Minnesota United Shuts Out Seattle Sounders FC in Crucial Western Conference Win
MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Shuts Out Seattle Sounders FC in Crucial Western Conference Win

Published on August 16, 2025 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota United earned its second win over Seattle Sounders FC this season on Saturday night at Allianz Field, edging out a 1-0 victory behind a second-half strike from Joaquín Pereyra and a late save from Dayne St. Clair. With the result, the Loons secured three key points at home and now turn their focus to the road, traveling to face Real Salt Lake on Saturday, August 23, at 8:30 p.m. CT.

8' - Minnesota United got its first dangerous shot on target after the Loons gained possession in the attacking third. Joseph Rosales played a quick square pass to connect with Carlos Harvey, who took a few touches before striking from the right half-space outside the 18-yard box, but his effort was comfortably handled by Stefan Frei.

16' - Sounders FC registered their first shot on target when Alex Roldan struck from outside the penalty area after receiving a pass from Jesús Ferreira. His effort was comfortably collected by Dayne St. Clair, posing no real threat to the home side.

19' - Seattle continued to threaten the Loons as Obed Vargas carried the ball from the middle third into the attack before connecting with Ferreira. From the left flank, Ferreira delivered a long switch into the penalty area, finding Osaze De Rosario, whose header sailed just over the crossbar.

29' - Argentine native Nicolás Romero fired a shot from outside the penalty area after Carlos Harvey headed down a pass from Tani Oluwaseyi, but his initial effort was blocked by Jackson Ragen. The rebound fell back to Harvey, who settled the ball and laid it off for Romero, whose left-footed strike curled just wide of the right post.

41' - Robin Lod, positioned at the top of the 18-yard box, slipped a through pass to Rosales on the left flank. Rosales took a few touches before firing a shot that drifted just wide of the left post.

51' - De Rosario created the first dangerous opportunity of the second half, heading the ball just over the crossbar after connecting with a flicked header from Paul Rothrock, who had received a long ball from Reed Baker-Whiting.

69' - Joaquín Pereyra delivered a long pass from the middle third to Anthony Markanich on the right flank. Markanich slipped a through ball to Tani Oluwaseyi near the penalty spot, but Oluwaseyi's first-time left-footed effort rolled wide of the right post.

73' (1-0) - Pereyra scored the game-winning goal for Minnesota United after a short corner taken by Rosales. Rosales played the ball back to Pereyra, who fired a shot from the right flank outside the penalty area, sneaking it past Frei.

80' - Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair made a crucial save to preserve MNUFC's lead after Roldan picked up possession in the middle third, carried into the attack, and unleashed a long-distance shot that forced St. Clair to dive left.

82' - After Seattle was awarded a free kick taken by Ferreira, a short pass found Georgi Minoungou down the left flank. Minoungou carried into the box and connected with Ragen, who quickly lost possession. The rebound fell to Gómez Andrade, whose shot was blocked by Harvey as he was already on the ground, before the Loons cleared the danger.

90' + 2' - St. Clair came up with another crucial stop in added time to preserve the points for the Loons. Cristian Roldan switched play to the left side of the penalty area for Gómez Andrade, whose header was curling toward the top-left corner, but St. Clair reacted quickly to push it over the bar for a corner kick.

GOAL SUMMARY

1-0 MIN - Joaquín Pereyra - 73'

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

MIN - Nicolás Romero (caution) - 24'

SEA - Yeimar Gomez Andrade (caution) - 57'

MIN - Joaquín Pereyra (caution) - 81'

Notable Stats

2 - Minnesota United earned just their second-ever victory over Seattle Sounders FC at Allianz Field and third win overall against the club. It also marks the first time in team history that Minnesota has recorded two regular-season wins over Seattle in a single campaign.

9 - Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair recorded his ninth clean sheet of the regular-season with the 1-0 victory over Seattle on Saturday. This clean sheet notably tied his personal best in league action (regular season and playoffs), where he previously earned nine shutouts during the 2023 MLS campaign.

