Soccer Recap 10: Loons Defeat Old Foes, Atlanta Next, A Look Around MLS, and Columbus In CONCACAF

 

Minnesota Soccer Spot 

Monday, April 29th

Loons Defeat Old Foes, Atlanta Next, A Look Around MLS, and Columbus In CONCACAF 

*Disclaimer: My takes are not thoughtful, and they are NOT based in knowledge.* 

Loons Defeat Old Foes

The Loons win again! This past Saturday, Minnesota United took on their "rival" Sporting Kansas City in front of another sold-out crowd at Allianz Field. In the 2-1 match, Minnesota emerged victorious, getting the better of a team who has otherwise had their number for quite some time. 

Before getting into the analysis of this match, I have a bit of a disclaimer: I had a different vantage point than I normally do at home matches. Instead of scanning tickets and catching glimpses of the first half on the screens around me, I was in the midst of the chaos. I brought six of my metaphorical children to the match, three of them attending their first Minnesota United match ever, and two of them only their second. Our group was in the middle of the Wonderwall, enjoying the insanity. Also, shoutout to my friend's mom, who gave some of us giant yellow cards that were raised any time anyone fell. 

Me and my youngest child, Annabelle

The wall goes crazy

My failed BeReal. Most of them didn't even know I was taking it :(. Also Jens' hair is rocking here

Here's how both teams lined up going into this match:

MNUFC's Lineup

Sporting's Lineup

For Minnesota United, head coach Eric Ramsay made yet another tactical change. He laid out the players in a 5-3-2 formation, something that I have personally never witnessed with this club. Kervin Arriaga, who normally plays as more of a defensive central midfielder, was moved into a center back role along with Michael Boxall and Devin Padelford. Rosales and Taylor maintain their fullback positions. The central midfield had a different look with Trapp playing more centrally and Lod & Fragapane playing a bit more wide. It has been a long time since I've seen this team play with two strikers, but Saturday saw both Tani Oluwaseyi and Teemu Pukki start up top. 

For Sporting Kansas City, my lineup prediction was almost spot on, which never happens. (Props to me). The only thing I hadn't accounted for originally was the suspension of left back Jake Davis due to yellow card accumulation. Kaden Pierre slid into his vacated spot. 

The Loons came out of the gate flying. In the first minute, Oluwaseyi tries to bring the ball down. The ball takes a deflection that falls kindly to Fragapane. He then lays the ball off for Rosales, who hits it first time. The Kansas City defender makes a play on the ball, kicking it over the end line, leading to the Loons' first corner kick of the evening. In the second minute of play, Rosales serves an out-swinging ball into the box, finding the head of Robin Lod. Lod squares the ball with his head across the box, and Boxall taps it in. Whenever Michael Boxall scores, it is always a special moment, especially within the walls of Allianz Field. Not long after in the seventh minute, Sporting Kansas City had their first real opportunity of the match. A world-class ball from Leibold falls to Agada at the top of the box, who skies the shot. It could've easily been 1-1 at that moment if it weren't for the poor strike. In the thirteenth minute, the Loons would have another opportunity. A great switchball from Wil Trapp finds the foot of DJ Taylor, who smashes it into the side netting. 

This is where things get a bit interesting and controversial: In the twenty-fifth minute, Robin Lod provides a defensive split ball for either Pukki or Rosales. In the moment, there seems to be a bit of confusion as to who was going to get on the end of the pass. Rosales takes over, and crosses the ball, finding Oluwaseyi wide open for the tap-in. It's the youngster's fourth goal of the season. But is he offside?

In my opinion, he very well might be. Before getting into that, let's talk about the offside rule because apparently, people online don't understand it. At this moment, when Rosales squares that ball, Oluwaseyi doesn't necessarily need to be even with the defender because Rosales is even with the second-to-last defender. Oluwaseyi has to be even with the ball. That's the rule. The call on the field is onside. I would argue that with the angle we and the referees have, he is not clearly and obviously ahead of the ball, so I am okay with this goal standing. I do understand Sporting's frustration with this call but at the end of the day, MLS doesn't have the technology to clearly and obviously determine calls like that. I do have to make it a point to say that Peter Vermes pulling out a laptop to show a goal that he as a professional coach should know is not clearly and obviously offside is embarrassing. Regardless of that, Sporting Kansas City continues to struggle, which I will get into later. 

Can't wait for the memes to be made about this one

Sporting Kansas City would strike back. In the thirty-fifth minute, Agada finds the back of the net, but it is called offside. Just a minute or so later, a ball is served over the midfield of Minnesota United, finding the feet of Daniel Salloi, who squares it to Pullido who isn't going to miss from that distance. And just like that Sporting Kansas City is back into the game. 

The second half was the definition of sloppy soccer (I won't say football. I'm a true patriot) for both teams. In the fifty-ninth minute, Bongi Hlongwane, who came in at the start of the second half, takes a shot that is easily saved by Tim Melia. In the last ten or so minutes, Sporting Kansas City had a slew of set pieces. Other than one save straight at St. Clair, the set pieces didn't provide much opportunity for the visitors. A shot from Caden Clark is once again easily saved, and with that, the game ends 2-1. Both teams looked disorganized and disjointed, especially in the second half. It seemed as though the referee had it out for Wil Trapp a bit (a couple of extremely soft fouls were called against him). Overall, not the prettiest of matches, but they got the job done. And my friends got to drink overly expensive beer, so it was a good night for all involved. (Other than my friend smacking me in the face with his scarf. Not the highlight of my life). 

