With Kelvin Yeboah effectively suspended from Saturday’s match, Minnesota United turned to other forwards in its 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field.
Sans Yeboah, who has posted eight goals in 1,193 minutes, the Loons’ first called on reserve forward Momo Dieng to start and then brought on subs Mauricio Gonzalez and Marcus Caldeira, who made his MLS debut.
And it was Gonzalez’s goal in the 93rd minute that helped MNUFC in the tie.
Yeboah was held out of the match due to an “internal matter” within the club, head coach Cameron Knowles told the Pioneer Press on Friday. Knowles did not provide future details.
Yeboah was being reprimanded for an incident in Wednesday’s training session, but the exact circumstances are not yet known. The Italian/Ghanaian forward was not on the field during Friday’s training session, but was inside the National Sports Center in Blaine. United had a scheduled off day on Thursday.
Yeboah’s disciplinary issue is not considered to be one that will linger after MLS restarts play post-FIFA World Cup in late July. Minnesota next plays Kansas City on July 22.
Dieng was scoreless 146 MLS minutes before Saturday. The 6-foot-3 Sengalese nearly had two goals in the first half, but both were called back for being offside.
Gonzalez subbed in during the 77th minute and scored on a strong header in the 93rd; it was the Colombian’s first MLS goal.
“Guys step up,” Knowles said Saturday. “We talk a lot about how these guys prove themselves in training every day, even though they might not see the time on the field, often you are waiting for that opportunity to come. … For Mo to come in and take that opportunity, I think he earned a lot of trust from his teammates and you could see it in the way they believed in him on the field.”
The 6-foot-2 Gonzalez, who had played 62 minutes across five sub appearances before Saturday, provides power, decision-making, change of pace and ability to draw defenders in and then combine with others, Knowles said.
“He’s only going to continue to get better,” Knowles said.
