Soccer Recap 7: Loons Tie At Home, Houston Next, A Look Around MLS, CONCACAF Champions Cup, and the USWNT

 

Minnesota Soccer Spot 

Monday, April 8th

Loons Tie At Home, Houston Next, A Look Around MLS, CONCACAF Champions Cup, and the USWNT

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

Real Salt Lake Recap

Late-game heroics have been a theme to start the season, and it continued to be a theme over the weekend: After having trailed for most of the match, Minnesota United found the equalizing goal, splitting the points with the visitors. While disappointing on paper, the Loons will take the point against a thriving Real Salt Lake. 

Eric Ramsay continued with his 4-3-3 formation, while RSL's Pablo Mastroeni moved some players around from the previous week. Contradicting what I had predicted, Bongi Hlongwane got the start on the left side, and Real Salt Lake started Chicho Arango in the nine position. Arango replaced the position of Anderson Julio, who did not appear against the Loons. Gomez took the place of Hidalgo, Crooks started at the ten, and Diego Luna got the start on the left side. 

Loons Lineup

RSL Lineup

For the first thirty minutes of the match, the Loons were a bit shell-shocked. RSL was dominating the attack. A defensive mistake from Padelford almost led to the breakthrough for Chicho Arango, forcing Dayne into a smart save. After a slew of half-chances from Real Salt Lake, Arango found the opening goal. Gomez got around Rosales, Dotson lost his mark, and Arango was not going to miss from a few yards out. 

After the opening goal, the Loons were able to find a rhythm. Pukki had a half chance, and Sang Bin hit the post (Bongi was not offside on that play, by the way. Terrible call). The Loons carried that momentum into the second half. Other than Gomez (RSL) hitting the post in the sixty-second minute, Real Salt Lake lacked many legit chances in the second forty-five. In the eighty-fourth minute, Tani Oluwaseyi and Franco Fragapane came onto the pitch. The introduction of Oluwaseyi brought life to the attack. With the help of some Robin Lod sauce, Tani was able to find the back of the net with about ten minutes left. 

At that moment, it felt like the Loons had a chance to complete the comeback. A horrible call ended the momentum when Rosales was sent off due to a second yellow card. The second yellow card was the result of some shoving before a corner kick. This is a normal occurrence, and unless the contact was of a violent nature, you rarely see a card. It was, for lack of better wording, stupid. Rosales barely touched the RSL defender. It did not appear he said anything that would warrant a yellow for dissent either. Overall, it was a poor call from the referee, and it took the wind out of the Loons' sails. The match would end in a 1-1 draw. 

Houston Next

The Loons will play host to a Western Conference rival two weeks in a row. Next week, Minnesota United will take on the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo, who have never won a match at Allianz Field, will look to change that MLS fact. The Loons will look to start a winning streak at home.

Instead of making predictions, from here on out, I'm going to give my opinion as to how both teams should line up. Here are my lineups:

As far as Minnesota United is concerned, there is a lot to unpack. Attacking and Midfield-wise, I wouldn't change much. In my opinion, Bongi's starting appearance this past weekend was uneventful. I don't believe he has earned that position back. I would also argue that Clark's introduction to the game brought life to the attack. Those two things would support my argument in having Caden Clark start over Hlongwane. It is also important to mention that Bongi's key contributions have come when he's made appearances off of the bench. For now, it seems the role that best suits him would be to appear as a super-sub. Defensively, I have no idea what is happening. Tapias is still injured, and now with the Rosales suspension, we will be missing half of our defensive starters. Normally, Valentin would take the position of either missing fullback, but he is also injured. I know fans will not prefer Eriksson to get the start, but I don't see any other options. Padelford is almost forced into the fullback position (a position I feel he succeeds more at), leaving us with limited options. 

Houston will be without Mexican midfielder Héctor Herrera, who has been out with an injury. Going into last week's match, both Coco Carrasquilla and Sebastian Ferreira were listed as questionable. Carrasquilla did play the full ninety while Ferreira didn't make the eighteen. Based on that, I would assume Houston would keep Bassi in the nine role with the option to bring Segal off the bench and slide him into the ten. Their midfield has been consistent with both Greguš and Artur maintaining starting positions, as well as their fullbacks. 

In my opinion, this is a must-win match for the Loons. Last season, Minnesota United struggled to pick up results at home. They'll want to reverse that pattern during the 2024 season, and since they're playing a team that has never beaten them at Allianz Field, this will be the optimal time to do that. Houston will also be missing key pieces in Sebastián Ferreira and Hector Héctor Herrera, and the Loons will look to take advantage of it. After a disappointing result against Chicago, Houston will be looking to pick up at least a tie on the road. 

