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MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Defeated 1-0 by Austin FC on Saturday Night

June 22, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota United played with a man down for 65 minutes against Austin FC on Saturday night at Allianz Field and were unable to find the back of the net during an eventual 1-0 loss. Next, the Loons will travel west to face the Portland Timbers on June 29 at Providence Park.

18' - Minnesota United had a near scoring opportunity off the second corner kick of the night. Joseph Rosales crossed the ball from the right corner and found Robin Lod on the near post, Lod flicked the ball back to the Honduras international who headed the ball towards goal, missing just high of the crossbar and out of bounds.

25' - Midfielder Hassani Dotson conceded a foul against Austin forward Gyasi Zardes near midfield. Following the foul, Dotson was shown his second caution of the night and was sent off, leaving MNUFC to finish the match down a man.

31' - Austin FC opened up the match and scored the first and only goal. Verde & Black midfielder Owen Wolff fired off a long-range shot from the left side of the pitch that pulled Clint Irwin off his line. Irwin batted the ball away where Diego Rubio found the other side of the exchange. Rubio inside the box, settled the ball and found the far right corner.

34' - The visiting side tested Irwin yet again after defender Jon Gallagher found himself in Minnesota's defensive third. On the right flank, Gallagher took a close-range shot that Irwin saved, keeping the score at 0-1.

62' - Minnesota United nearly equalized after Sang Bin Jeong gained possession on the left side of the pitch, where he dribbled towards the middle of the 18-yard-line. Franco Fragapane made a run behind Sang Bin where he gained possession from a heel-flick pass from the South Korean forward. Fragapane dribbled towards goal and took a close-range shot that went out of bounds, hitting the side of the net.

85' - Minnesota kept pressure on Austin FC after Rosales took space up the pitch and found the Minnesota native Caden Clark on the right side of the pitch. Clark passed the ball off to Sang Bin Jeong who made a diagonal run from the left side. Sang Bin off balance took a shot from the right flank that missed wide.

90' + 4' - Sang Bin Jeong had a close look at goal in the last minute of added second-half stoppage time after he had a one-two sequence with Lod. Jeong, inside the 18-yard box, fired the last shot of the match that went high above the crossbar.

GOAL SUMMARY

0-1 ATX - Diego Rubio (unassisted) - 31'

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

MIN - Miguel Tapias (caution) - 12'

MIN - Hassani Dotson (caution) - 25'

MIN - Hassani Dotson (ejection) - 26'

ATX - Jader Obrian (caution) - 49'

ATX - CJ Fodrey (caution) - 59'

MIN - Robin Lod (caution) - 90'+2'

ATTENDANCE: 19,746

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Sang Bin Jeong

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Clint Irwin; D Joseph Rosals, Miguel Tapias, Michael Boxall ©, Kervin Arriaga, DJ Taylor; M Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Wil Trapp, Hassani Dotson, Robin Lod; F Sang Bin Jeong

Bench: GK Alec Smir; D Zarek Valentin, Victor Eriksson; M Franco Fragapane, Patrick Weah, Caden Clark, Moses Nyeman; F Jordan Adebayo-Smith

Austin FC XI: GK Brad Stuver; D Brendan Hines-Ike, Leo Väisänen, Jon Gallagher, Guilherme Biro; M Alex Ring ©, Owen Wolff; F Gyasi Zardes, Jáder Obrian, Ethan Finlay, Diego Rubio

Bench: GK Stefan Cleveland, Matt Bersano; D Matt Hedges, Hector Jimenez, Žan Kolmanič; M Alonso Ramirez; F CJ Fodrey

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC @ PORTLAND TIMBERS

Providence Park | Portland, Oregon

06.29.2024 | MLS 2024 Regular Season | Match 20

9:30 p.m. CT (MLS Season Pass/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ERIC RAMSAY

On the yellow cards...

"No one can look at them and say they are yellow cards. I don't want to be someone that for my own satisfaction comes out and talks about the referees and decisions and the way in which they influence the game. I don't want to dwell too much on that because everyone has seen with their own eyes how the game is impacted by those instances. I don't want to dwell on it repeatedly. Disappointing, but the big thing today is how we responded, how we finished the game. I'd much rather spend my time focusing on that."

