MNUFC Falls 3-0 to LA Galaxy
October 16, 2017 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release
CARSON, Calif.- On a sweltering Southern California night, Minnesota United met the Los Angeles Galaxy for the reverse fixture of Minnesota's earlier loss at TCF Bank Stadium. Despite winning the possession battle, the Loons couldn't overcome a slow start and two goals conceded in the first 23 minutes, ultimately falling to LA 3-0.
The match opened with Minnesota United in the same 4-4-2 formation the team experimented with last week against Sporting Kansas City and playing high on the pitch. With the Galaxy's woeful home record, it was clear MNUFC was optimistic about forcing an early mistake and turning it into a goal.
And early on, the side's aggression led to a corner kick in the fourth minute and a decent look for defender Michael Boxall after midfielder Ethan Finlay tapped the ball over to the far post. But Boxall skied the ball over the goal. The Loons funneled most of their early action down the right wing and through forward Abu Danladi in the hopes that Danladi's speed would give him the edge.
Throwing that weight forward, though, was always going to leave Minnesota with a defensive disadvantage. In the 11th minute, the Galaxy took advantage of a quick restart off a free kick along the right wing to catch the MNUFC defense napping. Midfielder Romain Alessandrini pushed the ball in towards the box from the right side, juked a defender, then drilled the ball into the net on the far post for a 1-0 LA Galaxy lead.
"At this level," said Head Coach Adrian Heath, "with the quality they have in their forward areas, you can't give them opportunities, you can't relax in your marking, you can't switch off, which is what we did for the first one with the quick free kick. And we paid the price for it."
Los Angeles would double the lead 12 minutes later on the counterattack when Alessandrini's lofted pass caught Jonathan dos Santos' head. The ball sailed high and over goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth's outstretched hand, striking the crossbar and then the ground. At first, it was not called a goal and play continued. At the next stoppage, though, the referee reversed his decision after video review showed the ball landing inside the goal after bouncing down off the crossbar, giving the Galaxy a 2-0 lead.
For the last 20 minutes of the first half, Minnesota tried to rally, but they stayed flat. Although they ended up winning the possession battle due to a lot of work in the middle of the pitch, they couldn't find the solution for the Galaxy's defense. They spent most of their time moving the ball around well outside of the box and when they could find a seam towards the goal, the connection just wasn't there.
Midfielder Ethan Finlay had a few opportunities in front of goal, but consistently found himself striking the ball directly at goalkeeper Clement Diop for easy saves. In the final five minutes, the Loons began to look more threatening, but nothing would ultimately come of it before the halftime break, which saw the Galaxy up 2-0.
MNUFC began the second half by inserting midfielder Miguel Ibarra for Kevin Molino and midfielder Collen Warner for Collin Martin, no doubt with an eye toward changing the look and feel a bit after a flat first half. It certainly have the Loons a shot in the arm as far as movement out on the pitch, but LA matched that energy instead of flagging on a hot night.
"In the second half," said Heath. "you look at the stats and we probably dominated in every one but the one that's most important, which is scoring a goal."
In the 49th minute, the Loons got their best look of the evening up to that point when defender Jerome Thiesson put a cross on the deck from the right side that was headed squarely for forward Christian Ramirez's foot when Galaxy defender Michael Ciani slid in and put it over the endline for a corner. It was the start of Minnesota pouring a great deal of pressure on LA's defense, but LA was up to the test and consistently managed to get out on the counterattack with crisp, one-touch passing that the Loons couldn't find for themselves.
"We start slow like we did," said Heath, "and switch off like we did and give them a two-goal start, which we did, invariably the result ends up the way it did. I don't take any satisfaction from the fact that we were probably the best team in the second half. I want to know why we weren't like that in the first half."
In the end, MNUFC couldn't find its mojo and conceded a last-minute goal in stoppage time to Alessandrini, who had a hand in all three LA goals on the night. After this 3-0 loss, the Loons have one last chance to end the season on a high note with a match against the San Jose Earthquakes in California next Sunday, October 22. That match has an early kickoff at 3:00 p.m. CT with pre-match coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. on FOX 9+ and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN.
Lineups
Minnesota United FC Starting XI: GK Bobby Shuttleworth; D Jerome Thiesson, Michael Boxall, Francisco Calvo, Marc Burch; M Collin Martin (Collen Warner 46'), Ibson, Ethan Finlay (Johan Venegas 78'), Kevin Molino (Miguel Ibarra 46'); F Abu Danladi, Christian Ramirez
MIN Unused Subs: GK Patrick McLain; D Brent Kallman, Ismaila Jome; M Sam Nicholson
LA Galaxy Starting XI: GK Clement Diop; D Bradley Diallo, Michael Ciani, Dave Romney, Ashley Cole; M Jermaine Jones, Jonathan Dos Santos, Romain Alessandrini, Bradford Jamieson (Ariel Lassiter 46'), Emmanuel Boateng (Baggio Husidic 76'); F Giovani Dos Santos (Jack McBean 90')
LA Unused Subs: GK Brian Rowe; D Nathan Smith; M Raul Mendiola, Rafael Garcia
Match Events
Goals
11' - Alessandrini (G. dos Santos) - LA
22' - J. dos Santos (Alessandrini) - LA
90+' - Alessandrini (Jones) - LA
Discipline
44' - Thiesson (YC) - MIN
77' - Warner (YC) - MIN
83' - Ciano (YC) - LA
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