Last night in Kansas City, KS Minnesota United had a mixed night to say the least. MNUFC dominated possession, controlled the pace of play, outshot and out XG'd Sporting Kansas City. But ultimately the Loons fell to SKC for the first time since late 2023, breaking a five match unbeaten streak for Minnesota against SKC.
Attacking struggles are nothing new for the Loons as over the ten years the club has played in MLS they have on and off struggled with scoring. Under Eric Ramsay the club scored 56 goals during the 2025 season playing an extremely defensive style of football. This season MNUFC has only scored 19 goals and are currently on target for a 40 goal season, a massive decline from 2025.
"You look at Kelvin's [Yeboah] chance that comes off the post, and the moments we had in the game on both sides of it were really good," manager Cameron Knowles said. "Obviously, to concede and to go behind, then coming in down, I think we all felt really good about being able to get ourselves back in the game and being able to create enough. Frustrating. Frustrating to then concede again. We knew they'd be so dangerous in transition, and certainly that's where their best moments came from."
Wednesday night's lack of scoring for Minnesota wasn't for a lack of effort as the Loons threw 16 shots at SKC, ten of which went on target. Combined with 34 touches in the opposition eighteen, every stat said the Loons should have put up a few goals on the night. Sometimes the post got in the way, something most evident with a Kelvin Yeboah smash off the post in the 15th minute. Morris Duggan followed up with a huge strike from outside the box, but just couldn't get past the goalkeeper.
"You love to see them [Kelvin Yeboah and Morris Duggan’s chances] score. I think we talk a lot about creating chances, and you probably get more frustrated if you're not creating chances. We've had chances. We've had some really good moments in that game. I think there are certainly moments as well where we can be a little more selfless in front of goal. It's tough. You're the bounce of the ball away and the width of the post away from a goal going in the net."
Kansas City goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland, who took over the starting role from John Pulskamp, had an astounding night between the sticks. Nine saves on ten shots on target led to an average rating of 8.37 (between Fotmob, OneFootball, and SofaScore) summarising the night very well. When the Loons were able to break through the SKC defence, Cleveland was right there and saved every shot from open play. The only goal he allowed was a header coming off a free kick.
“You have to give them [Sporting Kansas City] a lot of credit, especially towards the end of the game. We were pushing really hard, we were getting numbers forwards, we were getting things in the box and they were absolutely resolute. You can see how much it meant for them. They have not had a lot of results at home this season and they took everything that we threw at them and sustained a lot of pressure throughout that second half.”
There is not much time for Minnesota United to reflect on the loss as the Loons have just two days between the loss in Kansas and their next match. And the next match will be a huge test for MNUFC as they face Vancouver Whitecaps at Allianz Field in St. Paul. Last time the two clubs met the Whitecaps smashed Minnesota 6–0 in Vancouver at BC Place. Currently the Loons are on a three match winless skid against the 'Caps, with their last win against VWFC coming in October 2024.
