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MLS Minnesota United FC

Loons Come from Behind to Win 2-1 over Dynamo

August 27, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota United's Luis Amarilla was knocking on Houston Dynamo's door the entire afternoon: multiple attempts in the goalkeeper's box fell just wide, were saved or called offside. But the Paraguayan broke through late and scored the game-winner to give the Loons the 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the Dynamo on Saturday in front of another sellout crowd at Allianz Field.

MNUFC's afternoon came with many attempts to create chances. Amidst 21 crosses sent in against Houston, the Loons struggled to connect and find the back of the net throughout the game. In the fourth minute, defender Bakaye Dibassy competed for a contested ball and went down with a leg injury. Dibassy left the match in the seventh minute and was replaced by Brent Kallman. Houston then broke the scoreless draw in the first minute of first half stoppage time when Dynamo defender Griffin Dorsey connected a pass to forward Corey Baird, who had found his way past the Loons back line. Baird chipped the shot above Dayne St. Clair to give Houston the 1-0 lead at halftime. Following a number of close chances in the second half for MNUFC, the Loons earned a free kick just outside the 18-yard box in the 79th minute. Midfielder Emanuel Reynoso took the kick, bending it towards goal when Houston's Fafa Picault deflected the ball into the net while attempting to clear, resulting in the equalizing own goal. The home side continued to press in the attacking third and was duly rewarded in the 84th minute. Reynoso fed defender Alan Benitez a pass before Benitez crossed the ball in open space inside the box to fellow Paraguayan Luis Amarilla, to score the game-winning goal - his ninth of 2022 - and give the Loons three points on the afternoon.

Notably, with the two goals scored against Houston, MNUFC extended its club-record scoring streak to 13 matches dating back to the New England Revolution contest on June 19. Additionally, MVP candidate Emanuel Reynoso provided an assist on Amarilla's goal, extending his points streak to five matches. The win tonight also marks the most points (44) for MNUFC through 27 games in MLS club history.

Minnesota United has a quick turnaround when it travels to Salt Lake City this Wednesday, August 31 to face Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. Kick for Wednesday's contest is set for 8:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on Bally Sports North EXTRA with radio broadcast on 1500 ESPN.

ATTENDANCE: 19,624

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Midfielder Emanuel Reynoso

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Dayne St. Clair; D DJ Taylor, Bakaye Dibassy, Michael Boxall (c), Alan Benitez; M Robin Lod, Kervin Arriaga, Franco Fragapane, Emanuel Reynoso, Bongokuhle Hlongwane; F Luis Amarilla

Bench: GK Tyler Miller; D Brent Kallman, Oniel Fisher; M Jonathan Gonzalez, Joseph Rosales, Nabilai Kibunguchy, Wil Trapp; F Mender Garcia, Abu Danladi

NewHouston Dynamo XI: GK Steve Clark; D Daniel Steres, Adam Lundkvist, Tim Parker (c), Griffin Dorsey; M Memo Rodriguez, Adalberto Carrasquilla, Matias Vera; F Sebastian Ferreira, Fafa Pacault, Corey Baird

Bench: GK Michael Nelson; D Zarek Valentin, Ethan Bartlow, Sam Junqua, Zeca; M Darwin Ceren, Marcelo Palomino; F Nelson Quinones, Darwin Quintero

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC @ REAL SALT LAKE

Rio Tinto Stadium | Sandy, Utah

08.30.22 | MLS 2022 Regular Season | Week 28

2:30 pm CT (BSN/CW Twin Cities/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH

On the team playing a "trap" game and staying complacent...

"I don't think we were complacent. I just don't think we played particularly well when you consider the amount of good opportunities we had first half and our final ball. The weight of the pass, the choice of pass. Decision-making wasn't good enough, which has not been like us of late. The one thing that I can't fault is that they keep going. The energy in the group to keep going... and when you're chasing a game like that, you always leave yourself vulnerable. They've got a better pace up front. I don't know why I said to the staff at halftime, 'I think we'll get something out of this game.' I think the belief was strong enough that we would come back and get something. When I knew that if we got the next goal with enough time, that we'd have a chance of winning the game."

On two substitutions and the change of strategy made at halftime...

