Minnesota United Takes Home a Road Point After 2-2 Draw with New York Red Bulls

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MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Takes Home a Road Point After 2-2 Draw with New York Red Bulls

June 28, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


HARRISON, New Jersey - Minnesota United tied the New York Red Bulls 2-2 in an interconference clash at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night. The East Coast side opened the scoring in the first 15 minutes, but the Loons were able to come back and score two goals before the end of the first half. However, after some strong saves from goalkeeper Alec Smir, the Red Bulls found the equalizer in the final minutes of the match. Minnesota United will next face FC Dallas on Friday, July 4, at Toyota Stadium.

11' (0-1) - New York Red Bulls scored the first goal of the night after the ball was chipped into

Maxim Choupo-Moting inside Minnesota United's 18-yard box. Choupo-Moting on the front foot, dribbled towards before losing possession on the right flank, leaving the ball unpossessed in front of goal. Forward Emil Forsberg on top of the six-yard line one-touched the ball into the open goal. Goalkeeper Wessel Speel was injured on the play and was later subbed out in the 20th minute.

32' (1-1) - Minnesota United scored the equalizer after Joaquín Pereyra gained possession in the attacking third and created an opening and connected a pass with Kelvin Yeboah in the center of the penalty area, where Yeboah dribbled right and struck the ball through Red Bull defender Omar Valencia's legs and into the far corner of the goal.

38' - New York Red Bulls were granted a dangerous free kick right outside MNUFC's 18-yard box. Forsberg, taking the set piece, struck the ball, bouncing off the Loons' wall and out of bounds.

45' (2-1) - Minnesota United gained the lead on a set-piece throw from Michael Boxall that connected with Jefferson Diaz's head, who redirected the ball to Anthony Markanich, where he trapped it with his chest and struck the ball quickly into the right side of the net.

54' - The Red Bulls found their first scoring chance of the second half on a cross from Kyle Duncan that connected with Peter Stroud in the penalty area, who dove toward the ball and struck it with his head, ultimately sending the ball wide right of Alec Smir's net.

62' - Smir made a crucial save when Choupo-Moting made a diving header on the left flank, but Smir quickly reacted, stopping the ball with one hand and pushing it out of the dangerous area.

66' - The Red Bulls continued to create scoring chances as Stroud found himself again at the top of the penalty area, this time sending the ball to the Smir's right and missing wide.

76' - The Loons found another scoring chance when DJ Taylor sent in a cross to Anthony Markanich, who jumped and headed the ball, which deflected off the crossbar and fell to the Red Bulls, who regained possession.

79' - Yet again, Smir made another important save after finding himself in a one-versus-one against Choupo-Moting. Coming off his line, Smir dove in front of the East Coast forward before he could get a shot off.

90' (2-2) - The Red Bulls leveled the score once again after Kyle Duncan curved the ball towards goal from the right side of the attacking third, finding Choupo-Moting on top of the six-yard line where he tapped the ball into goal.

GOAL SUMMARY

0-1 RBNY - Emil Forsberg (Maxim Choupo-Moting, Kyle Duncan) - 11'

1-1 MIN - Kelvin Yeboah (Joaquín Pereyra) - 32'

2-1 MIN - Anthony Markanich (Jefferson Diaz, Michael Boxall) - 45'

2-2 RBNY - Maxim Choupo-Moting (Kyle Duncan) - 90'

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

RBNY - Emil Forsberg (caution) - 44'

MIN - Alec Smir (caution) - 67'

MIN - Nicolás Romero (caution) - 85'

RBNY - Sandro Schwarz (caution) - 90'+2'

RBNY - Sandro Schwarz (ejection) - 90'+6'

NOTABLE STATS

6 - Joaquín Pereyra and Kelvin Yeboah have each recorded their sixth goal contribution of the season. Pereyra tallied his sixth assist, while Yeboah scored his sixth goal.

9 - Minnesota United has scored 9 goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half, only San Diego (11) and Orlando City (10) have scored more in MLS this season.

2 - Michael Boxall and Jefferson Diaz have each assisted in back-to-back matches, following their assist to Anthony Markanich's goal.

3 - The Loons remain undefeated (3W, 1D) against the Red Bulls in their last three matches, following tonight's 2-2 draw.

