Minnesota United’s set-piece success continues to be a driving force this season.

The Loons scored two goals — one apiece on a free kick and a long throw-in — to propel its 2-1 win over FC Dallas on Friday at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

The first tied MNUFC with Philadelphia Union for the most set-piece goals in MLS this season and the second gave United the league lead outright, now with 13 this season.

“What makes us good on set plays is what makes us a good team in general,” head coach Eric Ramsay said. “It’s a level of organization, disciple, willingness, real conviction in what we do. I don’t think anything we do is rocket science. I (don’t) think it will take the opposition long to work out what sits behind our success, but stopping it is something very different.

That doesn’t mean the Loons are sitting static.

“I think we have got to a point where we have a lot of variation and we’ve got a lot of ways in which we can spring an element of surprise,” Ramsay continued. “But we’ve also go some ruthless simplicity as well, and you’ve seen a little bit of that (Friday).”

With the road win, MNUFC (10-4-7, 37 points) narrows the gap on first- and second-place San Diego and Vancouver, while Dallas (5-9-6, 21 points) had only one win in 11 home games this season.

The Loons peppered Dallas with set pieces in the first half and broke through in the 35th minute on Carlos Harvey’s header from Julian Gressel’s quality free kick. Harvey just returned from Gold Cup duty with Panama score his first MLS goal of the season.

It had two unsung roles. First, Kelvin Yeboah’s long dribble down the left flank was dangerous and forced an FC Dallas foul just outside the 18-yard box. Then Michael Boxall’s movement attracted more defenders to leave Harvey all alone at the back post.

In the second half, Boxall’s long throw-in was flicked on from Tani Oluwaseyi and finished by Anthony Markanich in the 58th minute. It was nearly a carbon copy of a Loons’ goal in the 2-2 draw with Red Bulls last Saturday; the only difference was Jefferson Diaz had the advancing header between Boxall and Markanich.

Markanich now has four MLS goals this season; the defender hasn’t scored this much since he tallied five in college at Northern Illinois in 2021. It’s a stat Markanich didn’t remember Friday night.

“All the guys get excited for set pieces, especially myself,” Markanich said. “… Everyone wants to flick the ball on. Everyone knows their roles, especially on set pieces. I think that is a big part.”

Dallas put pressure on the Loons in the second half with Logan Farrington’s strong right-foot strike rippled the side netting to make it 2-1 in the 73rd minute. Dallas had a few more dangerous scoring chances in the following minutes but weren’t able to break through.

MNUFC was able to stave off an equalizer, unlike the 90th minute goal they allowed in Red Bulls draw last Saturday.

Ramsay said more active defending at the top of the box was better in Dallas.

“That was a big point that we made over the course of this week: we can’t rely on shape and numbers at the top of the box,” Ramsay said. “We have to show a real desperation to get up to the ball and prevent the ball coming into the box.”

The Loons keeping the ball was a real problem late against Red Bulls, but was better Friday.

“We had slightly more composure on the transition in the late stages of the game and we were able to close the game out in their half,” Ramsay said. “We had some movements where we were able to carry the ball up the pitch well, but that is still an area where we need to make huge strides.”