"Well, I think with the results we've had of late, he [Wil Trapp], gave us a little bit of an opportunity to maybe go for it a little bit more. We went and brought two up top and sort of gambled with Rey [Emanuel Reynoso] playing in that sort of right-hand hole because he likes to play in that coming in on his left foot but it makes you a bit vulnerable at times on the counter. I felt it was a gamble worth taking today. Obviously, getting Mender [Garcia] on the field is good for him. I thought Fraga [Franco Fragapane] gave us some real, quality moments but each one of them in a few weeks time, I know will look back and go yeah, we didn't play as well as we can. We managed to get another three points. Somebody's just told me the last eleven games we've gotten more points than anybody in MLS so that's a good stat."

On having to fire the team up at halftime...

"No, I was more disappointed in the quality. I don't think there was a lack of effort today or a lack of energy. I just thought there was a lot of...the things that have been really good in the last four or five weeks at home has been; the movement, the quality in passing, the quality of the final ball and then the execution. I thought all of that was off in the first half today. If you don't have all of that, you can have the best players in the world but you're not going to score too many goals if the final ball, the run's not good enough. The lasd were determined at halftime to get something into the game and they did."

On how indicative the game was today of getting results while not at best...

"I think in the last 11 games... what was it? Eight wins and two draws and one defeat. The one thing I've said all the time and I say to you guys in the week that I can say the right things to the players and try and make them believe me but there's nothing like winning games of football to give them that belief and that confidence to keep going because good things will happen if we keep doing good things. Alan's [Benítez] ran a million miles again this evening and for the winning goal, he's come again. He's made that 60-yard run again over the top for Rey [Emanuel Reynoso] and then he's picked a great ball out for Luis [Amarilla]."

On the status of Bakaye Dibassy's injury...

"No, it doesn't look good though. I don't know. We'll have a better idea, he's having an MRI as we speak. Probably will have a bit more information either later this evening or tomorrow. My my first fear is that it's not so good."

On some unexpected saves from Dayne St. Clair...

"Yeah. There was one he made the good way. He got something on it. We thought he was offside and people upstairs thought he was offside. No, he's playing well again, he's got a lot of confidence in himself and I'm not being over-critical or anything but I expect him to make them saves. He's a good goalkeeper."

On Emanuel Reynoso's performance...

"Yeah, I thought there was moments of proper Rey [Emanuel Reynoso] and then there was moments... sloppy. Our corners, which have been excellent the last few weeks, were poor in the first half. The momentum changes. We can get the crowd going and the first ball wasn't good enough. I don't think there was enough energy to get on the first one. As I say, I thought it was going to be one of them nearly nights. Everything was nearly okay, nearly good but we managed to get out of it."

On where Bakaye was injured...

"No, we think it's more muscular."

On the goal scored by Houston...

"Poor decision making from probably three people. After I have a closer look at it, we'll, you know... No, they were both fullbacks and maybe a centerback as well. I'll need to have another look but it was one of them everybody stepping too late and, well, one or two were stepping too early when we should retreat and should get a shape behind the ball but we didn't."

On load management in the next few games with playoffs approaching...

"Yes, on Wednesday we will. I don't know who, I don't know what because I've not really thought about it but there will be changes for the game on Wednesday."

On the importance of not falling from the table...

"Well, it's strange. When you're a player, you don't really think about it like you do as a coach. LAFC, you look at their last two games, there was nobody who would have put money on San Jose [Earthquakes] beating them but that's what happens. If you drop your level and you don't play well on any given night, in this league, with the parody that's in it, invariably you get beat. Tonight, we dug one out. It wasn't our best, it wasn't the prettiest but the players have dug one out and the crowd were magnificent again. They actually might have gotten us over the line this evening because there was moments in the game where I always talk about it being a two-way street, we have to give them something for them to get ignited. Tonight, we didn't give them enough and they kept going and I think they got us going again. So cue the hats off to them."

On the type of play exhibited by Emaunuel Reynoso...

"I've said it since Rey [Emanuel Reynoso] coming here. In terms of talent, there's nobody as good as him in the league. Tonight, that final ball, which is normally his biggest strength. The quality of final ball and weight of pass, wasn't quite what it should have been. He's kept going and as I've said all along, if we're going to do anything between now and the end of the season, and maybe in the postseason, he's going to be a really important piece and instrumental in how far we go."

