Loons advance to U.S. Open Cup semifinal with 3-1 win over Chicago Fire

Minnesota United had a charmed path in U S Open Cup with the chance to host the final three matches in St Paul if the Loons kept winning in the national tournament That way looked to add a red carpet after Chicago Fire went down to men in the first half of Tuesday s quarterfinal A red card on Fire defender Omar Gonzalez in the th minute should have been a turning point for MNUFC but it was the -men Fire that directly benefitted at Allianz Field In the th referee Ekaterina Koroleva awarded Chicago a penalty for what she determined was Loons midfielder Wil Trapp fouling Philip Zinkernagel in the box Koroleva didn t go to the monitor for another look at the replay and Brian Gutierrez converted the penalty kick past Dayne St Clair for a - lead Minnesota equalized early in the second half and scored the winning goal early in extra time and an insurance goal late in extra time for a - win over the Fire to send MNUFC to the semifinals The Loons will play the winner of Tuesday night s late quarterfinal between San Jose and Austin FC in California The semifinal will be Sept or with the final Oct Minnesota capitalized on its man advantage early in the second half with substitute Robin Lod s tap-in equalizer on an assist from Anthony Markanich Kelvin Yeboah scored the winner in the th minute and added an insurance goal in the th minute After taking the lead Minnesota reverted to its typical form of holding on for dear life in the final minutes and needed multiple saves from St Clair to keep lead Loons head coach Eric Ramsay made three halftime substitutes in Lod Markanich and Joaquin Pereyra Two of them made an instant impact in the th minute Pereyra and Lod nearly created another goal but Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady who has been in international duty with the U S got his left hand on Lod s shot in the th minute Brady stepped up again with a save on Bongi Hlongwane in the final minute of second-half stoppage time Ramsay can be quick to yank players on a yellow card and he did that in pulling Trapp at the break But the changes were also a decision to revert to selected of the Loons best after Ramsay picked Sang Bin Jeong to start over options such as Pereyra The Loons have only once advanced this far in the Open Cup in their MLS era when they lost the final to Atlanta United Related Articles Loons vs Chicago Fire Keys to match storylines and a prediction Loons ride set pieces again in a - win at FC Dallas U S goalie Matt Freese puts Costa Rica out in cold in Gold Cup thriller Joaquin Pereyra s great assist overshadowed as Loons cough up late lead Loons at New York Red Bulls Keys to the match storylines and a prediction