Minnesota United’s two best players – Tani Oluwaseyi and Robin Lod – scored goals on Saturday, but it was the few previous plays that made the difference in their 3-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City at Allianz Field.
Sang Bin Jeong’s pressing action caused a Kansas City upset before Oluwaseyi’s first-half goal, and Devin Padelford’s long throw-in preceded Oluwaseyi’s assist for Lod’s second-half goal.
Padelford’s move was noticed. Dayne St. Clair ran from his goal to praise the left back. Coach Eric Ramsay also showed appreciation.
MNUFC (8-3-4, 28 points) got back into the win column after dropping points in their last two games and moved into a tie for second place in the Western Conference. They held last-place Kansas City (2-9-5, 11 points) down. Sporting has lost seven consecutive games and hasn’t won in 10.
Kervin Arriaga also did some important work, but he did it to score the goal in the 83rd minute. His run on an overlapping run put him in a great position to hit a shot into the side netting.
Oluwaseyi’s seventh goal of the season extended his team’s lead. Bongi Hlongwane, who delivered a wonderful cross to Oluwaseyu, scored his first assist of the season.
The Loons had three shots on goal in the first half. Kansas City fell short in the first 45 minutes.
Johnny Russell scored for Kansas City in the 86th minute.
Briefly
The U.S. women’s national team will face South Korea in a friendly at Allianz Field on Tuesday night. The USWNT beat South Korea 4-0 on Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado. New coach Emma Hayes won her debut match. Mallory Swanson and Tierna Davidson each scored two goals. … Caden Clark was eliminated from the starting eleven less than an hour before kickoff with a toe injury. He was scheduled to make another appearance at right back. DJ Taylor, who replaced Clark, had to leave with a leg injury in the first half. Joseph Rosales came off the bench. … MNUFC will have eight players for the national team next week, including Dayne St. Clair, Robin Lod, Teemu Pukki, Joseph Rosales, Kervin Arriaga, Carlos Harvey, Alejandro Bran and Zarek Valentin. Everyone will miss next Saturday’s match against FC Dallas. … Rosales received his fifth yellow card in the second half. He will be suspended for Saturday’s game against FC Dallas.
