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MLS Minnesota United FC

Loons Fly High in 2-1 Win against Austin

August 21, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- One slip of attention can change the course of a game. That's what happened Saturday night when MNUFC's Franco Fragapane caught Austin FC's defense off guard, stealing the ball and chipping in the game-winning goal to secure three points and the 2-1 victory during the top-four Western Conference battle.

Minnesota had multiple scoring chances throughout the first half against the second-place team from Texas, finally breaking through in the 25th minute. Former Loon Ethan Finlay fouled midfielder, and MVP candidate, Emanuel Reynoso in the box, awarding MNUFC a penalty kick. Reynoso lined up on the spot and converted the penalty to give the home side the 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. The goal was notably the Argentine's 10th of the 2022 campaign and it extended his points streak to four-straight matches. Austin FC would find the equalizer late in first-half stoppage time when Loons defender DJ Taylor was called for a handball inside the box. Fellow MVP candidate, Sebastian Driussi successfully converted the penalty kick attempt to level the match at 1-1 right before the halftime whistle. In the second half, Minnesota's Franco Fragapane capitalized on an Austin defender who was slow to clear the ball out of his own box, intercepting it and deftly scoring off a chip over the outstretched Austin keeper. Fragapane's goal gave the Loons the 2-1 advantage in the 62nd minute. With his game-winner against Austin FC, Fragapane has now either scored a goal or provided an assist in five consecutive games.

Notably, with Reynoso and Fragapane's goals, MNUFC extended its club-record scoring streak to 12 matches dating back to the New England Revolution contest (June 19). With his goal Saturday night, Fragapane has notched three out of the five goals the Loons have scored against Austin since the Texas side joined MLS in 2021. Additionally, with both goals, Minnesota has gone six games in a row with two or more goals scored. Lastly, recently acquired midfielder Mender Garcia made his MLS and Minnesota United debut when he came on in the 71st minute.

Minnesota United continues its home stretch when it hosts the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, August 27 at Allianz Field. Kick for Saturday afternoon's contest is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on Univision, TUDN, Bally Sports North and The CW - Twin Cities and streamed on Twitter (English audio), with radio broadcast on 1500 ESPN.

ATTENDANCE: 19,829

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Midfielder Franco Fragapane

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, Bonggokuhle Hlongwane; F Luis Amarilla

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

Austin FC XI: GK Brad Stuver; D Ruben Gabrielsen, Jon Gallagher, Julio Cascante, Nick Lima; M Dani Pereira, Sebastian Driussi, Alex Ring (c); F Ethan Finlay, Diego Fagundez, Maxi Urruti

Bench: GK Andrew Tarbell; D Jhohan Romana, Kipp Keller, Zan Kolmanic; M Jhojan Valencia, Felipe, Owen Wolff; F Danny Hoesen, Rodney Redes

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. AUSTIN FC

Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota

08.20.2022 | MLS 2022 Regular Season | Week 27

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

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH

On tonight's performance...

"Honestly delighted with the three points. Against a very good team, very confident team. I actually thought we were a little bit wasteful at times tonight. The amount of times we broke on them and we've had really good opportunities and our final ball was a little bit disappointing. When I look at the amount of times we've had two or three against two and hadn't really made anything from it other than a nearly, that's disappointing. But I thought we started the game well. I thought we were really dangerous every time on the counter attack. I said to the players at halftime we've got to play to the pace of the way we want to play, not the pace of the game. I felt we just got to drop deep a little bit and let everybody have a nice game of football. That's not when we are at our best."

On Franco Fragapane's game-winning goal...

"I think that the most important thing is that, if you play against teams that like to play like [Austin] do at the back, at some stage you have to start to make decisions, and Fraga [Franco Fragapane] did. The easy thing for him would have been to stay with the fullback but he picked it out. He realizes the balls gonna go back to the centerback and he's coming at such a pace that he's probably caught the defender by surprise. It was a great finish as well."

On playing consistently the full 90...

"The one thing...no matter what I think about the performance, the one thing we can't question is the actual dedication and the desire of the guys to keep a clean sheet in the second half. You saw people throwing themselves in front of things at the end of the game. I knew this was gonna be a difficult game because when you play teams that have got good players and they're so confident like they are because of the run they have been on. I knew that at stages of the game we would have to really, have a really good rear guard defensive action and I thought that's what we did at times."

On no goals being scored in the run of play against the team...

"Well I can't really think of an awful lot of chances they had first half. We should have cleared the ball before he got to the penalty situation. No, I'm delighted for the guys. When you look at where we were after that match in the Miami game, I'm not sure too many people would have thought that we'd have won seven, draw two and lost one with the amount of quality of opposition we played in that time. We're in a really good run. Now, we've got the biggest game of the season, is next week because it will be and we have to make sure we're ready and prepared for that."

On Mender Garcia and his debut...

"Oh, he'll [Mender Garcia] will be better for that. It's been a sort of whirlwind few days for Mender [Garcia] and the fact that he's seen where he plays now and the crowd has seen a little bit of him. He's been with his teammates for a bit. He'll be better for that. He hasn't played for, what was it, maybe seven weeks... eight weeks? He'll be better for a few minutes under his belt."

On how the match served as a prequel for playoffs...

"I think it gives us a good barometer for where we are at this moment in time. We've played arguably the most in form team [along] with [LAFC] in the league and we've more than held our own. I thought, first half on the break, we were excellent and we had numerous opportunities to do better than we did. I was a little bit disappointed to go in 1-1 at halftime."

On if the team proved something with this result...

