Drake Callender made two saves for his second shutout of the season as Minnesota United snapped a two-match losing streak with a 0-0 draw against the Seattle Sounders on Sunday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
It was a much-needed bounce-back point for Minnesota (1-2-2, 5 points), which had been outscored 9-1 in back-to-back losses at Nashville and Vancouver entering this match. The Loons were also coming off the most lopsided loss in their MLS history, 6-0 to the Whitecaps.
Andrew Thomas finished with two saves for Seattle (3-1-1, 10 points), which moved even with San Diego in points for fourth place in the Western Conference standings. It was the fourth clean sheet in five MLS matches this season for Thomas.
Minnesota, which had allowed a Western Conference-worst 11 goals coming into the contest, held the Sounders without an official shot on goal in the first half, although Cristian Roldan did have a right-footed shot from the top of the box that grazed the top of the crossbar in the 29th minute.
Meanwhile, Kelvin Yeboah had two good scoring chances for Minnesota in the opening half. His first came on a spinning right-footed shot from the middle of the box that trickled wide of the right post.
Yeboah also had a right-footed try from the middle of the box off a Joaquin Pereyra crossing pass in the fifth minute of stoppage time that Thomas dove and saved with his extended right arm. That was the only shot on goal for either team in the first half.
Midfielder James Rodriguez, the Golden Boot winner in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for his native Colombia, spiced things up on a chilly mid-30s afternoon when he entered to cheers to make his much-anticipated home debut in the 77th minute for the Loons. Rodriguez set up Anthony Markanich for a scoring chance three minutes later with a nice through pass, but Markanich’s looping left-footed shot from the left side of the box landed on top of the goal.
–Field Level Media
