After letting leads slip, Loons pull through in PKs to advance in U.S. Open Cup
Minnesota United lost leads of 2-0 and 3-2 late in Tuesday's game — but won its U.S. Open Cup round of 32 game on penalty kicks over Philadelphia at Allianz Field.
The Loons finally prevailed in eight rounds of penalty kicks after goalkeeper Clint Irwin stopped all but one and Union keeper Andre Blake stopped all but two.
The Loons also heard "Wonderwall" played after they won at home for the first time this season.
Philadelphia defender Kai Wagner hadn't scored since October 2021, but he forced extra time in stoppage time's 104th minute Tuesday and then forced penalty kicks with a free kick bent around the Loons' wall in the 120th minute.
Then Wagner missed a penalty kick that ended the game after Irwin dived to his left and stopped the ball.
Six weeks earlier, the Loons allowed the tying goal on the game's final kick of a 1-1 draw with Vancouver at Allianz Field.
Second-half substitute Bongokuhle Hlongwane scored two goals — including one in extra time — and created a third that gave his team a 3-2 lead.
Hlongwane's second goal came in the 103rd minute after he redirected Joseph Rosales' cross into the six-yard box past Blake.
After a scoreless first half, the Loons scored twice in five minutes starting with Hlongwane's 68th-minute goal. Rosales' goal was his first as a Loon — and Hlongwane did much of the work on the left wing.
That 2-0 lead didn't last. Christopher Donovan scored in the 68th minute and Wagner four minutes into stoppage time as the Union tied the score 2-2.
Hlongwane scored in the first 15-minute segment in extra time.
Hlongwane scored the game's first goal on his flicked-on header on the run inside the 18-yard box. He turned DJ Taylor's left-footed cross into a lead in that 68th minute.
Five minutes later, he kept possession on the left wing, muscling his way past a defender on his way toward Blake. He then laid the ball back to Rosales inside the 18-yard box.
Blake no had chance on Rosales' sweeping left-foot shot in the 73rd minute for his first goal as a Loon.
Donovan's one-timer goal in the 78th minute brought Philadelphia within 2-1 before Wagner scored the equalizer after the first 90 minutes had expired.
Loons coach Adrian Heath modified the starting 11 both because it was his team's second game in three days and because both striker Luis Amarilla and central midfielder Kervin Arriaga weren't in the earlier game's starting 11.
Amarilla left Saturday's 3-2 loss at Vancouver in the 29th minute because of what Heath called a groin issue that also kept him out of Tuesday's game.
Arriaga missed the previous two games because of a hamstring injury and was designated as a substitute on Tuesday. Heath changed his formation as well, opting for a 3-5-2 or a 5-3-2 depending on whether the Loons were attacking or defending.
That allowed the team's two outside backs — Kemar Lawrence on the left and Taylor on the right — to attack more up the field from those fullback wing positions.
The Loons made five changes to Tuesday's 11 from their game at Vancouver three days earlier. Irwin started for Dayne St. Clair, veteran Brent Kallman started in a three-man backline with Micky Tapias and Michael Boxall. Two strikers — Sang Bin Jeong and Mender García — started together out front while Rosales and Hassani Dotson played alongside Robin Lod.
The teams played a scoreless first 45 minutes and more. Heath made his first substitution coming out of halftime, sending captain Wil Trapp into the game for Lod. In the 63rd minute, Jeong and García came out of the game and Franco Fragapane and Hlongwane entered.
Philadelphia made seven changes from its 1-0 victory over New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
