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MLS Minnesota United FC

Benitez Lifts Loons in 2-1 Victory at Nashville SC

August 15, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Minnesota United bent but did not break against a relentless Nashville SC attack on Sunday night. The Loons defense held firm while defender Alan Benitez scored his first MNUFC goal - the game-winner - to help capture the 2-1 victory for Minnesota at GEODIS Park.

MNUFC's defense put in work Sunday at Nashville with goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair making seven saves and the backline fending off 21 NSC shots on the night. Amidst the barrage of shots on the defensive end, midfielder Emanuel Reynoso connected a pass to fellow midfielder Franco Fragapane in the 27th minute, in which Fragapane scored the game's opening goal - across the end line, past the keeper and into the far corner - giving the Loons the 1-0 lead into halftime. Nashville's attack was persistent at the start of the second half, and in the 61st minute, NSC midfielder Hany Mukhtar equalized the game at 1-1 off a second chance following a set-piece kick. But, MNUFC continued to find space in runs on transition, particularly in the 75th minute. Reynoso weaved near the edge of the 18-yard box, passing off to midfielder Joseph Rosales who then sent the ball through traffic to the other end of the box where defender Alan Benitez finished the chance and scored the game-winning goal - notably his first Minnesota United goal.

With Fragapane's 27th-minute goal (his fifth in 2022), the midfielder has now recorded a goal or assist in the last four contests he has appeared in. Notably, the Loons extended their scoring streak and have now found the back of the net in 11-straight MLS matches dating back to the New England Revolution contest (June 19). Additionally, recently acquired midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez made his MNUFC debut in the 84th minute of the match against Nashville. Finally, MNUFC has now won six matches on the road in 2022, the most in a single season in club history.

Minnesota United next returns to the Twin Cities to host Austin FC on Saturday, August 20 at Allianz Field. Kick for Saturday night's contest is set for 7:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on Bally Sports North EXTRA and The CW - Twin Cities, with radio broadcast on 1500 ESPN.

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Dayne St. Clair

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Dayne St. Clair; D Kemar Lawrence, Bakaye Dibassy, Michael Boxall, Alan Benitez; M Robin Lod, Kervin Arriaga, Franco Fragapane, Emanuel Reynoso, Bongokuhle Honglwane; F Luis Amarilla

Bench: GK Tyler Miller; D Brent Kallman, Callum Montgomery, Oniel Fisher, DJ Taylor; M Niko Hansen, Jonathan Gonzalez, Joseph Rosales; F Abu Danladi

Nashville SC XI: GK Joe Willis; D Daniel Lovitz, Dave Romney, Shaq Moore, Walker Zimmerman; M Dax McCarty, Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl, Sean Davis; F Randall Leal, CJ Sapong

Bench: GK Myer, Elliot Panicco; D Jack Maher, Eric Miller, Taylor Washington; M Brian Anunga, Luke Haakenson, Anibal Godoy; F Ethan Zubak

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. AUSTIN FC

Allianz Field | St. Paul, Minnesota

08.20.2022 | MLS 2022 Regular Season | Week 26

7:00 pm CT (BSN EXTRA/CW Twin Cities/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH

On the stops made in goal by Dayne St. Clair...

"I thought the one, first half, where he really had to get across, quite high up, I thought that one was an unbelievable save. The rest of them I expect him to save because he's a good goalkeeper."

On bringing on Joseph Rosales and switching the formation...

"Joseph [Rosales], he was very smart. We wanted to take that hole away where [Randall] Leal kept getting in from and he did a real good job at that. He obviously broke forward at the right time and put a good ball across the face. For a 21-year-old kid, he's got a lot of maturity. Gets the game. Done as he's told. Goes and plays the role that the coach asks for him. We're really pleased with him."

On the keys of getting a club record six road victories...

"Taking your opportunities when you get them and defending. I said to the guys before the game, 'This will be the most difficult box-defending game that you will have nearly all season,'. Because every set piece is a problem. [Walker] Zimmerman, [Dave] Romney, C.J. Sapong, and then they bring [Anibal] Godoy on late. They've got really good deliverers of the ball and they've got people who want to get on the end of it and that's very difficult to cope with. But I thought we did well. I think Walker had a free header in the first half. That's the only one I can really think that they had a free opportunity to get a proper header on goal. The mixture of zone-on and man-for-man, we did a good a job with it tonight."

On the defense facing a lot of pressure...

"I think [it's] the way that [Nashville] play. At times you want to have a gameplan, but the opposition are trying to win the game also and trying to do things that make it difficult for you. They get the fullbacks really high and wide. Then they've got the three in the middle because [Randall] Leal doesn't play wide. Then they've got Hany Mukhtar who gets in between. C.J. [Sapong] has developed into a really good center forward. He's really good at backing in, so every time they clear the ball they have a chance of getting hold of it and starting again. For us to have come away from here and won the game, I'm delighted. It might be [our] best win on the road this season because I knew this was going to be really tough this evening. Especially on the back of a few of the results [Nashville's] had where, speaking to Gary [Smith], they don't think they've had the rub of the green and don't think that they've got the results and the points that their performances have merited. I knew it was going to be tough, so to come away with three points is massive for us."

On the importance of Dayne St. Clair re-finding his form and for the playoff push...

