Jeong], I'm sure everyone who is around the guy couldn't be more pleased for someone whose had a difficult couple of months."

On all three substitutes combining to score early on...

"I don't think that will happen often and it's not in your head as you make that triple change. I was thinking energy and pressing, not necessarily the neat combination that you saw between the three of them. [Franco] Fragapane has given us that typically when he's come on in the second half of games at home. He's got a lot of composure around the box, he links up really well and then you get that guarantee of real pace and penetration between Sang Bin [Jeong] and Tani [Oluwaseyi] so it's as good as it could possibly have been post that triple change for sure."

On the team's defense over the course of the season...

"I've said over the course of the last couple of weeks as I've been asked about this, I suppose the contrast is it's false in the sense that over the course of that period where we suffered, we were almost an unrecognizable group of players and an unrecognizable squad. It's a difficult parallel to owe a different comparison to draw and say between this period and that period but obviously now what we've got is real consistency, we've obviously worked incredibly hard on how we defend, I feel like we're very well organized, disciplined, we defended a very detailed way which is really important and I'm always demanding that the players are detailed and disciplined for the entirety of the game and we are getting much closer to that now. Even at our best early on in the season, we were good for large portions of games but would give up big chances and for today for fairly few chances, they've got a goal which on another day they wouldn't have and we'd be sat here with five clean sheets and arguably deservedly so any success that we have based on what we've done so far, we'll sit on that real defensive solidity and we can hurt teams in a variety of ways we shown tonight."

On the goal concession after having just scored...

"We've got to be really disciplined with the times at which we press with real aggression so we are always very mindful and talk about it in a very intentional purposeful way about the moments in which we are willing to concede more space in the middle of the pitch and just prior to that goal was probably one of the rare occasions where we do it with good intent good intensity but lacking in some detail for sure. No coincidence at a moment or so later in our box we picked spaces to attack and that typically has not been us over the course of the last five games. The nature of the game it's very difficult to not just give away clean cut chances for 90 minutes particularly against a side like that, that are very direct. They got two good forwards that they're playing to very quickly so I wasn't expecting today for it to be playing safely. I would have been amazed if that had been the case. They were probably a decent party for that and we were for sure as the game went on good value for our four if not more."

On his first season with the club, achieving the objective of making the playoffs, winning the last few games...

"Obviously, very happy for the success, but I want more. I want to progress with the team and finish with more success competing alongside the best teams in the league. But for me, when I reflect on the season as a whole, it's perfect for me in the sense that I have learned a lot, and appreciated the chance to experience a period of success, a period of difficulty and then reconstruct a team with seven or nine signings. Now, we are in a good position to advance and possibly compete until the end, who knows. But for me as a whole, for my education, my career as a coach, a season with highs and lows is perfect and the team is better positioned because of those difficulties. I know we have improved a lot as a team from those experiences in June and July and now, who knows, possibly a lot of success. But certainly a strong base."

On if Joaquín Pereyra's performance is meeting his expectations...

"Yeah, he did. He was very good today, I will say it's his best game for sure. And what we wanted from him, which he has given up until this point is security on the ball. He gives us a sense of calmness, he gives us a sense of the ball's not going to turn over cheaply on that side. I felt tonight, he struck the balance well between offering us that, but also making sure that he was threatening the last line and he was looking forward because that's the player that we signed. That's a player that I watched a lot of when he was in Argentina. As you can see, he's very capable on the ball, he's very capable of creating, very good at putting people in good positions. You've seen on that side the combination of him, Jefferson [Diaz], and Jo [Joseph Rosales] is very solid, reliable with creating all the chances between that combination. Obviously, Kelvin [Yeboah] often finds himself linking with those guys as well. So we're in a good place and Joaquín is only getting better game on game for sure."

On looking to play Real Salt Lake...

"We've had really close games against them and we're obviously contending with the difficult conditions, I suppose up there, to a lesser extent than you are at Colorado [Rapids] for sure. We handled that much better when we went there [Salt Lake] recently than we did when we went to Colorado. So, there's definitely some lessons in that for us. We're certainly a good match for them and I'm pleased that we've had the experience of playing them recently before going to play them again. Without sort of dwelling too much on the opposition, I do feel like as I said, a lot of times we're a good match for any team on our day. Particularly over three games, I'd give ourselves a real chance there, and we have to go there with that real conviction and belief that we've shown over the course of the last four or five games sort of an increasing measure as the season has gone on. We will certainly do our homework on them but if we're a good version of ourselves at the moment, then we're a good matchup for anyone."

