Dayne St. Clair made four saves for his third consecutive clean sheet as Minnesota United and Real Salt Lake battled to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday in Sandy, Utah.
The tie, combined with later results on Wednesday, allowed Minnesota to clinch a playoff berth.
It was the sixth clean sheet of the season in 24 starts for St. Clair, who missed a chunk of the season while with the Canadian team at Copa America.
The draw kept eighth-place Minnesota United (13-12-7, 46 points) one point ahead of the Portland Timbers in the Western Conference, which would give the Loons home-field advantage for a first-round MLS Cup playoff match.
Zac MacMath finished with three saves for fourth-place Real Salt Lake (14-7-11, 53 points), who drew for their third straight match. It also marked the fourth straight draw between Minnesota United and Salt Lake.
RSL, who had allowed 11 goals in their previous four matches, held the Loons without a shot on goal and just three shot attempts in a scoreless first half. Minnesota’s lone scoring chance came in the 28th minute when Carlos Harvey broke down the right wing and booted a right-footed shot into the right side of the net.
Meanwhile, St. Clair made three saves before intermission, including a diving deflection of a Cristian Arango right-footed shot from the right side of the box that was headed for the far left post and an Arango one-timer from the middle edge of the of the 6-yard box off a Dominik Marczuk pass.
Marczuk and Arango both had good scoring chances early in the second half. Marczuk broke in free on the right side of the box on a two-on-one counter in the 51st minute, but his right-footed shot skipped just wide of the far left post.
Arango, who finished with a match-high five shot attempts, attempted a right-footed try from the middle of the box in the 70th minute that St. Clair knocked over the crossbar.
Minnesota United had a chance in the 87th minute when Kelvin Yeboah, who had scored seven goals in his previous six matches, broke in along the left side of the box and attempted a right-footed shot that was deflected wide of the net.
Things got chippy in the third minute of second-half stoppage time when RSL’s Brayan Vera jabbed Minnesota defender Michael Boxall in the ribs while taking his position in the box on a throw-in. A video replay also determined Vera spit at Boxall, and he was awarded a red card for violent conduct, but the Loons were unable to get a shot off in the last six minutes with the man advantage.
–Field Level Media
