Anthony Markanich scored twice inside the final five minutes to lift Minnesota United to a 3-2 win over St. Louis City SC at Allianz Field on Wednesday night. It was a cruel finish to otherwise fairly even match City was hoping to use to jumpstart their season. Unfortunately, the former St. Louis defender’s brace just poured salt into the wound that is the 2025 season for his former club.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 10th minute of play through Kelvin Yeboah. It was a goal that St. Louis manager Olof Mellberg felt was preventable. “They had very little in the first half”, Mellberg said after the match. “It was quite a soft goal to concede.” The rest of the half was rather uneventful with neither club creating much of a threat on either side of the pitch.
Minnesota opened the second half with a strong push as the hosts looked for a second goal to put City on the ropes. However, St. Louis was able to weather that storm and eventually find their footing by implementing some tactical adjustments. “We wanted to be a little bit more direct,” Mellberg said of the approach in the second half. “Have more bodies in the middle for the crosses and the second balls. I thought that worked well.” The change yielded results as Marcel Hartel got onto the end of a cross form Timo Baumgartl in the 55th minute to level the score.
The equalizer seemed to light a fire in the City squad as the reinvigorated players pushed to take the lead. Just minutes later that effort was rewarded as João Klauss headed a cross from Hartel into the back of the net to give the visitors a 2-1 lead in the 66th minute. St. Louis nearly found a third goal in the 84th minute as substitute Xande Silva linked up with Cedric Teuchert in a quick transition sequence only for the German to fire his shot wide of the net.
That miss left the door open for Minnesota and the hosts capitalized with Markanich netting his first goal in the 85th minute to even the score. “I probably should have saved the goal”, captain Roman Bürki said after the match. “From that angle, I should not usually concede that ball.” The Loons weren’t going to be satisfied with going to extra time. The hosts forced Josh Yaro to make what appeared to be a game saving clearance off the line before Markanich was able to get on the end of the ensuing corner kick to restore Minnesota’s earlier advantage.
St. Louis would make another push to equalize as the match entered stoppage time with Simon Becher forcing Wessel Speel to make an awkward save with his shoulder in the 90th minute and an effort from Hartel missing the mark in the 95th minute before the final whistle sounded. With the 3-2 victory Minnesota advances to the Quarterfinals of the US Open Cup.
Winless Woes Continue
The loss for City makes it just one win in their last 12 matches across all competitions. In recent weeks, several players have noted post game meetings in which players have voiced concerns and perhaps levied criticisms while stressing the locker room remains united. There wasn’t a similar meeting after the club was eliminated according to Bürki. “I don’t think it’s helpful if we are sitting again, all the people together in the locker room and talk about the same things,” he said. “At some point it’s enough talk. We have to bring actions and show a different attitude when you come out for training and come in a game.”
The Swiss shot stopper pointed to the need for more individual accountability after the loss. “We have to be more hungry to win these games,” Bürki said. “Even if we’re up or if you’re down; like Minnesota is a really good team, they are down and they don’t lose focus.”, he continued. “Keep going until the ref whistles and put everything on the field.”
Late goals conceded continue to be a theme of this winless period but Mellberg doesn’t attribute that to a loss of mental focus. “I think there are other explanations,” the gaffer said. “We should still be able to get through these games. There have been quite a few now and we’ve lost points in various ways; too many games now where we’ve had the lead and haven’t been able to push through til the end.”
The manager was also seemingly pleased with the resilience of squad despite the set back. “I don’t think you see a team that looks beaten when we play. So that’s something that we have to continue to do; continue that belief that we can turn things around.”
City will have another quick turn around as they travel to Colorado to face the Rapids on Saturday night.
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