On the players chemistry ...

"It's a combination of everything. It's connections, it's stability of the connections. It's the team finding good rhythm, it's the team being well positioned, it's the players benefiting from some consistency for sure. And we are a team, as I've said this year, that we don't tend to average much more than sort of 40, 45, 50 max percent possession, but we can use it very well. The disappointing thing over the course of the 15 minutes that we started the second half with, we didn't use the ball well enough. And we find ourselves defending far too often as a consequence of that. As I've said tonight, it's a good example of what I want this team to look like. We're not desperate to have loads and loads of the ball. I don't feel like we've got that that's our makeup. We want to use it well and we've got it. And we did today in that sense, in the short connections. But also, we're a real threat in taking the space that the opposition gives you in behind the back line very quickly. If we can strike the balance well between that control and that measured approach in the middle of the pitch but also taking our opportunities to speed up and attack with good rhythm. That's the best us, for sure. We've seen that in good parts tonight."

On the other results around the league...

"I actually wasn't sure how it was going to be on the scoreboard tonight. I was actually expecting there would be more. I had no idea for the entire game until I spoke with Eric [Durkee] at the end there, and I think that was healthy for us and the players. We didn't talk about it at half time. I don't know whether they had an inkling or not, but I just felt like we had to do what we've done for the last 10 games. Which is concentrate on us, be a good version of ourselves and I was fairly adamant that if we did that, we would get what we wanted for sure. It panned out pretty favorably. Of course, we could have got up to fifth. From what I gather, we were up there at one point. But to have climbed the place it feels better for sure and we are good value for that position, if not slightly higher I would say."

On Sang Bin Jeong finishing chances...

"He's had an up and down year for sure. Partly it's because we've had an up and down year. We've used him inconsistently, particularly during that middle period. We were very reliant on him at the front of the pitch for counter attacks, with probably little else to offer the forwards in terms of composure, long spells of possession, really good quality of play. So both him and Bongi [Bongokuhle Hlongwane] at that point were probably feeding off scraps a little bit. He's also found himself playing slightly deeper, slightly out of position I would say. But, on the occasions where he's been his best, where he's played off the front. I think to the Colorado game, I think to that game you're seeing him at his best there. But he's also as I've said up here, he's a selfless team player that has done his bit for the group defensively and done his bit for the group in sacrificing probably his best qualities to do a role that is required of him. He's valued immensely across the group for that quality for sure. But, we've had the best out of him tonight."

DEFENDER MICHAEL BOXALL

On how he views 'Decision Day'...

"12 months was a long time ago. We're in a very different position now. The last 10 games we have been on a pretty tight run. We found our identity defensively, and everyone is working hard to make Dayne's [St. Clair] night as quiet as possible. We are more or less about where we expected us to be. Regular season is over and we've got to get ready for the playoffs. Happy to avoid the play-in game."

On what has clicked defensively the last few games...

"We have been playing with a high line. We have been more cautious about the space in behind. We try to get as compact and high as possible. We defend our space in-behind first, which teams like Cincinnati, St. Louis try to expose. We trust everyone in front of us to help out defending, which has been massive. We've had all eleven guys work really hard to help us defend as a team."

On the team's confidence down the stretch and into the playoffs...

"Compare us now to mid-July where all the little things weren't going our way. It's huge to see that everyone is bought in and we go into these last ten games expecting to win. We have done the work. With the ball tonight, we weren't the greatest, but somehow we scored four goals. If we know that's the floor, we can play a lot better with the ball as long as we give ourselves a good base defensively, we give ourselves a good chance to go on a run the next month or so."

On facing Real Salt Lake in the first round...

"Their place is always tough. We can take it to them, it's a place we can go and win. Then we have to come back here with our crowd... I wouldn't say we are afraid of them, but we respect what they can do and we are excited for the challenge."

On the backline tonight with the substitutions...