On Clint Irwin needing to punch the ball farther (referring to Austin FC's goal)...

"Clint [Irwin] is really disappointed with that one. I'm sure he would be the first to say that he would like to deal with it better. It's one of the few opportunities we really gave them over the course of the game of any real note. It's disappointing to have lost in that way given the circumstances wrapped around that. Clint has done a really good job for us since he stood in, in really difficult circumstances. I won't really dwell on that one all that much."

On reshaping with 10 men...

"We ended up playing with two lines of four and a single forward and then quickly at halftime changed to playing with a front two. Bongi [Hlongwane] and Sang Bin [Jeong] to start with. I think it helped us. It wasn't solely due to the change, the players attitude and the way they attacked the game in the second half. The way the fans really supported the team, the way they drove the team through really difficult circumstances. They are the most important ingredients in a situation like that. I think the way we looked, the way we ended up setting up, was to the team's benefit. We had a really good go in the second half which is the important thing."

On how the team responded the last 65 minutes...

"They did incredibly well. Exactly as we would have wanted them to respond. It speaks to this circumstance. I just said to the players in the dressing room, you strip away all the disappointment of the situation that we find ourselves in the moment. That is a performance that will stand us in good stead as the season goes on. This fortunately is one of those leagues that affords you to have these spells that were in at the moment. There's an awful lot going against you and that's showing in results but fortunately tonight it didn't show in performance, attitude and application, togetherness in a sense of group in team we got here. I think as the season goes on, as we get into the latter stages, that is the most important thing. As disappointing as tonight is for a load of reasons. There's far more positive than negative to take from it."

On being the better team after making substitutes...

"Yeah, we always felt in the second half that the way the crowd is here, the way they respond to good moments if we have a couple of good moments in the second half that we would likely be the dominant team at least for a little while. It's difficult to sustain attacks for really long periods when you are a man down and when you haven't perhaps got the depth on the bench that we would normally have here. But, to a man the players did absolutely everything they could have possibly done today. Really front foot, really playing forward, even with the message at half time being to pick and choose your moments, to press and not open up the game, the players pressed really well. [They] really squeezed the game in the second half and I think that is to their credit. There is no one that could look at the game today and say the players didn't absolutely empty out on the pitch and that is huge for us."

On the changes from first half to second half...

" Yeah, it was making sure that when we had the chances to attack that we did attack with real purpose and we played forward quickly and we ran forward. And I think at our very best, we are a dynamic team and we've showed that in the second half in spite of the situation. And that's what we want from our forwards. We want them to be running on the back line relentlessly. We want to play forward quickly, we don't want to be overly patient. And we did that to really good effect, albeit it didn't come to any, any result, not loads and loads of clean cut chances. I think given the circumstances, the performance overall in that sense was excellent."

On any difficulty staying positive despite the three defeats...

"No, strangely, I really don't, and I'm very relaxed about this situation for multiple reasons, but number one, I know that we are in a good place. I know that, again, I've tried to stress over the course of the last couple of weeks to the players and to anyone that's asked that we're not leaning into any excuse that we've got on the table at the moment. But we're in this position for me for lots of reasons. And largely those reasons aren't the quality of the group. They're not the togetherness of the group, they're not the way we're training, they're not work rate, they're not attitude, they're not application. It's a strange set of circumstances that we find ourselves in over the course of the last couple of weeks. So for that reason, I'm positive for the light at the end of the tunnel that we'll experience in the coming weeks with players coming back. And for what we've done this year, I'm positive so far because I know we're onto a good thing with this group and the group knows that as well. And as far as the table goes, this fortunately is one of those divisions that gives you a bit of a chance to stay in touch because of the nature of how the results go and what we've done up until this point. So we've got a bit of margin for error, but I'm sure we will get back on track. I'm absolutely adamant and I'm sure the players feel that. So we have no problems at the moment. We do not feel like the walls are caving in, in any way."

On crowding the middle and the stronger side with the ball...

"It's obviously difficult when you have a man less than the opposition to make sure that on big switches of play you've got players close, which is typically something we do well. So they both Joe [Joseph Rosales], but more so Caden [Clark] as he came on, did find himself on one v one often, but I think he equipped himself, equipped himself really well in those situations and find himself down the side of the box repeatedly in spite of the fact he didn't have loads of support. So I think it was more a consequence of the man down situation than anything else. I would say."

