Minnesota United overcomes CF Montreal with its first and only goal of the season

Minnesota United and CF Montreal played the Loons’ home opener in subfreezing temperatures Saturday at Allianz Field, an evening befitting teams from the league’s two coldest locales. And while it took more than an hour, Kelvin Yeboah finally got Minnesota’s offense unfrozen for 2025, scoring a 69th-minute goal to give the Loons their first three points of the year with a 1-0 victory.

The goal came from soccer’s version of the fullback dive: a long throw-in. Central defender Michael Boxall, the team’s choice for all offensive throw-ins, launched a long ball into the center of the penalty area. Forward Tani Oluwaseyi got a head to the ball, popping it over the defense, and Yeboah sneaked in behind to deflect the ball past keeper Jonathan Sirois.

The game unfolded the way that both teams attacked: slowly, cautiously, almost reluctantly. Neither side was willing to risk players far forward to try to press the other side’s defense, and it resulted in a game in which both sides were waiting for a defensive mistake, or a set piece — or a long throw-in, like the one that Boxall and Minnesota finally capitalized on.

Sometimes, with both sides trying to prevent counterattacks, it results in a game that’s missing any kind of attacks. It was the Loons, though, who took advantage of one of their opportunities when the time came.

“I think you watch our game against LA, it’s similar to this game as well — I feel like that’s probably going to be a trend with the way we play,” Oluwaseyi said.

Manager Eric Ramsay switched his side this season to play with two forwards and three midfielders, rather than last season’s setup, when the numbers in those two areas were usually reversed. So far, the tactical change has worked wonders for the team’s defense, which put the wraps on LAFC last week and held Montreal to virtually nothing this week. Forwards Oluwaseyi and Yeboah, though, have yet to figure out how to make it work offensively, other than managing to force a defensive mistake — or combining on a set piece, as they did for the goal.

Ramsay indicated postgame he was satisfied.

“I would say that we controlled the game without having the absolute lion’s share of the ball, but we were well in control throughout,” he said.

In the 62nd minute, Minnesota was awarded a penalty kick, as Montreal defender Luca Petrasso took down Yeboah on a breakaway on goal. Referee Sergii Demianchuk initially awarded a penalty; he eventually reversed his decision after a VAR check — which took nearly five minutes, a less-than-ideal cooling break in 20-degree temperatures. Just two minutes after the reversal, though, Yeboah had the ball in the net anyway.

159: Minutes it took the Loons to score a goal at the beginning of the 2025 season. It was the second-longest season-opening scoreless streak in the team’s MLS history, behind only 2021, when Minnesota scored just once in its first three games — and opened the year with four consecutive losses.

Morris Duggan, making just the second start of his young career, spent most of the night matched up on Montreal forward Prince Owusu, who scored nine goals last season for Toronto. The 24-year-old left center back was more than equal to the task — so much so that Boxall, playing in the middle of the Minnesota defense, was occasionally able to step forward and try to move the ball down the field for the Loons, as if he was a central midfielder.

Minnesota travels to San Jose to take on the new-look Earthquakes, whose offseason makeover included hiring legendary MLS coach Bruce Arena, trading for former Real Salt Lake forward Chicho Arango and signing free-agent striker Josef Martínez. The Quakes, the worst team in the league last season, have opened 2025 with two wins in two games.