Goalie Dayne St. Clair makes clear that going to penalty kicks with Minnesota United is bad strategy

On the lineup card, and in the defensive lineup, Bongokuhle Hlongwane was once again the right wingback in the Loons’ back five. When Minnesota had the ball, though, Hlongwane’s average position was so far forward that he was usually even ahead of Robin Lod and Joaquín Pereyra, who were nominally the two wide forwards in the Minnesota setup.

It was especially noticeable when Minnesota took goal kicks, with St. Clair usually choosing to bypass Real Salt Lake’s high press and go long, aiming to the right side, where Kelvin Yeboah, Hlongwane and right center-back Carlos Harvey would be stationed.

“Bongi is sort of a bit of a project on that side,” Ramsay said. “He much prefers to play closer to the front. So as we’ve done all season, we’re trying to tailor the roles to the players’ strengths at the moment. Although Bongi is someone that we’re really trying to develop, in all senses, I feel like tonight was a good example of him sort of doing the role in Bongi’s way of doing it, and we have given the freedom to do that.”

Sixty percent of the Loons’ offensive attacks came down that right side, often through Hlongwane — and it created one golden scoring chance in the first half, as Hlongwane and Pereyra combined for a one-two that put Hlongwane in alone with the keeper, though Zac MacMath stonewalled the attempt.

“We felt there would be situations where it would be to our advantage to get Bongi much closer to Kelvin and use Carlos much higher up the pitch, and that sort of applies mostly in those situations at goal kicks,” Ramsay said. “But it also applied in general play. It gave us a real dynamism on the right-hand side, particularly with Carlos in the first half.”

As far as defense, St. Clair was happy to take credit for, um, helping him out. “If you ask him, he probably hears me screaming at him for the majority of the game to make sure he’s in the right spot,” the goalkeeper said. “Credit to him, because he hasn’t complained once about it. I know when I yell at him it gives him a little extra motivation to get those 5 extra yards.”