"We never get enough respect, that's a certainty. We can't take that for granted. No, I don't think...We don't need any respect. We know what we are. When we play well here, we can play against anybody. I know that and I think most people do. I think if you ask most coaches in the league coming to this arena with our atmosphere it's a difficult place to play. I'm not surprised that we won the game. I knew it was going to be tough, but this team is capable of beating anybody. And I mean anybody."

On the handball by DJ Taylor...

"It's hard these days. I watched the game before our game and I saw the most blatant handball I've ever seen. D.C. United, the guys got his hand down, the ball is going in the net and they don't give a penalty. I don't know what is and what isn't a penalty anymore. Then you look at the penalty last night against Seattle. The guy is not even looking. He's got his arm behind his back. We've messed about with this rule too much. Should go back to the old days. Maybe I'm too old."

MIDFIELDER FRANCO FRAGAPANE

On the victory tonight...

[SPA]: "Necesitamos ganar. Estábamos jugando en casa. Necesitábamos los tres puntos y por suerte, se dió y pudimos ganar."

[ENG] "We had to win. We were playing at home. We had to get the three points and with luck, it happened and we were able to win."

On his goal and how it was a product of the high press...

[SPA]: "Fue una presión. El entrenador nos quería que lo presionemos... que [ellos se] arriesgaban mucho. Por suerte, lo pude presionar, se la pude robar, la pelota, y hacer el gol."

[ENG] "It was a press. The coach wanted us to press...that [they] left themselves exposed a lot. By luck, I was able to press, I was able to steal the ball and get the goal."

On the defensive mindset of the attacking group...

[SPA]: "Yo creo que hoy en día, el jugador, si no corre, no puede jugar al futbol. La verdad que esta liga es una liga que se corre mucho, que se presiona mucho. Es muy intensa. Por eso, entrenamos, nos cuidamos, nos preparamos por esto. La verdad que el equipo esta en un muy buen momento. Estamos haciendo la cosas bien pero no hay que relajarse. Hay que seguir, que quedan otro partido más para clasificar a los playoff."

[ENG] "I think, in this day, the player who doesn't run, he's can't play soccer. Honestly, this league is a league where you run a lot, you press a lot. It's very intense. For that, we train, we take care of ourselves, we prep for that. The team is in a great run of form. We're doing things well but it's not time to relax. We have to keep going, there are more games left before qualifying to the playoffs."

On the key to his run of form in the last few games...

[SPA]: "Estoy muy feliz. La verdad que necesitaba tener estos partidos así, hacer goles, para agarrar la confianza. La verdad que estamos en un muy buen momento y hay que seguir trabajando para lograr lo que todos queremos."

[ENG] "I'm very happy. Honestly, I needed these games, score these goals, to gain confidence. We're in a good moment and we have to keep working to achieve what we want."

On the ambitions the team has after the regular season...

[SPA]: "Nosotros, primero es clasificar a los playoff y despues vamos partido a partido en los playoff. La verdad que queremos clasificar allí para jugar de local con nuestra gente, nuestra casa... que somos muy fuertes."

[ENG] "We, first have to qualify for the playoffs and then we go game by game in the playoffs. We have to qualify and get home field advantage with our people, in our home, where we're very strong."

On Alan Benítez and his addition to the team...

[SPA]: "La verdad que Alan [Benitez] está haciendo las cosas bien. Creo que se adapto muy rápido a la liga y al equipo. Era lo que necesitábamos. No sé, hay que hacer un test a quien corre más rápido."

[ENG] "Honestly, Alan [Benitez] is doing things well. I think he adapted well to the team and to the league. He was what we needed. And I don't know, maybe we need t do a test to see who runs faster."

On the rumors of his possible return to Boca Juniors...

[SPA]: "No yo, no me enteré nada. Sí me llegó el rumor por las redes sociales. No, yo estoy muy feliz acá y estoy las cosas bien acá para seguir en este país, en esta liga que me gusta mucho."

[ENG] "No, I wasn't really aware of that. I found out about the rumor through social media. But no, I'm really happy here, I'm doing things well to stay here in this country, in this league that I like so much."

On his on-field relationship with Emanuel Reynoso...

[SPA]: "Sabemos la clase de jugar que es Bebelo [Emanuel Reynoso]. Es un jugador muy bueno. Sabe que si le das la pelota te la devuelve bien. La verdad que tiene una calidad de otro mundo. Por algo, es uno de los mejores jugadores en la liga pero bueno hay que aprovecharlo, y saber jugar con él."

[ENG] "We know what type of player Bebelo [Emanuel Reynoso] is. He's a very good player. We know that if you give him the ball, he'll return it well. His quality is out of this world. That's how we know that he's one of the best players in the league, and we just have to take advantage, and know what type of player he is."

On welcoming new latino players to the team...

[SPA]: "Hay que...la verdad que somos mucho latino bueno, también lindo porque estamos todos solo, con nuestra familia. Podemos juntarnos y hacer cosas. La bienvenida siempre es buena. Siempre hay ayudarlos apenas llegan como lo hicieron conmigo y ofrecerles tu ayuda para que te este cómodo, y lo que necesita estar allí."

[ENG] "We have to...honestly, we have so many latinos and it's nice because we're along, with our families. We can meet up and do things together. The welcoming is always good. We have to help as they arrive, like they did with me, and offer our help so they can be comfortable and whatever they need."

On the connection with the Animal Humane Society as his Man of the Match organization...

[SPA]: "Sí, escogí esta organización porque la verdad que me gustan mucho los animales. En Argentina, hay muchos animales sueltos, perdidos y abandonados. Siempre trate de ayudarlos y aca, cuando me dieron esa opción, elegí esa siempre lo hice."

[ENG] "Yeah, I chose that organization because I like animals a lot. In Argentina, there are alot of animals lost, abandoned on the street. I always tried to help them and when I got here and saw the option, I chose it because I always did it."

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