Mason Toye scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season, the latter on a stunning strike well beyond the penalty area, and visiting Minnesota United pulled off a surprising 2-0 victory over Supporters’ Shield leaders LAFC on Sunday night.
The effort was Toye’s second multi-goal performance of the season in just his fourth start. He’s now only two goals behind team leader Darwin Quintero following a victory that lifted Minnesota (13-9-6, 45 points) up to third place in the Western Conference standings.
Vito Mannone made eight saves to preserve his 10th shutout this season for the Loons, who became just the second away team ever to win at Banc of California Stadium.
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They beat the runaway Western Conference leaders five days after falling to defending MLS Cup champions Atlanta United 2-1 in the U.S. Open Cup final.
It was the second time LAFC (19-4-5, 62 points) have been held scoreless at home, on a night when their leading scorer Carlos Vela was held out with a hamstring injury picked up in last week’s 3-3 draw against the LA Galaxy.
LAFC fell to 11-1-2 at home this season while seeing its overall six-game unbeaten streak end.
Toye put Minnesota in front in the 25th minute. Starting from the left side of midfield, he connected on a give-and-go with Jan Gregus to play into the right side of the penalty area. Then from a tight angle, he curled a left-footed shot around goalie Pablo Sisniega and inside the far left post.
The 20-year-old doubled the lead only four minutes later with a stunning effort that nearly completely silenced the home crowd.
After Quintero worked hard to win a contested loose ball, Toye found himself in space a bit beyond the penalty area. Quintero continued his run into the box, which bought Toye the time to unfurl a blistering 25-yard, left-footed strike that raced beyond Sisniega’s dive and into the top right corner.
Mannone’s most important saves came after halftime. In the 59th minute, he easily got his body behind Lee Nguyen‘s curling free kick from a dangerous position a couple of yards outside the box. Then he denied Adrien Perez twice, on a dive to his right in the 76th minute and then a point-blank stop in second-half stoppage time.