In acquiring the Ghanaian-Italian striker during the summer transfer window, Minnesota United knew the addition of Kelvin Yeboah would bolster the Loons’ attacking third. But, after another brilliant performance on Saturday evening helped lead the boys in Black and Blue to a 3-0 takedown of a resurgent, playoff-bound Colorado Rapids side, it is safe to say that the striker has surpassed, if not shattered, any of the expectations the squad had prior to his arrival in Minnesota. And, once again, Yeboah’s efforts have netted himself a spot in the MLS Team of the Matchday lineup for matchday number 35.
Yeboah would come away with a brace in a win that translated to three more pivotal points in the push to secure a playoff spot, with room to rise further up the pecking order with Decision Day on the horizon. The first of his two scores would come in the 16th minute of the match, when he was able to get a head on Robin Lod’s shot on goal, redirecting the ball for a beauty that Colorado keeper Zack Steffen could only watch helplessly as it found the net. Not only would that goal make him only the fourth player in MLS history to score in five of his first six matches, it would earn him MLS writer Matt Doyle’s “somewhat” coveted “Face of the Week” award.
Yeboah’s second of the evening would come just two minutes into the second half, as the Loons’ other new DP playmaker, Joaquín Pereyra would register his first assist as a member of MNUFC, finding Yeboah in the middle of the box, who fired off a line drive that would catch Steffen watching without much time to react.
As Head Coach Eric Ramsay would allude to in his postgame presser, Yeboah’s importance to the Loons’ late-season surge cannot be overstated. “He's certainly been what we really hoped he would be, a real reference point number 9, someone that really pushes the culture, and I think we've now got a really good thing going with how it feels day to day. The energy and the level of commitment from the group. And he's played a really big part in taking that to the next level.”
Congratulations, Kelvin! We look forward to you tipping back a few more cups of tea en route to the playoffs.
MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday no.35:
F: Josef Martínez (MTL), Alonso Martínez (NYC), Kelvin Yeboah (MIN)
M: Cedric Teuchert (STL), Maxi Moralez (NYC), Lewis O’Brien (LAFC), Ramiro Enrique (ORL)
D: Rodrigo Schlegel (ORL), Yeimar (SEA), Tayvon Gray (NYC)
GK: Aljaž Ivačič (NE)
Coach: Nick Cushing (NYC)
Bench: Kristijan Kahlina (CLT), Caden Clark (MTL), Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Lionel Messi (MIA), Christian Benteke (DC), Cucho Hernández (CLB), Brandon Bye (NE)
