Joaquin Pereyra scored in the 73rd minute and Dayne St. Clair made four saves as Minnesota United moved into second place in the Western Conference with a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
It was the ninth clean sheet of the season for St. Clair. Minnesota (13-6-8, 47 points), which moved to within two points of first-place San Diego FC, completed the first series sweep of the Sounders in team history. The Loons won first meeting at Seattle, 3-2, on June 1, the only home loss of the season for the Sounders.
Stefan Frei, making his return after missing eight games after suffering a head injury in a July 6 match against Columbus, made two saves for Seattle (11-7-8, 41 points). The Sounders had a seven-game MLS unbeaten streak (4-0-3) snapped and 10 games (7-0-3) in all competitions. Seattle still holds a 12-3-2 series edge against the Loons in MLS play.
Seattle dominated possession, 70 to 30 percent in a lackluster first half that saw just 11 shot attempts and three shots on goal. The Sounders attempted five headers off crosses in the half, with their best chance coming in the 19th minute when Jesus Ferreira hit Osaze De Rosario cutting in alone into the middle of the box. However, De Rosario’s header went high over the goal.
Pereyra gave the Loons the lead midway through the second half with their 17th set piece goal of the season. Joseph Rosales passed the ball to Pereyra outside the right edge at the top of the penalty box. Pereyra then curled a left-footed shot over Tani Oluwaseyi and Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas jostling in front of the six-yard box and past Frei for his third goal.
Seattle had several good scoring chances down the stretch. St. Clair made a diving two-hand stop of an Alex Roldan right-footed shot from outside the box. Two minutes later, Carlos Harvey blocked a Yeimar Gomez shot by the goal line. St. Clair also deflected Gomez’s header from the edge of the six-yard box in the 92nd minute to seal the win.
–Field Level Media
