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MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Bows Out of U.S. Open Cup, Falls 4-0 at Houston Dynamo FC

May 23, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


HOUSTON, Texas -- Minnesota United's run in the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup came to an end Tuesday night in Texas following a 4-0 loss to fellow MLS side Houston Dynamo FC.

Minnesota United maintained steady possession in the first half, especially in its attacking third. Bongokuhle Hlongwane gave the Loons their best chance at goal of the first 45 minutes when he received a cross from DJ Taylor, settling the ball and turning towards goal, but Dynamo goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell confronted Hlongwane in the 1-v-1 situation and blocked his shot.

Nearly five minutes later, goalkeeper Clint Irwin found himself in a similar situation to Tarbell, stepping off his line to face Nelson Quinones after a through ball at the center of the net, and Irwin was able to stop the Houston attack.

It wasn't long after Irwin's save that he was tested once again when Bongokuhle Hlongwane conceded a penalty from a hand ball in the box. Corey Baird stepped to the spot for Houston in the 33rd minute and was able to convert the penalty for the go-ahead goal, though Irwin was close on the save.

Kervin Arriaga was shown his second caution of the night in the 38th minute and was sent off the field, leaving MNUFC with 10 players on the pitch for the remainder of the match.

In the second half, Amine Bassi snuck a pass through the Minnesota back line, finding Corey Baird, who chipped Irwin and scored his second goal of the match, extending Houston's lead to 2-0.

Houston Dynamo FC netted its third goal of the night when Aliyu Ibrahim ran onto a pass towards Minnesota's box and drove a shot into the bottom right corner for the 3-0 lead.

Just 10 minutes later, Corey Baird scored another goal for Houston side, securing his hat-trick, and the victory for the home side, advancing the Houston Dynamo to the Quarterfinals of the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

With the loss, Minnesota United finishes its run in the U.S. Open Cup in the Round of 16, with six goals scored through three matches.

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Clint Irwin; D DJ Taylor, Brent Kallman, Michael Boxall, Zarek Valentin; M Wil Trapp, Kervin Arriaga, Joseph Rosales, Sang Bin Jeong, Bongokuhle Hlongwane; F Mender Garcia

Bench: GK Dayne St. Clair; D Kemar Lawrence, Miguel Tapias; M Hassani Dotson, Franco Fragapane; F Luis Amarilla, Cameron Dunbar

Houston Dynamo FC XI: GK Andrew Tarbell; D Brad Smith, Erik Sviatchenko, Talen Maples, Mujeeb Murana; M Luis Caicedo, Nelson Quinones, Brooklyn Raines, Amine Bassi, Corey Baird; F Thor Ulfarsson

Bench: GK Steve Clark; D Franco Escobar, Ethan Bartlow; M Griffin Dorsey, Hector Herrera, Ivan Franco; F Aliyu Ibrahim

NOTE FOR TWIN CITIES MEDIA: Credential requests for Minnesota United's home contest on Saturday, May 27 against Real Salt Lake are due by Thursday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m. CT.

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. REAL SALT LAKE

Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota

05.27.2022 | MLS 2023 Regular Season | Matchday 15

7:30 pm CT (MLS Season Pass/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH

On Bongokuhle Hlongwane's early attempt at goal as the turning point of the match...

"I think the turning point was the sending off [of Kervin Arriaga], obviously. I thought it was a really poor decision; thought the referee was poor all evening for both teams. It's not very often when you're coming off at halftime both coaches think the referee's been awful... and he was; made too many bad decisions. And then Kervin [Arriaga] - I think he's been harshly dealt with this evening - but his reaction after the first booking when he gets in the referee's face, doesn't help the situation. And then I thought that the guys who came on weren't ready to play. We changed it 'round, and we gave some people an opportunity, and I don't think many of them took it tonight, to be honest."

On tonight's red card reinforcing Kervin Arriaga's need to be more disciplined...

"Yeah, it does, but there's only so many times you can tell people."

On the officiating of Tuesday night's match...

"That shows. It doesn't, does it? If you don't think it's worthy of putting proper officials in or the grade-A officials or whatever you want to call it, then it doesn't help. He's made a lot of decisions where... I can understand the difficult decisions if they're maybe goal-scoring opportunities, but little things in the middle of the park, and then we have memos saying 'if anybody stands in front of the ball, it's an automatic yellow card.' They [Houston Dynamo FC] did it all evening even before we had the man sent off. It's no use sending those memos telling us what they're going to do if they then don't carry it out."

