Loons scrap to a scoreless draw with first-place Vancouver

Minnesota United’s first match against Vancouver Whitecaps this season was the most-lopsided loss in club history.

Saturday’s rematch after the 6-0 thumping in British Columbia in March was nowhere near as eventful nor historic.

But it was also far from horrible as MNUFC and Vancouver played to a scoreless draw at Allianz Field.

MNUFC (6-6-5, 23 points) winless run grows, now stretching six matches, but this one feels different against the first-place Vancouver (10-3-3, 33 points).

In an effort to jumpstart a struggling offense, the Loons started two strikers together — Kelvin Yeboah and Momo Dieng — for only the second time this season. The first occasion was a 1-0 loss to LAFC in April, when Yeboah had 0.7 expected goals and Dieng had 0.0.

Dieng was more dangerous than Yeboah and he earned the opportunity to stay on the field for the full 90 minutes as Yeboah subbed out in the 68th minute. Dieng had four shots, three on target, to one for Yeboah.

In the first half, both teams had six shots, two on target, but nothing too threatening for goalkeepers Yohei Takaoka and Drake Callender.