Pereyra brace leads Loons to 3–1 drubbing of LAFC

Entering Sunday night Los Angeles FC were the heavy favourites to win and eliminate Minnesota United from playoff contention. After a slow and prodding first twenty five minutes, the Loons scored twice before the half to take a 2–0 lead heading into the break. Joaquín Pereyra added a third goal and secured himself a brace with less than ten minutes to play in the match. A late goal for LAFC wasn't enough to mount a comeback and the Loons took a huge win in their final away match of the season.

Playing their third match in eight days Minnesota United continued to have a familiar look. Cameron Knowles made only two changes to his eleven from their win over Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night. In were Joaquín Pereyra and Tomás Chancalay replacing AZ Jackson and Bongi Hlongwane.

The first 25 minutes of the match were slow and prodding with only a single shot being taken in that time period. Part of that was due to an extended pause in play following Aaron Long getting a gash to his forehead, requiring the LAFC training staff to come out. But in that 25 minutes the Loons controlled possession, almost as if Los Angeles FC wanted to concede possession to the Loons.

Just before the clock hit the half hour mark, Minnesota made LAFC pay for allowing them to control the match. Cherrion Valerius sent a long throw into the box, which was headed back towards the edge of the box. Joaquín Pereyra stepped up and scored on a one touch shot to put Minnesota up 1–0.

Less than 10 minutes later the Loons added their second of the night. Joaquín Pereyra sent a ball into the box that Kelvin Yeboah got his head on and redirected the ball into the centre of the box. Cherrion Valerius found himself in the perfect spot and put a shot off the volley into the upper half of goal to double Minnesota's lead.

Second half play started off as the first half had ended, very chippy and foul filled on both sides. Frustration showed on the face and body of Los Angeles FC from the start of the half. That brewed up even more after Mauricio González nearly scored a third goal for the Loons just five minutes into the second half of football. González's chance was the last really good chance MNUFC had to score until the 70th minute of play.

As the hour mark ticked by, both sides were shown yellow cards within just two minutes of each other. The first went to Eddie Segura after after taking down Tomás Chancalay near the sideline. Jefferson Díaz was shown one two minutes later after a hard foul near the centre line. While the Loons didn't score on Yeboah's chance in the 70th minute they did add a third goal.

Mauricio González was locked down by the LAFC defence near the side of the box and slipped a pass back to Pereyra who smashed it home to put Minnesota up three goals with less than ten minutes to play.

The Loons were unable to hold on to the clean sheet as LAFC's Sergio Vasquez scored in the 90th minute. Vasquez's late goal and the short time remaining wasn't enough for the hosts to mount a comeback.

Minnesota United returns home for one final match to close out the season. Next Saturday night the Loons play host to 3rd place in the West San Jose Earthquakes. San Jose has already punched their ticket into the playoffs, but haven't quite secured a top four playoff spot. For MNUFC next week is another win-or-die Decision Day match against the Earthquakes. Should Minnesota take another massive win they could go as high as seventh place in the Western Conference, but are realistically fighting to host the wild card match.