As for Sporting Kansas City, I'm not sure where they go from here. Other than a dominant win over Toronto earlier this season, they have struggled to maintain leads. More often than not, they have dropped points from winning or tying positions. Daniel Salloi, who has been a force of nature for Kansas City over the last three or so years, has yet to score a goal this season. This weekend was another prime example of that. Johnny Russell was practically invisible during this match, only being noticed when the fans at Allianz Field booed him. With ten games played (one more than Minnesota, Vancouver, Houston, St. Louis, Dallas, and Seattle), they sit at tenth in the West. Peter Vermes can make commentary on the referees all he wants, but at the end of the day, they have some deeper issues than that to figure out. 

MNUFC VS SKC Highlights

Atlanta United Next:

This weekend, the Loons will travel to Atlanta, Georgia to take on Atlanta United. It'll be the first matchup with these two teams since the U.S. Open Cup final in 2019, which saw Atlanta victorious in a 2-1 match. The Loons have faced Atlanta a total of four times in all competitions with Atlanta winning three of them and Minnesota winning once. The Loons will look to rewrite history, while Atlanta will look to secure their first win since the end of March. 

Here's how I predict both teams will start: 

MNUFC Prediction

Atlanta Prediction

I think Minnesota won't put out the same formation they did last week. They may have gotten the goals, but in my opinion, both Oluwaseyi and Pukki looked a bit lost in this formation. I think Ramsay will resort back to the 4-3-3 formation. With another goal under Oluwaseyi's belt, I am a strong advocate for him to start. I also believe having Robin Lod starting at the wing position is more beneficial for the attack. The defensive line would remain the same with Arriaga holding a more midfield role with the ability to drop back when needed. As far as Atlanta United is concerned, they've been pretty consistent with their lineups as of late. The attack failed to generate results against the Chicago Fire this weekend, so I think there may be a little shakeup, but other than that, it will be similar to previous lineups. 

Ideally, with Minnesota's road record being as good as it is, I have faith we can go in there and leave with three points. Realistically, as someone who normally has little to no faith in this team (love them), Atlanta United is dangerous, especially going into their territory. With the likes of Giakoumakis and Almada, their attack is extremely dangerous. Our defense has had some shaky moments this season, and Atlanta will look to capitalize. Minnesota will have to remain organized defensively for the full ninety minutes. With that being said, I don't think our record against them matters at this point. It has been almost five years since the last time Minnesota and Atlanta United have faced off. Not only are both teams completely different, but the league is completely different as well. So, when talking about strategy, predictions, etc, the Loons having a losing record feels irrelevant. As far as strategy goes, someone must be marking Thiago Almada at all times, and we cannot give him nor Giakoumakis an inch because they will take a yard. Minnesota will also look to capitalize on set-piece opportunities, especially with how shaky Guzman is (in my opinion) specifically. Minnesota has scored goals off of corner kicks for two games in a row, signaling this to be a newer strength of theirs. 

A Look Around MLS:

Here's a summary of everything that happened this past weekend:

Austin FC VS L.A. Galaxy:

This was the only other match I was able to watch this past weekend. Going into this match, anyone who has been paying attention to the league would assume the Galaxy would have a lot to say against this Austin FC side. That ended up not being the case. Austin, who initially started the year on a poor note, has pulled it together over the last few weeks. Their positive results continued in this match, winning 2-0 against one of the best in the West. The first half saw little to no opportunities for the Galaxy, with Austin being the better team. L.A. had more opportunities in the second half, but Austin's defensive strategy was well thought-out and executed. Josh Wolff deserves a lot of props for the way that game was managed. 

Austin FC Galaxy Highlights

Goals:

Jonathan Rodríguez Goal (Portland Timbers): An absolute banger in this Western Conference Clash between the Portland Timbers and LAFC. Portland's new designated player is providing what Portland is looking for attack-wise. 

Timmy Tillman Goal (LAFC): Another goal from that Western Conference match. The young American continues to cook for LAFC. 

Bouanga Stoppage Time Winner (LAFC): As you can tell, this game was wild. 

Hany Mukhtar BANGER (Nashville SC): HOLY MOLY!

Messi Second Goal (Miami): What a great ball to find the feet of Messi. Great team goal. 

Benjamin Cremaschi GOAL (Miami): THE YOUNG AMERICAN IS BACK FROM INJURY RAHHHHH

Results:

Columbus In CONCACAF:

This past week, the Columbus Crew took on Monterrey in Ohio. The Crew found themselves victorious in a 2-1 match. This match was even across the board, with both teams having a fair number of chances. Monterrey was the first of the two teams to have a legitimate chance: In the sixth minute, a shot from former MLS player Brandon Vasquez forces Patrick Schulte into a smart save. In the eighteenth minute, a shot from Cucho outside of the box forces the Monterrey keeper into an equally smart save. Columbus was able to find the breakthrough in the twenty-fifth minute: A great one-two combination between Cucho and Russell-Rowe led to Cucho finding the back of the net. Monterrey found the equalizer in the fifty-eighth minute. Columbus would respond in the seventy-second minute off a set piece. Diego Rossi serves a great ball into the box. The ball is flicked on, finding the head of Russell-Rowe, who finds the back of the net. Overall, it was a good result for the Crew, who will be traveling to Mexico this Wednesday for the second leg. 

Columbus CONCACAF Highlights

That's all for this week!