They say good things come in pairs, and that applies to the Team of the Matchday. Following their 1-0 home-opener win over CF Montréal this weekend, a pair of Loons caught the eye of the league, with Kelvin Yeboah and Michael Boxall earning their spot on the second ToTM of the season. A close scoreline didn’t necessarily reflect the performance put in by the home side, and these two were a huge part of the dominant performance from the Black and Blue.
Our club captain showed that he hasn’t lost a step in his 15th season as a professional, leading the Loons to a masterclass in defending. Montréal was kept to just three shots all game, without registering a single strike on target. Their measly 0.2 expected goals felt high after watching the match, a credit to the disciplined, compact performance from Boxall and the rest of his back line.
At the other end of the pitch, Kelvin Yeboah was his usual self, making dangerous runs and keeping the visitors honest. He responded to a disallowed penalty by just scoring the game-winner from open play in the 69th minute, finishing off a long throw-in from Mr. Boxall himself. Some fantastic awareness allowed Yeboah to pounce on Tani Oluwaseyi’s flicked header, and a deft touch was enough to beat Jonathan Sirois to find the back of the net.
With three points deservedly under their belts, the Loons will be heading back to California to take on San Jose on Matchday 3. They’ll need both Boxall and Yeboah to keep up the good work if they want to come away with a positive result, as Bruce Arena’s men have started the season with two straight wins and currently sit atop the Western Conference. Well done, lads; now, on to the next one!
F: Brian White (VAN), Tai Baribo (PHI), Luis Suárez (MIA)
M: Wilfried Zaha (CLT), Emil Forsberg (RBNY), César Araújo (ORL), Telasco Segovia (MIA)
D: Ryan Hollingshead (LAFC), Michael Boxall (MIN), Mohamed Farsi (CLB)
GK: Chris Brady (CHI)
Coach: Bradley Carnell (PHI)
Bench: James Pantemis (POR), Alex Freeman (ORL), Jeppe Tverskov (SD), Quinn Sullivan (PHI), David Da Costa (POR), Kelvin Yeboah (MIN), Rafael Navarro (VAN), Petar Musa (DAL), Hugo Cuypers (CHI)