On Hector Herrera's absence being a surprise...

"Yeah. No, it didn't change the way we approached the game but obviously we were anticipating him playing. Don't know for what reason he isn't."

On the possible options at centerback...

"Kervin's [Arriaga] played there for the national team. Played in league games with his team down in Honduras so we have got a few options."

On his feelings after the win today...

"Obviously a little bit relieved because I said to the players, I actually thought this was maybe the most important result of the season. I know we're starting to...once you start getting down to six games left, we're starting to put pressure on the teams below us in terms of sometimes a draw is not good enough for other teams and we've done that this evening. Put a lot more pressure on the people below us. There's games this evening, we'll see how they go. If the results were to go well for us, it puts us in a great spot."

MIDFIELDER WIL TRAPP

On the team's performance in the first half...

"Gaff [Head Coach Adrian Heath] touched on it before the game, when we drop our level it's difficult to win in this league. Maybe, we're a little fatigued. We're just trying to work ourselves into the game and look, this is their season. They gave everything in that first half and I don't think we were really initially prepared for that and thought maybe it would just come and it didn't come. They scored a good goal and I think that woke us up going into halftime and the second half you saw a change in the mentality in the collective group."

On fighting complacency...

"I just touched on that right. It's just a little bit of that, 'hey let's work ourselves into the game' and that's not how it works in this league. If you want to consistently win you have to give what we gave in the second half the whole game."

On the team's confidence heading into the second half...

"I think those things feed off each other. One hand washes the other in the sense of, when you're winning games you believe more, you have more confidence, you trust each other more. We definitely felt that was a part of halftime, and moving in the direction we wanted and ultimately us battling back and winning the game."

On avoiding a potential trap game...

"It's not easy to win. You have to take these points at home and ultimately it's a mentality. You might not have the energy, you might not have all the plays clicking how we want but over the course of the 90 minutes, we found a way to come through that even though we, maybe, dug ourselves a hole."

On the changes made after Mender Garcia comes on...

"Those two guys, he and Luis [Amarilla] are really good at giving the centerbacks problems cause now they're having to deal with one on one situations. I thought what helped us immensely was the fullback play. These guys getting high and combining with Rey [Emanuel Reynoso], combining with Fraga [Franco Fragapane] and then now giving their fullbacks issues to deal with and you see the second goal that's exactly what happened. Those two guys, their movement, it's nice having two strikers because now one of those guys like Luis pulls off in the box and he can go free."

On the confidence you gain from winning when you're not at your best...

"That's what teams that ultimately do the things they want to do in the playoffs have to have in their DNA and this is something where we were tested today and we came through that test. Obviously we don't want to be digging ourselves a hole but sometimes it's a good wake up call and to see what our meddal is."

On the concern for Bakaye Dibassy...

"Bakaye [Dibassy] is someone that we know how important he is to the group and he's not a guy that goes down easy. He certainly doesn't yell out like he yelled out in that play. We're not gonna speculate, we don't know as players. I'm sure they've already gotten him squared away looking at X-rays or MRIs, whatever it may be. Hopefully it's not too serious but again he's a tough guy and the way he went down is a little concerning just in the sense of how painful it seemed."

On the lessons learned earlier this season against Kansas City...

"Yeah that was referenced before the game as something, basically don't do that. I think the difference today was we responded better in the second half whereas in that game against KC, I think we floundered for the majority of it. Once we scored the first goal here, you could see their heads drop, could see their lack of confidence and we preyed on that."

On the confidence that you can compete against the best teams in the league...

"But think about San Jose beat LAFC last week and San Jose is well below the playoff line. These are situations where any week, any game day in this league you can win or lose. I think our focus right now is game by game of course but the energy, the mentality and the focus just always has to be at 100%."

On Reynoso's playmaking ability...

"We know his quality is top two in the league. When he's clicking and doing the things that we know he's capable of doing, it changes everything for us. It also makes the opponent so much more worried about what we can do and that opens up space for Fraga [Franco Fragapane], for Luis [Amarilla], for Mender [Garcia], for Robin [Lod], Bongi [Bongokuhle Hlongwane] etcetera. That makes us a more dangerous team."

