Marcus Caldeira scored the go-ahead goal in the 86th minute as Minnesota United rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to snap St. Louis City’s record 21-game unbeaten streak with a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Caldeira controlled Joaquin Pereyra’s long outlet pass near midfield and then dribbled down the middle of the field and blasted a left-footed shot from the top of the box into the right corner of the net for his seventh goal of the season.
Kelvin Yeboah had a goal and an assist and Aziel Jackson also scored a goal for Minnesota United (8-12-10, 34 points), which snapped an eight-match winless streak with just its third home win (3-5-7) of the season. Drake Callender finished with four saves for the Loons, who moved into 10th place in the Western Conference.
Rafael Navarro had a goal and an assist, Jeong Sang-bin also scored a goal and Roman Burki made seven saves for St. Louis (14-7-9, 51 points), which suffered its first defeat (across all competitions) since a 2-0 loss on May 3 at Austin FC, a span of 167 days.
St. Louis took a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute on Navarro’s eighth goal and fourth goal in four games. Callender stopped a Simon Becher shot from the center of the box but Navarro scooped up the rebound on the left side of the box and then roofed a left-footed shot into the center of the net. It marked the 18th time in 20 games that the Loons conceded the first goal in a game.
St. Louis extended the lead to 2-0 six minutes later on Sang-bin’s third goal, a right-footed shot from the edge of the six-yard box off Navarro’s cross from the right corner.
Minnesota cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second half on Jackson’s right-footed shot off a Yeboah cross.
The Loons tied the match, 2-2, in the 68th minute on Yeboah’s 17th goal, a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the left corner, setting the stage for Caldeira’s game-winner.
–Field Level Media
