Tyler Miller saved Chris Cadden on the third round of penalties, and Minnesota United made all five of theirs in a penalty-kick shootout to advance to the MLS is Back quarterfinals following a cagey 1-1 draw against Columbus Crew SC on Tuesday night.
Chase Gasper converted the clinching penalty for Minnesota. Osvaldo Alonso, Jan Gregus, Aaron Schoenfeld and Raheem Edwards also converted their spot kicks for the Loons, who were deserving of passage to the next round after playing most of the match on their terms.
Full PK shootout
In regulation, Lod scored to give his team the early lead and beat a Columbus goalkeeper for the first time all tournament. Zardes answered late with his fourth goal of the tournament on a rebound of his own penalty.
But having nearly denied Zardes, Miller dove correctly to his right to deny Cadden on Columbus' third kick, this time no second attempts permitted.
Goals
Man of the Match presented by Heineken
Tyler Miller. The goalkeeper was unfortunate not to have emerged as the hero in regulation, but he took his second chance.
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: This was one of those matches where the stats failed to tell the story. Columbus led substantially in shots, shots on target, possession and pass completion percentage. Yet it was Minnesota mostly dictating the terms of play, and who had the better quality opportunities.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Minnesota looked comfortable and capable of seeing out the final 15 minutes until Aja's reckless challenge in a part of the penalty area where it also appeared unnecessary.
- YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Porter took Zardes out of the game, replacing him with Fanendo Adi late in the match, despite Zardes being the team's designated PK taker. Could this have been a result of his initial miss against Miller?
Up Next
- CLB: End of tournament.
- MIN: Friday, Aug. 1 vs. San Jose Earthquakes (8 pm ET | ESPN2/Deportes, TSN)
