Dayne St. Clair made six saves and Jan Gregus and Mender Garcia scored goals to lead Minnesota United to a 2-0 victory over host New York City FC on Sunday night.
It was the sixth road victory in 13 matches away from home for the Loons (8-8-7, 31 points), who moved into a tie with Vancouver for eighth place in the Western Conference.
Luis Barraza finished with two saves for NYCFC (5-9-11, 26 points).
Gregus broke a scoreless deadlock in the 53rd minute when, left alone from about 12 yards above the box, he blasted a right-footed shot into the top right corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
Monsef Bakrar drilled in a right-footed shot from outside the box in the 64th minute that would have tied the match, but it was quickly disallowed when Bakrar was caught offside.
NYCFC’s best scoring chance came in the 76th minute when St. Clair had to make a diving deflection of a right-footed try from the left side of the box from Santiago Rodriguez. The rebound went to Julian Fernandez, but his right-footed shot at an open goal went into the side of the net.
Garcia sealed the victory with an insurance goal in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, blasting a right-footed shot from the right side of the box.
New York City FC controlled most of the action in a scoreless first half, attempting nine shots, including two on goal.
Bakrar had a trio of excellent scoring chances, including one in the 21st minute on a through ball from Maximiliano Moralez that sent him into the middle of the box alone. However, Bakrar’s right-footed shot flew over St. Clair and the crossbar.
Rodriguez also had a good scoring chance in the 24th minute when he blasted a right-footed shot from the left side of the box that St. Clair had to make a diving save on.
Minnesota United’s best chance came in the 18th minute when Teemu Pukki fed Bongokuhle Hlongwane on the left edge of the 6-yard box, but Hlongwane’s shot sailed over the crossbar.
Hlongwane had to leave the match in the 39th minute with a left leg injury suffered on a hard challenge from James Sands. Sands earned a yellow card for his actions.
–Field Level Media