"Carlos [Harvey] and Jefferson [Diaz] have done really well in stepping into those roles. Jefferson on his less-favored left side, has been great. The energy they have provided has been massive and obviously not just the three of us. Joseph [Rosales] coming back off international duty, has got a lot of miles on those legs from the international break, but he still comes back is still energetic and he is a big spark for us."

Bongokuhle Hlongwane adapting to his position at wingback...

"That [playing wingback] probably wouldn't be his favorite position, but he's done that job defensively and we know what he can provide on the other end. If we can tidy up a few things with the ball we can let him show that more."

On the level of confidence...

"Defensively we have that. Were happy to give them the ball for a big chunk of the game. We know everyone is going to dig in and make us hard to beat. With the ball, there are things we can tidy up and make things easier on ourselves to wear down the other team. If that's our floor, that's not a bad place to be at."

FORWARD TANI OLUWASEYI

On what the team was able to do to impact the game overall after the substitutes...

"You see at that point we're getting pinned down a little bit. So at that point, you just need someone to try and hold the ball up or stretch it even. And that we did a good job of, one, holding it up, connecting passes, and then just making that extra run-in behind and then just kind of spreading and making it easier for guys to play a little bit. And then it works out that all three of us [substitutes] touched the ball in the second goal, so it's cool."

On having Sang Bin Jeong as a leader after a difficult year...

"That's one of the guys in the locker room that everybody loves. He comes in every day with a smile on his face, works really hard, runs hard. Just plays for himself and plays for everybody else. So it always feels good for us and always feels good for him. I know for sure when he gets not one, but two goals. So like you said, it's been a difficult year for him, but he hasn't let it really affect his game. He's always put his head down at work, so really happy for him to get the two [goals] today."

On feeling like a team that other teams would not want to have as opponents...

"I mean, that's definitely the goal. That was the goal when we started the season. And at this point in the season, that's definitely still the goal. There's probably a lot of teams that people would take over us. To be fair, we're okay with that. We just know who we are. We know what we bring to the table. And going into the playoffs, we're just going to continue to do the things that we've done these past 10, 11 games. In the three games a year, whatever it is, we're going to come to play every single game and just put our best foot forward."

On the fourth goal of the match, Sang Bin Jeong's second goal...

"In that position, my first thought, in Sang Bin [Jeong] driving down the middle is just to make a run for him to play me at goal. It was a little wide, so then my next thought is how I can create space to shoot. There might have been space there, but I thought for me in that position if I shoot, he maybe blocks it. So I can just put it back to Sang Bin in a spot where no one else is going to reach it in. It's kind of how it played out."

On a collective team mentality, over the individual...

"It's just that next-man-up mentality. We've had it from the beginning of the year, when we started off flying. Whoever is on the field, the 11 on the field, they're just going to go out there and perform. And guys aren't going to be happy if [they're] not starting or whatever it may be. But that's just the game's the game. So you just kind of keep your head down and just keep working. And when you're called upon, just do your part. And that's what every single guy here has been doing so far."

On how coaches prepare the players for those who are starting...

"I mean, to be fair, we've all played this game long enough where we kind of have an idea from the beginning of the week where their [coaches] heads are at. So they don't really have to say much. They do a good job of letting us know what they're thinking and how they're viewing things. But regardless of when they do eventually tell us or not tell us, we're just focused on practice every day and just getting better as players and just doing our game prep."

On what Tani may remember from playing Real Salt Lake in April and his goal...

"Rob [Robin Lod] did his Jinky mi Jinky and crossed it in. I don't remember the goal, but I do remember the game. It was one of those games where they get that goal and we start pushing at the end there. I come in and whenever I come in at the beginning of the year it's the same as right now, it's just making an impact whatever that may be. Whenever we are losing or we are down we are always looking to strike.

[Tani sees video of goal]

Oh yeah, this is Rob Jinky mi Jinky, I remember. Rob with the left, step over, fake, and then plays it in, and then I toe it in. Same thing. We just always want to keep pushing, especially at home in front of our fans. We want to keep pushing to that 90th minute. And you see we scored an 87th [minute]. We could have won, actually, if I'm not mistaken."

On what is "Jinky mi Jinky"...

"It is English. It's an English phrase for just a little bit of skill."

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