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Joaquín Pereyra

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Wessel Speel (Alec Smir 20'); D Anthony Markanich (Devin Padelford 78'), Nicolás Romero, Jefferson Diaz, Michael Boxall ©, Julian Gressell (Owen Gene 69'); M Robin Lod, Joaquín Pereyra, Wil Trapp, Bongokuhle Hlongwane (DJ Taylor 69'); F Kelvin Yeboah (Sang Bin Jeong 69')

Substitutes Not Used: D Darius Randell, DJ Taylor, Morris Duggan; M, Hoyeon Jung; F Loïc Mesanvi

New York Red Bulls XI: GK Carlos Coronel, D Omar Valencia (Julian Hall 78'), Sean Nealis (Alexander Hack 78'), Noah Eile, Kyle Duncan; M Peter Stroud (Wiktor Bogacz 78'), Felipe Carballo (Ronald Donkor 58'); Mohammed Sofo, Serge Ngoma (Wikelman Carmona 58'), Emil Forsberg ©, Eric F Maxim Choupo-Moting

Substitutes not used: GK Tim Parker, AJ Marcucci; D Raheem Edwards; F Dennis Gjengaar

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC @ FC DALLAS

Toyota Stadium | Frisco, Texas

07.04.2025 | MLS 2025 Regular Season | Match 21

7:30 p.m. CT (MLS Season Pass/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ERIC RAMSAY

Thoughts on the last goal conceded...

"Whilst it's very raw, we're very disappointed with the finish there, but I know full well how I'll feel about it tomorrow and perhaps an hour or so's time, I'll feel like it's a really good point on the road. They, the players, put in a phenomenal effort in really difficult conditions, you obviously can't appreciate watching it at home, but it's sweltering hot here [New Jersey]. It's 30 degrees Celsius it's really difficult conditions and to put in a performance like that after a really good performance mid-week and to follow that with a point is all credit to the players. Yes, in the second half we end up defending far longer than we would like and unfortunately succumb to what unfortunately felt like the inevitable for certain periods. There are elements of that performance that are really pleasing and represent what we want to look like, particularly on the road. In the first half, we struck that balance really well after having conceded that first goal, of defending with the same level of detail and discipline, willingness, and compactness that we do always, but we were very good on the ball and we showed that real balance. The tide turns as it typically does in games where we're ahead. We're very comfortable defending the box for long periods and we have some really good moments on the transition that we would expect to have and we were just lacking that precision as the game went on and didn't show the same level of composure as we did in the first half to handle the ball and bring the team up the pitch in a slightly more composed way when we couldn't attack really quickly. I think on balance, that's a step forward in its momentum and I sort of repeat the comment I made to the players in the dressing room that was, for those of them that were here last year in this particular period missing so many players, we lose those games and that's what we did last year. Obviously, Wednesday and today, that hasn't been the case and we've been able to continue to take steps forward and pick points up and particularly on the road as well as you know it's very difficult to do. So, I was very pleased with that."

On if there's any update with goalkeeper Wessel Speel...

"Not anything conclusive, I know he obviously didn't feel comfortable enough to continue. He [Wessel Speel] was sort of fifty, fifty on it and we wanted a definitive decision and the definitive decision was for him to come off and I think Al [Alec Smir] did well in difficult circumstances. It's not easy coming on as a goalkeeper there, and unfortunately that early sub. I would say, sort of cost us toward the end when we couldn't bring on a fifth with some fresh legs. But, I think Al took his chance for sure and made a couple of good saves, kicked well and that's exactly what it needed."

On what was Wessel Speel's injury...

"Yes, I think it was the right shoulder, I'm not sure the detail there."

On the continued confidence of Joaquín Pereyra each week...

"He obviously had a moment of magic for the goal, which is characteristic of him, and he shows those moments more and more often. It probably told toward the end of the game the lack of training time he's had recently with being away for so long on visa duty, and he's been pretty stop-start in terms of rhythm and momentum. So, the point obviously we had to make as you would have been able to tell at home the gamble on making the fifth sub fairly early with Devin [Padelford] replacing Anthony [Markanich], was running on empty really. I think then Joaquín found himself in the same position very quickly, hence why we ended up using him as a number nine to finish and using Sang Bin [Jeong] to defend off the side. Joaquín suffered in that sense but obviously he has his moments as he normally does."

On the defensive stretches in the final 15 minutes of the match...

"I think it was less the way we defended and more how we used the ball in the second half. We had some very good chances on the transition. We had, I would say, as many clean-cut chances as they did in spite of the fact that they had the lion's share of the ball in the closing stages. But, I think you have to appreciate, in these situations, when it's the second game in a week, we know full well we're very good at defending the box. Obviously, we're fairly light personnel wise. It's searing hard. It would be very difficult for us to be a team in the closing stages of a game like that where we are absolutely dominant on the ball, and of course, that would be my preference. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather spend the final 20 minutes in their half, but that unfortunately, isn't a huge strength of ours at the moment and we showed some grit in defending the box and we did show a level of discipline that restricted them to a few clean cut chances, but we let ourselves down on the moments where we did turn the ball over too cheaply and weren't able to counter attack with either more precision or more patience which would've taken up the pitch. So, I think it's that side of the game that needs to improve and it's less of a defensive issue for me."