ATTENDANCE: 19,432

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Joaquín Pereyra

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Dayne St. Clair; D Joseph Rosales, Nicolás Romero (Morris Duggan 55'), Michael Boxall ©, Carlos Harvey, Bongokuhle Hlongwane; M Joaquín Pereyra, Wil Trapp (Owen Gene 83'), Robin Lod, Tani Oluwaseyi; F Kelvin Yeboah (Anthony Markanich 68')

Substitutes Not Used: GK Alec Smir; D DJ Taylor, Jefferson Diaz; M Julian Gressel; F Darius Randell

Seattle Sounders FC XI: GK Stefan Frei ©; D Nouhou, Jackson Ragen, Yéimar Gomez Andrade; M Reed Baker-Whiting (Pedro de la Vega 69'), Cristian Roldan, Obed Vargas, Alex Roldan; F Jesus Ferreira, Osaze De Rosario (Danny Musovski 69'), Paul Rothrock (Georgi Minoungou 78')

Substitutes Not Used: GK Andrew Thomas; D Cody Baker, Snyder Brunell, Danny Leyva, Jonathan Bell, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC @ REAL SALT LAKE

America First Field | Sandy, Utah

08.23.2025 | MLS 2025 Regular Season | Match 28

8:30 p.m. CT (MLS Season Pass/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ERIC RAMSAY

On his overall thoughts on the match...

"I'm really pleased with the outcome, of course, the performance. I think if you'd asked beforehand what the group really needed, not necessarily what the group really wanted, but it was a clean sheet. It was a return to the level of resilience and defensive discipline and desperation to keep the ball out of the net that we've showed for such long periods of this year, and that's made us such a difficult team to play. I feel like over the course of the last couple of months, albeit results have still been good and I feel like we've progressed significantly as a team and I think now you see a really evolved version of what you saw at the beginning of the year from time to time. What we haven't been able to nail back down is that clean sheet and that what you've seen tonight, the compactness, the characteristics that have made Minnesota [United FC] a team that no one likes to play against. So the fact that we were able to show that for large periods of the game and take our chance when it came, that was a really pleasing way for us to finish the night. And also it gives us a really solid base for what is to come. Obviously the context around the result and the position in the table, I think it was a really crucial win to have beaten that side [Seattle Sounders FC] over the course of two games, something the club has never done before, is impressive because they're a tough team to play against."

On any individual standouts in tonight's match...

"I think the group as a whole, had you sensed it all week that there was a real regretfulness that had been felt by everyone after the Colorado [Rapids] game because we certainly from just a general intensity, effort, discipline, willingness, perspective, had really let ourselves down. I think as the week wore on, you really got a sense of a group that were desperate to prove a point today. And I think you'd obviously look at the big leaders in the group and the way in which they defended the box, Boxy [Michael Boxall] in particular. Dayne [St. Clair] certainly played his part, but that's a real collective effort and it needed top to bottom, to be absolutely on point from a defensive perspective, because you'll have seen over two games, they're [Seattle Sounders FC] one of the better teams in the league on the ball, very clean, very well organized, they've got players that can hurt you at every point over the course of the front four or five positions. So to have limited them to very little over the course of the game was pleasing."

On if Joaquín Pereyra's goal was a shot or a cross..

"When you're delivering from that type of area, it's always somewhere between the two, I would say. We've obviously carried a real threat on set plays throughout the season. I don't think there's a game that's gone by where we felt stale, but it certainly needed an element of variety, to unlock that team tonight. Both Jo [Joseph Rosales] and Joaquín can deliver the ball really, really well from those areas. So those are some of the most dangerous crosses you see come into the box and defenders know that full well. It was a really well worked goal."

On what the difficulties were in the final third entries...

"Yeah, I wouldn't stand here and pretend to say it was the cleanest performance on the ball. We did struggle in the first half to create from organized play. I would say we carried a big threat as normal on the second phase of set plays and we created some situations that were certainly momentum that picked the crowd up and energy and repeated half chances, but nothing particularly clean cut. And that is for sure an area of our game where we need to continue to work, we need to continue to be cleaner around the top of the box. But, I would certainly take a situation like tonight where we can take a chance, win a game 1-0 as opposed to games, many games, I would say fairly recently where we score multiple goals and aren't able to keep the ball out [of the net] at the other end. So I will really focus on grabbing that positive and taking it forward because that is for sure what we'd be missing in the fact that we've been able to find that with still eight games to go, I think is a relief for everyone, I would say, because that is absolutely fundamental to us."

On how the team prepared this week after the regretfulness of last week...

"We have lots of those types of meetings. We do give the players a real voice and I don't want them to feel like it's my team, it's their team and they've got to drive the standards. And I felt like last week I wouldn't describe it as boiling point in any way. We've got a very measured dressing room. I think everyone's got a real sense of perspective, but we're not a team that's used to losing back to back games. So albeit I can still stand here and say that we're probably one of the few, if only team to have not lost back to back league games. The fact that we went from one in the Leagues Cup to one in the league [MLS], it felt like this is an exaggeration, but it felt like the walls were caving in a little bit in a way that it hasn't over the course of this season. And that prompted us to take a real look at ourselves. And the way in which we followed that up is exactly the way in which I would have expected us to. And I think it really speaks to how strong a group it is. It's a small group, but in some senses that helps in these situations. It's a group that's very galvanized, and it's shown its best in that sense today."