On what Sang Bin Jeong can do to score...

" He needs to keep working on that side of his game without a shadow of a doubt. I think he's obviously, he's filling a role for us at the moment that typically Tani [Oluwaseyi] or [Teemu] Pukki would do. Sang Bin is definitely capable of playing there and you see in, in lots of moments that he's got a real eye for the space in behind. He makes really intelligent runs. He's a really willing runner, relentless runner. So he's got a good deal, which means that when I look at him in that position, I'm confident you've seen in games recently that he has got a cutting edge to him when he is on it, he will say himself that he needs to make sure that is the case more often than not. So yeah, you can't look at the guy tonight though and be critical because the shift he did for the team was phenomenal. And the fact that he's still making those runs in behind as the game goes on is really impressive. And he's exactly what you want in a player when you find yourself in that situation. He's completely selfless and I'm sure as the season goes on, he will take his chances more often than not."

On being more traditional and playing a tall forward when down to ten men...

"You could certainly look at it that way. I think for us it was making sure that we struck that balance between staying in the game, not being too open, but also having a threat on the counter attack, which we did. And Bongokuhle [Hlongwane] Sang Bin [Jeong] you have players that are capable of really working hard for the team, protecting the middle of the pitch, but then being a big threat on the transition. I think that was a good change for us. And then Rob [Lod], when he went alongside Sang bin [Jeong], obviously provides something similar. So we wanted to strike that balance between really chasing the game, being positive, but also not being naive enough to open the game up quickly. So I think we had one of those chances of Sang Bin's perhaps, or one of the set plays gone in at the end, you'd feel like they had played it perfectly, but unfortunately not to be tonight."

MIDFIELDER WIL TRAPP

On what he told referee Drew Fischer after Hassani Dotson's second yellow card...

"It's one where when you set the precedent, with the early yellow cards, with the way he handed them out, now you tow the line of potentially having to make make-or-break calls that change the entire game. It's just a little frustrating to be down a man in the 25-26th minute, when they're pretty quick succession of yellow cards for Hassani [Dotson]. But ultimately that's the way he wanted to referee the game, so it certainly changed the complexion of it all."

On if the game was called consistently...

"Yeah, you can say that, but I am always on the side of you can warn a player, too, right? Drew [Fischer] is a great referee, I think sometimes, that's the way he felt like, whether it was Micky's [Miguel Tapias] tackle that set the tone with the first yellow card, that he wanted to just quell things a bit but again, it changes everything."

On being better after substitutions and being down to 10 players...

"For us, the level of belief, the way the fans supported us from the 26th minute on, that's going to bode well for us in the future. Yes we lose this game, yes that's frustrating, yes we would've loved to win. Three games in a row losing is not something we want to be about, but the underlying trends of a group that stays together and grinds through that, creates chances. Those are always positive things. While we don't feel great about it, there are things looking to the future that will be beneficial for us."

On if he also feels Head Coach Eric Ramsay's positivity...

"Absolutely, it's not even just positivity, he [Eric Ramsay] is very rational and looks at things objectively. There's moments that could have been better for us, but in many ways there's good moments as well. To be down a man, to be suffering as much as we did, and to still have almost nearly equal possession, almost nearly equal shots, that shows what this group is about. We are going to need to draw upon that more."

On what changed during the second half...

"When we were even, 11-v-11, there was not passiveness, but [we were] trying to figure out where the gaps were. As the game opens up, it's really just about being aggressive. I think we're a team that when we're aggressive, when we're playing forward, generating set pieces, generating shots, we're just a better team. Ridding that little bit of timidity at the beginning and just going for it is what seems to be our better version of ourselves."

On Austin FC scoring quickly after Hassani Dotson went off...

"I mean, it's not ideal. Again, all the things we've just said, the mentality of the group wasn't anything about we're going to give up. I don't think you saw that from us."

On the fluid dynamic play during the second half...

"We didn't say much, it's more just about the collective mentality of making plays and having an impact versus trying to wait for things to happen, we're a better team. I think you saw everybody taking responsibility in those moments to connect the game, to push the game, to try and score. In my opinion, that's the difference there."

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