Minnesota United will try to snap a four-match winless streak when it takes the pitch for the first time in two months Wednesday night when it travels to Western Conference cellar-dweller Sporting Kansas City.
The Loons (6-5-4, 22 points) begin the post-World Cup break in eighth place and in playoff position despite their 0-2-2 swoon. Minnesota’s last game was May 23, when the Loons rallied for a dramatic 1-1 draw against visiting Real Salt Lake as 21-year-old Mauricio Gonzalez scored his first MLS goal in the 93rd minute with a header off a Joaquin Pereyra pass.
Minnesota played without forward Kelvin Yeboah, who leads the team with eight goals, in that contest. Yeboah was suspended for what the team called “an internal matter” but will be back for Wednesday’s match.
“It’s something that’s behind us, and I try to focus on Kansas City,” Yeboah told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Loons head coach Cameron Knowles said his team must build on its first half following the long break.
“We can’t discount what happened the first 15 games,” Knowles said. “It’s not a complete restart. It is not a preseason. It’s a midseason break, and we’re taking it back up. We have a body of work that has put us in decent position in the league, and it’s give us something to build on.”
Kansas City (3-10-2, 11 points), last in the Western Conference and nine points back of the LA Galaxy for the final playoff spot, got a head start on the Loons after the break, losing 3-2 at rival St. Louis City on Thursday.
Sporting KC fell behind 2-0 in the first 36 minutes but rallied to tie it on a Dejan Joveljic goal in the 76th minute. Ethan Barlow was penalized for a handball in the penalty box eight minutes later, and Eduard Lowen converted the ensuing penalty kick for the game-winner for St. Louis.
“It’s a shame that we lost,” said Kansas City midfielder Manu Garcia, who assisted on Joveljic’s goal. “I just hope we can start winning these games when they are tight.”
Sporting KC is 11-8-5 all-time in the regular season against Minnesota but the Loons are 4-0-1 in the last five meetings, including a 3-0 win on Oct. 4, 2025, in Saint Paul, Minn., the teams’ most recent meeting.
–Field Level Media