On what the tactical aspect that helped break Seattle Sounders FC down...

"There are basic principles like the distance between the lines and the level of aggression of the players, the ability to constantly squeeze the space and focus, because without those basic tactics it's impossible. But beyond that, it was a very interesting game for me tactically, and that's always the case against Seattle. And there were problems in the first half that needed to be resolved from our perspective, and we did quite well. And that gave us the platform to win the game. As I said in English, I'm very happy with that because it's usually our strength to get back to that situation. Being ourselves is very important, especially given the situation at the standings."

DEFENDER MICHAEL BOXALL

On what led to the victory over Seattle Sounders FC...

"I mean after the Colorado [Rapids] match there was a lot of frustration about just the little things we weren't quite executing to the level that we had for the first 15 or so games. I think having a full week of training allowed us to work through things and get our mentality right and I think we kind of showed that tonight. Similar to the beginning of the season where you could trust each other to do the right things defensively and then kind of get lucky on a set piece but we're not giving away the game trying to chase something like we were last week."

On how it felt to secure the team's first shutout since May...

"Feels like a bit longer. No. Yeah, it's been a long time I think. Obviously just a whole bunch of games, maybe a bit of fatigue kind of getting in. But, I think no matter what the circumstances we need to have tonight as our standard defensively. Because we're not the team that's really scoring two, three, four goals each game. So we kind of need to get back to what was working earlier in the season and I think that was kind of lining the sound all weekend. So this is what we needed to do and anything below that we would need to take a look at ourselves in the mirror and make sure that's always there."

On whether or not Osaze De Rosario had a sense of eagerness to his play throughout the match...

"Not really, I didn't notice too much. I felt like there were a couple of crosses he got on the end of after they had a fair bit of the ball, especially in the first half, but I think we kept compact enough where they weren't able to slice us open and force anything clear cut."

On whether Joaquín Pereyra's goal was intended to be a cross or a shot...

"I'm not sure. He's going to say a shot, but I mean after last week we don't really care how it goes in."

MIDFIELDER JOAQUÍN PEREYRA

On finally getting three points after two consecutive losses...

"Very important for us against an opponent [right] below us in the table, who also plays very well. They're [Seattle Sounders] coming off their last few matches, winning them and winning them well. I don't think we were the best team today based on our play, but we defended very well and were able to get the three points, which is important for us."

On if his goal was a cross or a shot towards the goal...

"It was a cross. I can't say it was a shot, because the ball was moving very slowly, and I never looked at the goal, just the penalty area and my teammates. I then made the cross, and luckily the ball went in, and well, a goal is a goal. So, it's my goal."

On the difficulties of the first half...

"Yes, yes. I was frustrated. I think the whole team was a little frustrated. We want to play better, we want to play better with the ball. We know we defend well. We're a team that defends very well, and it feels good to do so. But the frustration comes from the fact that we couldn't play. They had the ball for most of the first half. Obviously, we come into the locker room with frustration because we are unable to do what we want but at the end we knew that if we defended well and they didn't score, our goal would come eventually at any moment. And that's what happened. But the frustration came from us not playing well, we couldn't find the ball and Seattle was controlling the game."

On Seattle attacking consistently in the last minutes of the game, did he think any goal from them could happen...

"Yes, there's always the possibility that they could tie the score in the final minutes. We also knew we were defending too deep. We were all tucked into our own box. That's kind of what Seattle forced us to do. They kept pushing us back a bit. We tried to defend as best we could. They were finding space as time went on. But with our defense, which had a great game today with the save by Dayne [St. Clair], we were also able to hold on to the score. And for us, I think these three points are more than just three; they're almost six. We're getting closer to the top. Let's hope we get some results tomorrow, too, so we can get closer to our goal of finishing first."

On comparing the energy in the locker room from last week's match against Colorado Rapids to this win over Seattle...

"The reality is that we ourselves believed the game against Colorado [Rapids] was a game in which we had to get the three points at home no matter what. We knew they weren't that much of an inferior opponent, but we knew that with our skills, with our style of play, we were a little superior. Today, the truth is that against Seattle, they're always difficult games. It was a game of equals. We knew they were going to come and play. I think that besides that, the fact that we didn't have a great game, I think the victory is celebrated a little more. But I think the difference is that against Colorado, we felt like winners before the game. And today, I think we're going into a final."

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Major League Soccer Stories from August 16, 2025


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