Following an impressive 3-1 bounce-back victory over the Houston Dynamo, Minnesota United heads east to play the team with the best home record in MLS when they face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night in Harrison, N.J.
Minnesota (9-4-6, 33 points), in sole possession of third place in the Western Conference, is 3-1-2 in its last six matches but the loss was a big one, 4-2, at home to first-place San Diego FC (11-5-3, 36 points) on June 14. The Loons crumbled in the second-half of that contest, blowing a 2-1 lead and conceding three consecutive goals.
But Minnesota rebounded with a lopsided win over Houston on Wednesday as winger Bongokuhle Hlongwane scored a brace and Robin Lod also scored over an 11-minute period midway through the second half.
“I think it was a really good performance, and I would say one of the biggest results we had this year because of the stage of the season we’re in (and) the absentees we’ve got,” Loons head coach Eric Ramsay said. “It was really big, and it keeps us right in the race for the top.”
They also did it with starting goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, the MLS leader in clean sheets with eight, and leading goal scorer Tani Oluwaseyi both missing. The duo are playing for Canada in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
New York (8-7-4, 28 points) is seventh in the Eastern Conference. The Red Bulls are 7-1-1 at Sports Illustrated Stadium, the best home mark in the league. The lone home loss was to D.C. United, 2-1, on April 19. Since then, New York has won four in a row, outscoring its opponents, 14-2, during that span.
The Red Bulls come in off a 1-1 draw at Toronto FC on Wednesday. Mohammed Sofo tapped in a rebound of a Lewis Morgan shot in the 20th minute to give New York the early lead but Toronto took control after that and tied it in the 51st minute on a header by Theo Corbeanu.
The Red Bulls played without leading goal scorer Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (10 goals), who is battling an abdominal injury. Morgan, the team’s leading goal scorer (13) in 2024, made his first start since undergoing left knee surgery on March 11, but left the game in the 24th minute with a left leg injury.
“It is not a knee issue from Lewis,” New York head coach Sandro Schwarz said. “It’s a small muscle situation … so we have to check him, and then we will see how long does it take.”
–Field Level Media