On the crowd this season...

"Man, they're incredible, they're incredible. Again, we feed them, they feed us. The more you can do that. Our biggest push for us right now is to get those home playoff games because we know when we're in front of these guys, it changes the results for us."

DEFENDER MICHAEL BOXALL

On the potential of a trap game relating to the first half performance...

"Honestly, we know how big every three points is this stretch of the season. To me it kind of felt like everyone came with a bit too much energy, too excited. Because we're trying to go forward with every touch and we're trying to score goals with two or three passes instead of keeping possession and moving them around a bit, just getting settled in. I think that first half was sloppy because not for the want of trying, but we were trying to do too much and instead of taking a step back to what we're good at we kind of doubled down and kept trying to do the same thing. I don't think it was complacency. Knowing my teammates, for sure we know that we're trying to make sure we finish in the top-four for our fans to see a live playoff game. That second half, we're able to settle down a bit and once we connected a few passes we showed that we could do most of the game, most of the season."

On the injury to Bakaye Dibassy...

"I really didn't see what happened. I just thought he got kicked and then obviously the doctor is doing the tests and it doesn't look good. I'm gutted for him. It seemed like a pretty bad one. I'm just gutted for him."

On Brent Kallman coming in to fill Bakaye Dibassy's spot...

"Every time he's been asked of to step in and do a job he does it, he's ready. Showed it again tonight. Looks like we've got to get the partnership back together again down this stretch of the season. I'm happy it's him and we're good to go."

On Brent Kallman's mustache...

"If we win with it he's got to keep it. It's only going to get longer and filthier."

On if he will be growing a mustache...

"No, we won without me having one. I think I'll be alright. My wife wouldn't approve."

On the way Emanuel Reynoso has played this season...

"I think I said at the beginning of last season and definitely the beginning of this season that he can be the best player in this league. No one player can take over games by themselves. They need teammates around them to help them a bit. When we're playing well, when everyone around is playing well, that's when he's at his best. He can certainly score goals, create goals, but he needs the players around him to help him. For me, I don't think there's another player in this league that I would take over him."

On getting three points when the team wasn't at its best...

"It's the mentality of that side of things. I think this last stretch, that we've been on, we've really stepped up in most ways that our team earlier in the season we played for 45 minutes and then collapse and drop points and concede goals. Turn 3-nil games into 3-2's. Now we've stepped it up and we're playing a lot more together for 90 minutes. I think this is another facet of the mentality of it that when we're not our best we still grind them out. When we're down a goal we can still come back. I think all of that, when it comes to the end of the season, that it's important that we still get results no matter what."

On the difference in halftime messages from Head Coach Adrian Heath during the Sporting Kansas City match and today's match...

"It's kind of funny because he had a go at us for the halftime of the [Sporting] KC game. We're in the winning position and then we drop the points. Today, just changed the tactic a little bit and we come back and score two goals in the second half. He's fully aware of what we're capable of and he doesn't want us to let ourselves down when we don't fulfill our potential. There's no way we should give anything but what we're capable of. When we do do that it is disappointing, and us players on the field, sometimes you need someone on the outside looking in that they respect to tell you that. It worked today."

On LAFC and Austin FC being claimed as the best teams in the league at this moment...

"They've shown throughout the season, picking up points all year long. They deserve to be there. This is the time of the season where you want to be peaking, you want to start performing, and we still have room to improve and getting results too. We've still got some tough games ahead to prove ourselves against some difficult teams, against the best team in the league. They can have all the titles, all the accolades, all the media write about them. We know in this room what we're capable of and we just get to work."

On Head Coach Adrian Heath's approach at halftime...

"I think because he knew we were a bit frantic, like when we're just forcing balls a bit needless, that's not who we are when we're playing our best football. We're just rushing things. He was just telling us to calm down, be a bit patient, but still keep that energy and intensity because when we're at home in front of our home fans, we need to make sure we can get them involved in the game because they've been massive for us in every single home game since I've been here. All five years. Once we get our crowd involved and once the second goal went in, that was pretty done. They've been riding with us for years. That's kind of what I expect from our fans."

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