When a club makes a headline signing, the ideal scenario is for the player to have a big moment in his debut.
The Sounders gave Minnesota’s Kelvin Yeboah his spotlight Saturday. The reported $3 million transfer from Italy scored twice, but it wasn’t enough to change the Loons’ fate against Seattle.
Albert Rusnák continued his dream season as a designated player, sending a laser from deep in the 75th minute past Loons keeper Dayne St. Clair to give the Sounders a 3-2 win in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Seattle (11-8-7) will turn its focus to the U.S. Open Cup. The Sounders will host Los Angeles FC in the semifinals at Starfire Stadium on Wednesday. The sides met in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals earlier this month, with LAFC collecting its third win of the season against Seattle.
Saturday’s opening goal started with Obed Vargas threading a pass for Jordan Morris to get behind Minnesota’s defense. Morris beat St. Clair to get Seattle on the board in the 11th minute. The goal moved Morris ahead of club original Fredy Montero for second on Seattle’s all-time scoring list with 80 career goals.
VAR alerted referee Guido Gonzales, Jr. to check a collision between Yeboah and Yeimar in the 21st minute. It looked like both players high kicked the ball in the penalty area, Yeboah dropping to the ground in apparent pain. After review, Gonzales ruled it was a kicking foul on Yeimar and signaled penalty.
Yeboah called for the ball and used a deceptive pause to knock a right-footed equalizer past Sounders keeper Stefan Frei in the 24th minute. He mimed sipping tea as part of his celebration.
The Ghanaian and Yeimar were caught by the Apple TV broadcast debating about the play as they walked off the field for halftime. Both showed each other their legs ultimately separating in agreed disagreement.
Jackson Ragen mashed a powerful header into the side netting in the 28th minute to regain Seattle’s lead. The goal was off an assist from Rusnák. The latter has 12 overall in MLS regular-season matches this year.
It’s Ragen’s second goal in league competitions this season.
Yeboah sipped more imaginary tea after his equalizer in the 56th minute. He slipped between Ragen and Yeimar and sent the ball over Frei, who left his line in hopes of making a save.
Seattle’s young designated player, Pedro de la Vega, subbed on in the 64th minute for Paul Rothrock. De la Vega suffered a groin injury earlier this month and has missed the bulk of the MLS season due to hamstring injuries
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The Argentine did have a debut like Yeboah. He scored from the spot in a 2-1 loss on the road to LAFC in the season opener.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer didn’t make any lineup changes from the past two Leagues Cup matches.
Minnesota (9-11-6) was knocked out of the tournament in group play, losing to Seattle 2-0.