A Look Around MLS

I worked this past weekend scanning tickets at Allianz Field. I was unable to catch many matches this past weekend due to being preoccupied with doing God's work, but I have some thoughts I'd like to share. 

El Tráfico

I was extremely bummed to miss the first rendition of the Los Angeles Derby 2024 edition, but after watching the highlights, it's probably good I missed it. Nobody likes a complainer, they say. And I know that nothing would've stopped me from complaining about this one. 

It's not a penalty. I don't care what LAFC fans have to say, and I certainly don't want to hear the whole "it wasn't clear and obvious that he didn't touch him" argument. Bouanga drags his foot, initiates contact, and goes down incredibly easily. I would also argue that the defender probably didn't touch Bouanga even with the contact initiated (that is harder to tell). This call was absolutely atrocious, and if I'm as pissed off as I am about this call, I cannot imagine how pissed off Galaxy fans are. That penalty call led to the game-winning goal for LAFC. 

I hope Bouanga steps on a lego

Timbers VS Sporting:

Never again in my life do I want to hear about how boring ties are, because this match was anything but boring. The Portland Timbers, who had lost their previous three matches, traveled to Kansas City to take on Sporting Kansas City this past Sunday. Coming off of a massive victory in Toronto from the previous weekend, SKC was looking to pick up three points at home. At halftime, it seemed they had done just that: They were up by three goals, and it didn't seem as though Portland were going to find a way back into the match. But the SKC collapse at home happened again. History repeated itself. Sporting had the chance to go up 4-0 on the visitors, but a massive penalty (and potential hat trick) miss from Agada caused the tides to shift. From then on, it was almost all Portland. The Timbers were able to crawl out of the depths of hell and earn a point on the road. Honestly, I was hoping they'd come back to win it. It would've been good for the plot. But as an MNUFC supporter, the tie will help us in the standings. 

Goals/Highlights:

Ruidiaz BANGER: Raúl Ruidíaz finds the back of the net in Seattle's 5-0 victory over Montreal. What a BANGER! 

Brian Gutiérrez Goal: The Chicago Fire homegrown finds the back of the net in the Fire's victory over Houston. This goal is just pure athleticism. Also HE'S AMERICAN RAHHHH

Aidan Morris Goal (3:40): ANOTHER AMERICAN BANGER RAHHHHHH

Eric Miller First Goal in MLS!: Former Loon Eric Miller scores his first MLS goal!

Biro BANGER (4:18): An absolute banger to get Austin back into their match

Driussi WINS IT (6:20): Driussi wins it for Austin in the last kick of the match! This whole highlight reel is worth watching, honestly. What a match. 

Louro PK SAVE (3:14): Louro, who got his first MLS start this past weekend, makes a big PK save against Lewis Morgan. What a moment. 

Frankie Amaya Goal (1:49): Frankie Amaya scores a beauty against his former club. FC Cincinnati fans are not happy, but I am. 

CONCACAF Champions Cup

This past week, three MLS teams faced Mexican opposition in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Needless to say, it was a poor showing for MLS. The New England Revolution got absolutely rocked at home by Club America, Inter Miami lost to Monerrey, and Columbus escaped with a tie at home to Tigres. The only thing that would allow MLS to get back into this tournament would be a Messi Miracle, so we'll see what happens this week when the teams play in leg two of their perspective matches. 

I know it's not accurate, but man, I wish it were.

USWNT Victorious Over Japan

This past Saturday, the USWNT was victorious in the She Believes Cup Semifinal against Japan. In front of a record-breaking crowd, the women were able to come from behind to win it. 

The match didn't start as the team would've hoped: Not even a minute in, the USWNT found themselves down 1-0. Nighswonger gets caught flat-footed position-wise, and Kiko Seike finds the back of the net. From then on, it was almost all United States: Mal Swanson had her shot saved off the line, robbing her of her first goal for the U.S. since her injury. It wasn't until the twenty-first minute that youngster Jaedyn Shaw found the equalizer. 

The second half was completely dominated by the United States women. A shot from Trinity Rodman is saved by the Japanese goalkeeper. Horan shoots the ball wide after a turnover at the top of the eighteen. Finally, in the seventy-sixth minute, Sophia Smith is tripped up on the line, and the USWNT are given a penalty, one everyone knows Horan would put away. The women are victorious 2-1. 

USWNT Highlights

That's all for this week!