On if Anthony Markanich is the best finisher on the team...

"Yeah, he's got a real knack for the second phase of set plays, and he's obviously gone very close to getting the third for us through that. He's desperate to score. He's got that real willingness to go and attack a ball and the desperation to go and make the far post when attacking on the right hand side. So he's played phenomenally well for us in the last couple of weeks and someone that has gone to another level and it's a shame that he wasn't able to see the game through because he's been a high level performer very consistently for us, and he just unfortunately ran out of gas toward the end."

On the threat of the New York Red Bulls sending runners in behind...

"I was really disappointed and I know Boxy [Michael Boxall] was with the way in which we conceded the first goal because that absolutely shouldn't happen. And I could tell immediately from Boxy's [Michael Boxall] reaction that he knew the mistake that he'd made, and it's one that he doesn't typically make and one that he shouldn't make. At that stage of the game, it was really frustrating and disappointing because that is a goal that we shouldn't and don't typically concede. So lack of detail in the way we defended really switched off, and it was really costly because I felt like we had certainly the better of the game in the opening stages, and then we gave ourselves some work to do. But I would say all credit to the team away from home, difficult circumstances to come back and score two and then dominate for long periods was really pleasing. All in all, we will for sure take a very critical look at ourselves and no one's going to go away from there patting themselves on the back because ultimately I feel like we should be home and dry with three points. But, as always, I will look at it as objectively as possible and I feel like there was a lot of that that we can be really pleased around."

On if he feels it's necessary to work the referees when the opposition is doing so...

"No, not really, that's not our focus. I think the focus toward the end of the game was to try and be as shrewd as we could with the players that we had in terms of how we could influence a game, and I must say there are stages of games like that, where you do feel helpless as a coach particularly once you've played all your cards with the subs and you've made every tweak that you feel is at your disposal in order to try and gain an upper hand in the game, and the final 10-15 minutes, it was just a case of the players trying to grind it out, and unfortunately, we weren't able to do that. We weren't as clinical around our box in defending as we had been up until that point, and needed to be. So my focus is typically on those types of things."

On if he felt surprised to hear the final whistle...

"No, because we were beyond the five minutes of extra time, and I felt like we played too much time up until that point. We probably shouldn't have had the second phase of the corner and arguably shouldn't have had the corner. So I think the referee has made the right decision to blow it at that point. And I don't think it's as controversial as it probably looks, in the sense that it's a breakaway where we're a man up and they're 70, 80 yards from goal. So it was an unnecessarily dramatic end to the game really."

On if the team has thought ahead on who the emergency goalkeeper would be...

"Dennis did think of it, the shout is Dev [Devin Padelford]. I think that's his crazy athlete in a lot of senses and certainly someone who would probably relish that."

FORWARD KELVIN YEBOAH

Thoughts on the game...

"Bittersweet, really bittersweet because we played well. The first half was very intense, we kept the intensity high, we counter [attacked], and we were very dangerous. We were able to get [the score] 2-1, and in the second half, we held on until 88th minute and then it was difficult. It was unlucky we got the unfortunate goal, but it's bittersweet, good performance, but at the end it was not enough."

On getting back to his scoring ways following his injury earlier in the season...

"Yeah definitely, I feel a lot sharper. I'm feeling physically much, much, much better."

On Joaquín Pereyra's assist...

"That one's for you guys. Joaquín [Pereyra] has been pulling this off in training too, so it's something that's in his skill set."

On if he feels the team should start working the ball through midfield...

"We can do both, and it's great now that we are showing that we can do both, and the team's now going to be even more complicated to defend us, right? Because it's one thing when we know that we're kicking long, and it's one thing when you know that we can either kick long or come in between the lines, and this is going to give us, from the rest of the season, the edge maybe to really get to the top."

On if the team was lacking on taking pressure off of the defenders towards the end of the match...

"It's difficult to say once you get this goal, then you feel that way, but in the end, the team really did well. We held onto that too, and away, you get one point, and it's fine."

On if it feels like a point gained rather than three points dropped...

"Yeah, I think eventually this point, away games will definitely help us in the long run, especially playing against the other side of the league. So in the end, it will for sure favor us."

On the New York Red Bulls head coach running out on the field after the final whistle...

"I mean, he was hot. When I was in the match, I saw that he was hot the whole game. I don't really know why, because we also had a couple of calls that were not called on our side, but you know, that's how football is. So I guess so."

On the weather conditions throughout the game...

"It was hot. I mean after 20-30 minutes, you really feel the heat, and you almost felt like you were heating from the inside, so it was really hard."

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