Minnesota United FC vs. NYCFC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 31
TCF Bank Stadium — Minneapolis
Sept. 29 — 8 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)
Minnesota United FC try to make it two wins in a row at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday when they host a New York City FC squad that just clinched a berth in the MLS Cup playoffs.
The Loons are coming off a wild 3-2 win over the Portland Timbers, while NYCFC ended a six-match winless streak with a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night.
- Loons CEO: Passing grades for Lagos, Heath
- You Make The Call: Was Bob deserving of a red?
- Spotlight: Maxi Moralez vs. Chicago Fire
Minnesota United FC
Minnesota (10-16-3) raced out to a three-goal lead and held on for dear life to beat the Timbers at home Saturday night.
Darwin Quintero set up Romario Ibarra for a pair of goals in the opening 36 minutes and Michael Boxall added a third goal two minutes before the break to give the Loons a 3-0 lead. The Timbers roared back on goals by Alvas Powell and Sebastian Blanco before Fernando Bob was sent off on a straight red card one minute from full time.
“We made it difficult for ourselves,” Minnesota head coach Adrian Heath said. “But when I look at the overall game, I think it would have been tragic if we had not won, especially with the chances that we created in the first half.”
- Suspended: M - Fernando Bob, Maximiliano
- Suspended after next caution: M - Miguel Ibarra
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: M - Sam Cronin (cervicogenic dysfunction), M - Kevin Molino (torn left ACL), M - Ethan Finlay (torn ACL); QUESTIONABLE: D - Jerome Thiesson (right ankle injury), F - Romario Ibarra (hamstring injury)
Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Bobby Shuttleworth — Eric Miller, Michael Boxall, Brent Kallman, Francisco Calvo — Ibson, Collen Warner — Miguel Ibarra, Darwin Quintero, Rasmus Schuller — Angelo Rodriguez
New York City FC
NYCFC (15-8-8) snapped a six-match winless streak and booked a playoff berth to boot in a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
David Villa set up Alex Ring’s opening goal two minutes into the second half and then scored his 12th goal of the season four minutes later off a layoff from Maxi Moralez to send NYCFC to the postseason for the third consecutive year.
‘It's very important for us to win the game for our fans, for our players because you have more confidence when you are able to win the game,” NYCFC manager Dome Torrent said. “Especially, today in the second half because in the first 30 minutes we didn't play fast, we played very slowly when we had the ball. We improved a lot in the second half, especially in the first half we defend deep and in the second half we were compact and we were able to recover many balls, and create many chances.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: None
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: M - Yangel Herrera (ankle injury), D - Cedric Hountondji (hamstring injury)
Projected Starting XI
(4-3-1-2, right to left)
GK: Sean Johnson — Anton Tinnerholm, Sebastian Ibeagha, Alex Callens, Ben Sweat — Alex Ring, James Sands, Ebenezer Ofori — Maxi Moralez — Valentin Castellanos, Jo Inge Berget
All-Time Series
- This is the second all-time meeting, with New York City FC defeating Minnesota United, 3-1, at Yankee Stadium on June 29, 2017
Officials
Referee: Juan Carlos Rivero
Assistant Referees: Andrew Bigelow, Peter Balciunas
4th Official: Silviu Petrescu
VAR: Jon Freemon
