Goals by Carlos Harvey and Anthony Markanich staked Minnesota United to an early lead and they held off a furious late rally to beat FC Dallas 2-1 on Friday in Frisco, Texas.
The Loons (10-4-7, 37 points) improved to 5-2-4 on the road this season, have won two of their past three matches and sit third in the Western Conference. Dallas (5-9-6, 21 points), meanwhile, is 12th in the West and continues a nightmare campaign in which it is just 1-6-3 over its past 10 MLS outings and 1-7-2 on its home pitch.
Both teams had early scoring chances. The Loons’ Kelvin Yeboah and Harvey forced saves from Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes in the fifth minute and 10th minute, respectively, before the Toros countered with a shot on goal by Logan Farrington in the 15th minute that was stopped by Minnesota keeper Dayne St. Clair.
Minnesota kept up the pressure as Joaquin Pereyra tested Paes in the 24th minute, but the Dallas keeper was up to the task.
But Paes could do nothing to stop the Loons from scoring in the 35th minute. Working on a free kick after a foul by the Toros’ Shaq Moore on Yeboah outside the box on the left, Julian Gressel lobbed a pass to the back post and right onto the head of Harvey, who pushed the ball past Paes and off a Dallas defender to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.
Markanich added to the Loons’ lead in the 58th minute, waiting at the back post to head home an assist off the back of Tani Oluwaseyi after a long throw-in into the box by Michael Boxall.
Farrington cut into the deficit in the 73rd minute, taking a long, curving entry pass from Petar Musa and taking the time to steady the ball before uncorking a right-footed shot past St. Clair and into the right corner of the net.
The goal seemed to rouse the Toros, as they chased the equalizer with aplomb. Patrickson Delgado continued the rally by clanging a shot off the crossbar in the 76th minute, and Musa was turned away by St. Clair with a headed shot two minutes later.
–Field Level Media