On the team selection for the match...

"Up until the sending off I thought we were the better team. Bongi's [Bongokuhle Hlongwane] had two great chances. He had the header and then he's had the sort of one-on-one with the goalkeeper. I don't think it was anything wrong with the selection. Going down to 10 men didn't help us and then, to be honest, I'll tell you what I've just told the players: the people who came on the field didn't do enough."

On Joseph Rosales' performance at left wing through two games...

"I think he can play there, yeah, but I was disappointed in his level of commitment this evening."

On Bongokuhle Hlongwane's handball...

"It's hit his hand. I think it was one of them, it was pretty much unavoidable. But, if it's hit his hand, it's a penalty. He's back in there and helping out again, like he does, so at the end of the day, was it a penalty, wasn't it a penalty? It doesn't really matter, they've give it and they [Houston Dynamo FC] scored."

On the motivation after the loss to bring new energy to the Leagues Cup...

"Yeah, I think everybody's excited about the Leagues Cup. I've been watching the playoffs down in Mexico. They've been unbelievable games, the atmosphere's been great. When Mexican clubs come to town, generally, there's a big atmosphere, a big crowd. So, like everybody, we'll look forward to it. It's going to be difficult for coaches up and down the league in terms of how many minutes they give teams and give their players, but it is what it is. It's a big prize to win if you win it, financially. We will try and give it our best. We've got [Club] Puebla at home, and then we'll see what type of crowd we get in, and then we'll go from there. But no, I'm looking forward to it."

On managing the group through eight games in 30 days...

"I think a lot of it is mentally. By the time we get back it's going to be three in the morning again this morning, so that's another late night, disrupted sleep. We'll give them the day off tomorrow, then we'll get them in, then it's regeneration, then it's video again. So, it's not a lot of time to mentally and physically clear them up, but nearly everybody else is in the same boat. We'll get on with it, we'll turn up and hopefully, put a performance in like we've done the last two games against Houston and Portland."

On the lack of effort from the team in the match...

"I can be critical of when we made some changes but whatever you say, the turning point of the game is the red card. Playing a man down on the road, a place like this with the heat and everything that goes with it, it's not easy. We had a couple of moments early on but overall, we didn't compete enough. And that's on certain players. Certain players have got to understand that when you get opportunities, because that's what everybody wants- 'I need to get a game, I need opportunity' when them moments come 'round, you better take them. I don't think enough players did enough to take that opportunity this evening."

On the changes and substitutions that he made on Tuesday night...

"I knew it was going to be difficult in the second half, and obviously in a perfect world - Micky [Miguel Tapias] had a bang on his knee - I'd liked to have taken Boxy [Michael Boxall] off and give him some rest as well, because he's pretty much played every minute of every game. But, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to risk Micky. And the rest were basically, as I've said to you before, with the amount of effort that Bongi's [Bongokuhle Hlongwane] put in over the past few weeks, I thought giving him a rest might be ideal as well. In the end of the day, I've tried to protect some of the players for the weekend, but keep a competitive team on the field. And we weren't competitive enough when we went down to 10 men early in the second half.

On Sang Bin Jeong's ideal playing position...

"I think we're still working that out. He's a young kid, we're still working out where his main attributes are, either one of them [the nine or ten]. We put him there early on before Rey [Emanuel Reynoso] got back. But, if Rey comes back and he's fit and healthy, then Rey's going to play. So, then it will be a case of where do we see him [Sang Bin Jeong] moving forward, long-term. Could be a solution. Is it a wide area coming in, is it a center-forward, is it playing on the left coming in on his right foot. There's a lot of them questions and it's still very early for us to make that long-term decision, I think."

On Sang Bin Jeong's performance tonight against Houston...

"He worked hard. As I say, I thought we started the game well. If you look back at the game up until the red card, we were probably the most dominant team and looked like the most likely from the break. But, big decisions change games, and that one didn't go for us tonight and in the end, it proved very costly for us."

On what he and Ben Olsen shared at full time on Tuesday's officiating...

"No, we were both shaking our heads. So, that probably gives you an idea of what we were talking about."

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