MNUFC Captures Three Crucial Points Against St. Louis City Sc

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MLS Minnesota United FC

MNUFC Captures Three Crucial Points Against St. Louis City Sc

September 14, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


ST. LOUIS -- Three goals helped Minnesota United capture a 3-1 victory and three key points on the road against St. Louis CITY SC on Saturday night at CITYPARK in St. Louis, Missouri. The Loons now return home on short rest to host FC Cincinnati on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Allianz Field.

4' - St. Louis CITY SC scored the opening goal after sending a long ball over the top finding forward Simon Becher in behind Minnesota's back line. Becher was unable to get a shot off after defender Michael Boxall went in for the challenge, but both players were unable to gain possession, leaving the ball unopposed inside the 18-yard box for Cedric Teuchert to take a one-touch shot to goal.

23' - Minnesota United leveled the score after Bongokuhle Hlongwane forced St. Louis to turn the ball over in the middle third. The South African forward passed it off to Kelvin Yeboah to capitalize on the counter-attack and take space up the pitch where he fired off a long-range shot that was deflected out by Roman Bürki. Hlongwane found the other side of the deflection and took off a one-touch shot from the left flank, finding the back of the net.

28' - The Loons nearly scored a second goal when service into the St. Louis six-yard box found the feet of Hlongwane, who quickly tapped a pass back to Robin Lod. The Finnish midfielder then took a one-touch shot at close distance, forcing a finger-tip save by CITY SC goalkeeper Roman Bürki.

29' - CITY SC almost re-gained the lead after Klauss found the counter-attack and saw Minnesota's back line out of shape leaving him unopposed for an open shot just outside the 18-yard box but went out of frame.

43' - Dayne St. Clair made a crucial save to keep the score tied 1-1 after St. Louis slipped through MNUFC's back line finding Klauss for a one-versus-one with St. Clair. But, pressure from Minnesota United defender Jefferson Diaz on the Brazilians' back left him unable to get a shot off.

45' + 5' - MNUFC continued to put pressure on St. Louis after creating two consecutive goal scoring opportunities right before half time. The first opportunity came from Hassani Dotson finding a wide open shot on top of the penalty arc that deflected out, where Yeboah took a left-footed shot from the left side of the box that was saved by Bürki.

52' - Minnesota gained the lead after Joseph Rosales sent the ball up the left sideline, finding Yeboah who took open space up the pitch. Yeboah crossed the ball from the left flank that Jayden Reid tried to clear but misdirected the clearance, scoring an own goal.

62' - Yet again, the Loons put another point on the scoreboard after being granted a penalty kick following a VAR review ruling that St. Louis committed a handball violation inside the box. Yeboah stepped up and was able to convert the penalty kick into a goal, extending Minnesota's lead.

89' - Lod nearly scored after Rosales played it back to the Finnish International in the center of the box for a one-touch shot, but the chance missed wide of the left post.

GOAL SUMMARY

0-1 STL - Cedric Teuchert (Simon Becher) - 4'

1-1 MIN - Bongokuhle Hlongwane - 23'

2-1 MIN - Jayden Reid (own goal) - 52'

3-1 MIN - Kelvin Yeboah (penalty kick) - 62'

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

MIN - Michael Boxall (caution) - 21'

STL - Eduard Löwen (caution) - 90'

MIN - San Bin Jeong (caution) - 90'+3'

NOTABLE STATS

1 - Midfielder Joaquín Pereyra made his MLS and MNUFC debut when he started tonight's match against St. Louis CITY SC.

10 - Bongokuhle Hlongwane scored his 10th goal of the regular season, an MLS-career high. He is also now sixth on MNUFC's all-time goal leader list with a total of 20 goals scored in three regular seasons with the club, trailing Robin Lod (28), Emanuel Reynoso (22), Darwin Quintero (21), Kevin Molino (21) and Christian Ramirez (21). He ranks second in MNUFC's cumulative all-time scoring record with 29 goals across all competitions.

25 - Per MLS Communications, with its goals scored tonight, MNUFC has now set a record for most road goals scored in a single season (25) since joining MLS in 2017. Additionally, the Loons have now tied a club record for most road wins in a single season (six) and road points (20) in the club's MLS history.

2 - Kelvin Yeboah scored his second penalty kick goal of the season. He has three goals in three games.

3 - Minnesota United has scored three goals in a game for the first time since June 20, 2024 against FC Dallas (5-3, L).

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Kelvin Yeboah

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Dayne St. Clair; D Devin Padelford, Miguel Tapias, Michael Boxall ©, Jefferson Diaz; M Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Joaquín Pereyra, Wil Trapp, Hassani Dotson, Robin Lod; F Kelvin Yeboah

Bench: GK Alec Smir; D Carlos Harvey, M DJ Taylor, Franco Fragapane, Joseph Rosales; F Samuel Shashoua, Sang Bin Jeong, Teemu Pukki, Tani Oluwaseyi

St. Louis CITY SC XI: GK Roman Bürki; D Jake Nerwinski, Henry Kessier, Kyle Hiebert, Jannes Horn; M Chris Durkin, Eduard Löwen, Simon Becher, Cedric Teuchert, Marcel Hartel; F João Klauss

Bench: GK Ben Lundt; D Akil Watts, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Jayden Reid, Josh Yaro, Tomas Totland; M Indiana Vassilev; F Nökkvi Thórisson, Rasmus Alm

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. FC CINCINNATI

Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota

09.18.2024 | MLS 2024 Regular Season | Match 29

7:30 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...