"I wouldn't go as far as saying re-finding his form. I think he's had one bad game and when you're the goalkeeper that can happen. The unfortunate thing is, and I said this to him before the game, it was one of them games where every mistake he made, he got punished for. In the same game [Colorado's] goalkeeper did exactly the same twice, got away with it. I wouldn't say he's regained his form. I thought midweek was huge for him because to get on 30 minutes and make a couple of big saves and feel the love of the crowd, which he did on Wednesday, I think that helped his confidence no end. He's carried from Wednesday to tonight. I'm really pleased with him. Really pleased for him. I thought that tonight especially is going to be important for him because of the amount of decisions he has to make. Whether to come for crosses, whether to punch stuff, whether to try and catch stuff because there's not a team in the league who work the penalty area as much as Nashville does and they're very good at it."

On the performance of Alan Benitez...

"I thought he was better defensively this evening than he was in Colorado. We had a long chat about his defensive positioning. Everybody plays differently. He's been used to being a little bit higher up the field playing in a back-five, if you like, as a wingback. But in a back-four you have to be alongside your centerbacks. It's something we spoke about. I think he tried to take that onboard. But it's just his natural instinct to go forward. Everything that we watched of him down in Paraguay was in the attacking third. He wants to play in that attacking third and he did well. As I say, maybe ideally I would have wanted him at the back-four and not in the back post, but after he scores you go 'well done, great decision'."

On any concerns coming off All-Star week...

"Earlier on in the week I was, but the way that we trained on Friday was really, really good. We had a really good session on Saturday. Friday, I really liked the energy in the group. I think it was a huge boost getting the four or five back that were missing from the previous week. Robin [Lod] is huge for us. I thought Boxy [Michael Boxall] won some really important headers. Rey [Emanuel Reynoso] did some unbelievable stuff again this evening. Some of his control and vision is a beauty to behold at times, it really is. I thought Bongi [Bongokuhle Hlongwane] might have even been man of the match for us. Incredible amount of hard work he did both halves of the field. Looked to threaten behind in attacking sets, but defensively never shirked his responsibility, so he can be really pleased with his night's work as well."

On the key to Franco Fragapane's top form the last couple of matches...

"Getting in the box. Getting in the right spots. Working hard on both sides of the ball. Because I'm a big believer that if you do both, you're always mentally intune with the game. His defensive duties have gotten better this season so far. At times I still want more of him in a defensive sense, but his natural reaction is to get in the box. We spoke about it earlier on in the year, showing him some videos and showing him goals where he scores. He gets goals in and around the back post coming in late like he did today for the first one. Great run, great late run and a good finish as well."

On Emanuel Reynoso suffering a knock before he came off...

"Yeah, he had a kick in his calf. We probably would have done it as well with the amount of balls they were putting in our box. He's fine. He'll be fine."

On the debut of Jonathan Gonzalez...

"The one thing is, he gets the game. I think one of the biggest contributions he had, we had cleared a corner and he closed the ball down really well and he entered the box and got another header on it that obviously stopped another restart for [Nashville]. He'll be better for just being with group. Traveling with them, being in the hotel, being in meals, watching video with the rest of them. He'll be better for that and he seems a great kid. He seems really keen on making this work, so we'll get him every opportunity to do that."

GOALKEEPER DAYNE ST. CLAIR

On what was difficult tonight against Nashville SC and their attack...

"You said it there yourself. They got the ball wide and they put it in the box and committed a lot of numbers in the box, so sometimes the chaos of having that many people in there is difficult. But, I thought we defended those very well as a team today.

On his All-Star game performance giving him a boost into this match...

"Coming out of the Colorado [Rapids] game, it's no secret that I cost us points on the road there, so being able to bounce off that game and have a mental refresh at the All-Star was big for me. To put on a good performance there, it was nice as well. Like I said, during that game I'm using that game to keep pushing because more importantly is the games for Minnesota this year. I'm glad that I was able to have a performance like that tonight, and I'm looking to build off of that for the game against Austin [FC]."

On the club's sixth road win this season...

"We came in with the mindset that we can win anywhere and we can beat anyone, and we know right now the West [Conference] is really tight, so although these games are away, we need to find a way to get points. I think going in with that mindset and we continue to do so because it is so tight in the West, every point is going to be valuable coming into the end of the season."

On working with new players on the back line...

"My Spanish isn't great, so that's definitely one of the challenges there. Like you said, just kind of incorporating him [Alan Benitez] and letting him know what we've done in the past that has worked for us to come into a new team, a new style of play and things like that. I think it's just trying to show him and talk to him as much as we can with translation from some other guys and I thought he did a great job tonight."

On how he re-focused following the Rapids match...

"I honestly didn't have much time to train with the All-Star week going on and the Skills Challenge and everything. There definitely wasn't that much training time with having the game. So, nothing specifically, but talking to Stew Kerr to take the normal saves, quote-on-quote, not for granted, and I think that showed tonight."

On the World Cup approaching and a potential spot with team Canada...

"Going into the season, I definitely made it very clear to Adrian that I need to be playing to make sure I get myself the best opportunity to get a spot on that roster. I know my performances week-in and week-out is what's going to control whether I'm on that plane or not. I've been a part of the last couple camps now, which has been nice. I know the plane doesn't take off tomorrow, so I know to keep doing my job. John [Herdman, Canada National Team head coach] messaged me to congratulate me on making the All-Star. I've talked to Simon Eaddy quite a bit, the goalie coach, so I just stay in contact with the upcoming camp."

On what was good defensively tonight against Nashville...

"I think we did a good job of defending the box today. They [Nashville] committed a lot of numbers, we cleared the balls, blocked shots and I think we tried to limit as many quality chances as they had. We know they had quite a few chances still. But, I know I'm going to be called upon and the guys rely on me the same way I rely on them. So I think this is a two-way street and we have a lot of trust in these guys. And, credit to them - after the Colorado [Rapids] game, they came up to me and said they still believe in me, so that was definitely a confidence booster as well."

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