Joaquín Pereyra's Rabona and Kelvin Yeboah's Brace Power Minnesota United Past Earthquakes 5-1

Joaquín Pereyra had the ball in the middle of the box with the San Jose Earthquakes up a goal. A normal person shoots. Pereyra wrapped his left foot behind his standing leg and hit a rabona.

It went in, and Minnesota United never looked back. Pereyra's 10th-minute equalizer kicked off a 5-1 demolition at PayPal Park on Saturday night, with Kelvin Yeboah scoring twice before halftime and Marcus Caldeira and Mauricio González adding second-half goals. The Loons called it their highest-scoring game of 2026, and it was also their first MLS win since a 3-2 victory at Columbus on May 2.

An Early Gift, Then a Rabona

San Jose could not have asked for a better start. In the third minute, Timo Werner let fly from the top of the box, Jefferson Díaz was penalized for a handball, and Werner buried the penalty in the bottom left corner a minute later. According to the Earthquakes, it was his sixth goal of the season and his third conversion from the spot in four tries.

Six minutes later, the night belonged to Minnesota. Anthony Markanich laid the ball off from the left side, and Pereyra spun and produced the rabona, a low left-footed effort aimed at the far post. Goalkeeper Angus Gunn got a touch on it, per San Jose, but not enough. Goal of the season candidates usually come with a little more build-up. This one just showed up.

The rest of the half was a slow-motion collapse for the hosts. Drake Callender stopped Werner in the 13th minute and Ousseni Bouda in the 29th, while Gunn kept out a Yeboah shot from the right side of the box in the 26th. Then the Loons hit twice in four minutes. In the 40th minute, Kyle Duncan galloped forward on the break and found Yeboah at the top of the box, and the striker drove a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner. In the 44th, Owen Gene slipped Yeboah through after a give-and-go with Pereyra, and Yeboah chipped Gunn with his left foot. It was 3-1 at the break.

No Comeback, Just More Damage

San Jose came out with some fight. Bouda forced a diving save from Callender in the 49th minute, and Werner had a shot blocked in the 55th before leaving two minutes later because of an injury, with Darius Johnson replacing him.

The fourth goal ended any thoughts of a rally. In the 65th minute, according to Minnesota, a high press on a San Jose goal kick forced a turnover, and Caldeira, set up by Duncan, roofed a right-footed shot from a tight angle on the right into the top of the net. The Loons said it was the rookie's first MLS goal and his fourth goal contribution in as many games.

Callender kept the door shut with saves on Nick Fernandez in the 78th minute and Preston Judd in the 84th, and in the 86th minute substitute González rose to meet a Pereyra corner from the right side of the six-yard box and headed it into the bottom left corner. Five goals, four different scorers.

The Stars

Yeboah was the engine of the night. He took five shots, put four on target and scored twice, and Minnesota said his opener was his 10th game-winning goal in a Loons uniform.

Pereyra was the artist. Beyond the rabona, he supplied the corner for González's header, his assist in ESPN's data. San Jose also credited him with a secondary assist on Yeboah's chip; ESPN lists Gene alone.

Duncan quietly had the best line of anyone not named Yeboah, with two assists, one on each side of halftime. Callender's five saves were just as important. Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena singled him out afterward: "Their goalkeeper also made some outstanding saves, which made the scoreline a little different than you might have expected."

The Turning Point

The fourth goal. Down 3-1, San Jose had the better of the early second half, and Arena admitted as much. "Down 3-1, I thought we started the second half pretty well and had an opportunity to make it 3-2. We were hanging in there, and then the fourth goal was a killer," he said. When Caldeira scored off the turnover, the comeback window slammed shut.

Defender Daniel Munie pointed to how the visitors did their damage. "We gave up two transition goals where we just kind of got outnumbered," he said.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Dead even at 11 apiece, but Minnesota put seven on target to San Jose's six.
• Saves: Callender made five; Gunn made one.
• Possession: San Jose held 58.6 percent of the ball and completed 397 passes to Minnesota's 258.
• Clearances: San Jose needed 28 to Minnesota's 14.
• Fouls: Nearly identical, 15 by Minnesota and 14 by San Jose.

What It Means

Minnesota improved to 7-7-7 with 28 points, and San Jose's site put the Loons 10th in the Western Conference after the result. More important than the table is the mood. Before Saturday, Minnesota had gone nine straight MLS matches without a win, five draws and four losses dating to May 10. The Loons host Orlando City next Saturday.

San Jose dropped to 10-3-8 with 33 points, still fourth in the West per the club, but the slide is real. The Earthquakes have lost four straight and are winless in six MLS matches since the World Cup break. Munie did not dodge it. "I think all teams go through slumps. Obviously, this one's a little bigger than most," he said, before adding, "It's unfortunate what we're going through right now, but we're in fourth place." Next up is a trip to Houston on Saturday.

Arena summed it up bluntly: "No complaints; Minnesota was the better team."

Closing Take

Every great heist movie has the moment when the crew realizes the plan is working better than anyone dared hope. For Minnesota, that moment was a rabona in the 10th minute. A team that had not won a league game in more than three months suddenly played like it had the vault codes, and San Jose, fourth place and all, spent the night chasing shadows.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and additional details as reported by sjearthquakes.com; additional details from mnufc.com.