Minnesota United braved gray skies and rain at Allianz Field tonight, hosting St. Louis CITY SC in the U.S. Open Cup’s Round of 16. The evening saw a much more first-team-oriented lineup than the Loons’ Round of 32 showing against Louisville, with the exception of MNUFC2’s Wessel Speel starting in goal. Julian Gressel and Anthony Markanich filled the wingback roles, allowing Bongokuhle Hlongwane to take to the attack with Kelvin Yeboah and Sang Bin Jeong. On the St. Louis side, only three changes were made from the starting lineup that fell to Minnesota on Saturday, putting João Klauss, Chris Durkin, and Jannes Horn into the mix.
Minnesota started out with their low-possession norm, making waves with the ball when they had it and operating seamlessly in off-the-ball movement. On the wing, Gressel organized the backline in true captain fashion in only his third start with the club. Markanich was always ready on the left, and Nicolás Romero, Morris Duggan, and Carlos Harvey formed a back three that consistently shut St. Louis out. Speel was on top of it in the first 45, snatching the ball from the air in the 29th and consistently commanding the wall from the net. Up front, Jeong and Hlongwane never gave the opposition a break, relentless in their runs and advancing quickly in Minnesota’s lethal transition play.
The Loons got off to an early start, with Kelvin Yeboah kicking off scoring in the 10th minute off a fantastic cross from Julian Gressel. He only needed a single touch to redirect the ball smoothly into the back of the St. Louis net. Between an impenetrable defense and some fantastic movement from Hoyeon Jung across the pitch, Minnesota dominated the rest of the half.
The half closed on a Minnesota lead, and with more regular-season fixtures ahead, Coach Ramsay shook things up on the backline in the second with DJ Taylor and Michael Boxall coming in for Romero and Carlos Harvey at the break. CITY also made a defensive switch with Akil Watts coming in for Horn. Despite a dominant first half, the tables quickly turned in the second 45. Speel knocked the ball out of the way late in the 54th, but couldn’t quite collect the rebound, leading to Timo Baumgartl firing it back into the box in a tight cross for Marcel Hartel to redirect into the net. Just 10 minutes later, Klauss put the ball in the net with a decisive header off Hartel’s cross, effectively doubling St. Louis’ score.
The goal came sandwiched between a pair of substitutions on each side. Gressel and Hlongwane made way for JoaquÃn Pereyra and Robin Lod in the 63rd minute, and the 66th saw Tomáš Ostrák and Joey Zalinsky in for Conrad Wallem and Jake Girdwood-Reich. Despite promising shots from Lod, Gene, and Yeboah, things just weren’t lining up. Tani Oluwaseyi took to the pitch in Jung’s place while CITY put in Simon Becher and Xande Silva.
The Loons trailed due to a combination of Bürki’s stellar goalkeeping and missed chances, and things looked grim from the Wonderwall with 15 minutes left on the clock.
But this is the beautiful game, and a lot can happen in a very short time. Minnesota proved that tonight when Pereyra and Markanich executed some beautiful combination play not once, but twice just three minutes apart. The 85th minute saw Pereyra play a long ball up to an open Markanich, who took the initiative against his former club. Instead of redirecting to Oluwaseyi or Yeboah, he broke forward to score an electric late goal and level the playing field once again.
Markanich decided he wasn’t done yet; he made it a brace in the 88th with a header off Pereyra’s corner, which reclaimed the lead for the Loons in a dramatic comeback that advanced Minnesota to the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals. The goal marked his fourth of the year, putting him in the club’s top three scorers across all competitions. The draw for the next phase of the tournament will take place tomorrow, determining the Loons’ opponents in what is now an entirely MLS-dominated field. It’s shaping up to be a busy summer of soccer for the Black and Blue.
