Rapids fall to Minnesota United behind Kelvin Yeboah brace

Slowness in the wrong moments and a touch of misfortune doomed the Colorado Rapids against Minnesota United on Saturday night.

It’s no surprise that the Rapids are better at home than they are on the road, but a somewhat troubling trend is emerging. In two straight games on the road against bottom-half Western Conference teams, the Rapids looked flat when it counted only to pick it up too late. Most recent, the Rapids lost to Minnesota, 3-0.

Minnesota struck first in the 16th minute when midfielder Robin Lod pinged a ball out of the air on goal, but forward Kelvin Yeboah got his head on it to redirect it to the near post. Though it almost looked like Yeboah was trying to get out of the way of the blast, Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen had already dove toward the far post. Wrongfooted, he had to watch as the redirection trickled across the goal line at the near post.

Yeboah, who joined Minnesota in August and already had five goals in as many games before kickoff Saturday, tallied his second brace with his new club and brought his total to seven goals in six games.

His first on the night took a bit of fortune, but his second was almost entirely on the Rapids’ defense, which watched as Minnesota carved it up with neat passing until Joaquín Pereyra found Yeboah on a diagonal run. Yeboah, with defender Keegan Rosenberry all over him, tucked it away in the 47th minute.