Kelvin Yeboah Brace Fuels Minnesota United Comeback in 3-2 Win Over Columbus Crew

At the 56-minute mark, the Columbus Crew had 2-0 on the scoreboard, the ball on a string and ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in a party mood. Eighteen minutes later, Anthony Markanich's header was bouncing around the goal frame and into the net, and the party was over. Minnesota United had flipped the whole night with three set pieces and a striker who refused to lose a header.

Minnesota United FC beat the Columbus Crew 3-2 on Saturday night, with Kelvin Yeboah scoring twice and Markanich adding a goal and an assist as the Loons scored three times in 15 minutes to wipe out a two-goal deficit. Columbus held 66 percent of the ball and still went home with nothing, which is the kind of sentence that keeps a coach up at night.

Columbus Owns the First Hour

For long stretches, this was the Crew's game to lose. Malte Amundsen fired over in the 2nd minute, Hugo Picard had a pair of looks in the 4th, and Columbus kept circulating the ball through overloads that pulled Minnesota's back three apart. The opener in the 31st minute was a beauty: per the Crew, Taha Habroune played a give-and-go with Max Arfsten, whose backheel set him free to slot a right-footed finish into the bottom right corner past Drake Callender. Columbus said it was Habroune's first goal of the 2026 campaign.

Minnesota had chances of its own before the break. Tomás Chancalay forced a save from Patrick Schulte in the 6th minute, Morris Duggan had another stopped in the 39th, and Yeboah, from very close range, headed wide from a Joaquín Pereyra cross after a corner in first-half stoppage time. That last one should have been a warning.

The Crew doubled the lead in the 56th minute. Picard had a shot blocked, then a minute later finished from the left side of the six-yard box into the top left corner. According to the Crew and the AP, it was his first career MLS goal, and Columbus added that the Frenchman has five goals in his last five appearances across all competitions.

The Turning Point: Three Minutes Later

The comeback started almost immediately. In the 59th minute, Markanich headed a ball into Yeboah's path and the striker swept a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner. Duggan nearly leveled from a Pereyra cross two minutes later, but Schulte held firm.

Then the set-piece clinic began in earnest. In the 66th minute, Pereyra sent in another cross off a corner and Yeboah rose to bury a header through the middle of the goal for 2-2. Diego Rossi nearly answered for Columbus, rattling the left post from outside the box in the 70th minute, and that miss loomed large.

In the 74th minute, Nectarios Triantis delivered a cross and Markanich met it with a header. The AP described the ball hitting the right post, rolling along the line and caroming in off the left post. It was Minnesota's first lead of the night, and it held through seven minutes of stoppage time, with Callender's lone save coming on a Rudy Camacho header in the 78th minute.

Star Watch

Yeboah was the difference. Three shots, two on target, two goals, and both of them inside a seven-minute window that flipped the match. By Minnesota's count, he now has seven goals in 2026, enough to drag him back into the Golden Boot race.

Markanich, nominally a wide player in Minnesota's 3-4-2-1, delivered the headed assist for the first goal and the winner himself. Pereyra's corner delivery set up the equalizer and gave Columbus fits all night.

For the Crew, Picard was the busiest attacker, with five shots and two on target, and Schulte made four saves. Rossi had three shots and the post. Columbus will look at the box score and wonder how it lost.

In Their Own Words

Columbus' own coverage counted all three Minnesota goals as coming from set pieces, and head coach Henrik Rydström did not dodge it. "I think they created most of their xG on the set pieces," Rydström said, adding that his team "lost too many of those situations in the air."

Defender Steven Moreira summed up the frustration. "I would say they went maybe three times and scored three goals," he said.

Rydström also looked at the bigger picture. "We have a lot of things we need to improve," he said.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Columbus 66 percent, Minnesota 34 percent.
• Passing: Columbus completed 535 passes to Minnesota's 239.
• Shots on target: Minnesota 7, Columbus 4, despite Columbus outshooting the Loons 13-12.
• Corners: Minnesota earned 7 to Columbus' 4.
• Crosses: Minnesota completed 7 of 16; Columbus completed 1 of 13.

What It Means

Minnesota improves to 6-2-3 with 20 points, and the club said the result left it fifth in the Western Conference at the time of writing. It was also the Loons' fourth road win of the season, per the club, and a quick bounce-back after the AP noted their four-match winning streak ended with a 1-0 home loss to LAFC last time out. Club captain Michael Boxall also returned to action as a second-half substitute, entering alongside former Crew Homegrown Wil Trapp in the 75th minute. Austin FC visits Allianz Field next.

Columbus falls to 3-3-5 with 12 points, and the sting goes beyond one result. The Crew arrived having won back-to-back matches for the first time this season, per the AP, and Columbus said it was the third straight MLS match in which the Crew had carried a two-goal lead at home. This time, it did not hold. A trip to Yankee Stadium to face New York City FC is next.

Closing Take

Every sports fan knows the feeling of watching a group project where one person does all the work and somebody else gets the grade. Columbus did the passing, the possession and most of the shooting. Minnesota showed up for the set pieces and walked away with the A. Rydström's team is clearly good with the ball. Until it learns to defend the ball in the air, nights like this will keep happening.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by the Columbus Crew (columbuscrew.com). Match notes from Minnesota United (mnufc.com) and the AP recap via ESPN.