"We are really pleased with the outcome. We knew it would be a really fast start from them [St. Louis CITY SC], they obviously had to win to keep their season alive. They, as far as I'm aware, were returning tonight to full health, they went with a really aggressive lineup. [They] played with two forwards, played with a very direct approach in the opening stages and it was everything that we prepared for but unfortunately, we weren't able to deal with what they threw at us in the first five minutes, which is a real shame. But, I would say from that point onwards, there was two ways that game was going to go: We were either going to crumble under what was a really intense atmosphere that is as lively, energetic atmosphere that I've been apart of in MLS so far, and you've got the added tension around their situation with the fact that it was an absolutely, do or die situation for them. The fact that we were able to steady ourselves, we were able to then impose ourselves on the game as it went on was really important for us. We'll take some big lessons from that, we'll take a lot of confidence from the way in which we were able to do that. I think if we were able to look back at the best spells of that game, of which there were a good three or four, I would say where for long periods we looked very comfortable either with the ball or defensively. We will be really pleased with that performance. I think it's a big step forward. But, as I said in the build up to this game, this was as much about handling the atmosphere, the nature, the very unique nature of this situation, where they absolutely had to win it. We could have affected their season with a win, so I was really pleased that we were able to do that. We showed a lot of character, a lot of togetherness over the course of the game, a lot of adaptability and ability to move toward being a team, a team that can be much more balanced in how we play."

On the defensive struggles in the first half...

"We anticipated it to a certain extent, but weren't concrete on the fact that they [St. Louis CITY SC] would play with a front two and two very narrow wide players which obviously gave our back four, effectively, individual matchups and they played on to them in a relatively direct way. It was the first time in a long while that we'd started a game as a back four and tried to press in roughly a 4-4-2 with some subtleties to it and that did cause us some problems. But it was as much to do with the real attacking, intent, and almost desperation that they attacked with, as it was to do anything sort of tactical from our perspective. But I did feel once we shifted as the game went on then we were far more comfortable against their direct play."

On the decision to switch the tactical formation with four in the back...

"We want to be a team that can shift between a number of shapes according to the situations we anticipate coming, according to the players that we've got in form and available. We want to be, ultimately, an aggressive team, we want to be a team that can press, can have more of the ball, can steal the ball higher up [the field]. When you are playing in a back five that isn't as easy as it looks sometimes on paper, so it's been something that we have had in our mind and as I've had the chance to watch Jefferson [Diaz] play that last few weeks and the month that he has been here, you see in him, someone - yes, he's not a fullback by nature, certainly not from an attacking perspective, but he can defend on the outside quite comfortably, he's athletic enough to do so. I wanted to see how we looked in that shape and in some senses good, in some senses we had some difficulties, but it was evidence of the way that we want to be as we move forward. We want to be a team that can adapt and a team that can flex and a team that can change quickly according to the way the opposition play and the situations that present themselves and tonight was one where very quickly you felt that pretty narrow front four of theirs would overwhelm us and moving to a shape where we could defend as a back five has really helped and as a consequence of that we looked more solid, we had some good chances on the counterattack and we also grew into the game in terms of our more organised spells on the ball. There was some really nice combinations between Wil [Trapp], Hassani [Dotson], Joaquin [Pereyra] and Robin [Lod] and that was good to see because that was something that we of course wanted to do and something that was really lacking over the course of that middle part of the season. We do now look much more balanced."

On the different formations the team has played throughout the season...

"Tonight was a really good example of how I want to be as a coach. How I want our squad to look, how adaptable I want us to be. As was demonstrated tonight, we've got lots of tools we can use on the bench, players with various qualities. We've got ways in which we can try and keep the intensity of our defensive work up by making regular changes and I think tonight was - in that sense - a real visible show of what I would like us as an organisation to be. We have really struggled in our ability to make successive changes to really adapt over that period that hopefully is now behind us. I hate continuing to refer to it because we are a very different team now, but I suppose that is probably the last time where I can show the very visible contrast between where we were and what we want to be."

On what he saw from Joaquín Pereyra in his debut...

"He really grew into the game. It was exactly as I had expressed to you guys beforehand as I anticipated with him. He will need to develop from the perspective of how he adapts to the defensive demands of the way in which we play and also the demands that the league puts on players and the physicality of the league; the pace of the game, the relentlessness of the attacking play and how many transitions there are - that's something he is going to have to get accustomed to. But, he showed what a good player he can be on the ball and what a difference-maker he can be. When he was close to some of the other creative and technical players in the middle, then he had some really nice moments. He's obviously got an eye for a final pass and if I could've scripted the night for him it would've been something along those lines where he has a feel for the adaptation he needs to make defensively and intensity-wise. He shows his quality on the ball and is able to play an hour or so and come through unscathed and that's a really good platform for him."

On Kelvin Yeboah's recent form...

"You get a sense of a guy who means business when you have a conversation with him [Kelvin Yeboah]. The first time [Assistant Coach] Dennis [Lawrence] went out to dinner with him when he first arrived, you got a real sense of a guy who is here to make a mark and wants to use this as a stage to show his ability. He hasn't had a home as a club I wouldn't say in a sense. He's been a loaned player for a good chunk of his career and I think he really wants to come here and he wants things to spin around him and he wants to really be the leader of the team, and he's done that tonight and he's done that since he's been here. He has added a lot in the dressing room, he's added a lot of intensity. He's added a lot of healthy challenge which is really good for everyone. When he's needed to step up, he has done. He will be a really good player for us and I couldn't say anything else at this point. I know what he also does behind the scenes, he is very professional, he really pushes himself and you see it on the pitch, he's a big difference maker. So the fact he has been able to make such a mark in such a short period of time is testament to him and all the intent he arrived with."

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