MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United FC at Los Angeles FC

Published on April 30, 2022 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - Saturday's storm held off long enough for MNUFC and Chicago Fire to go the full ninety-minutes, but in the timespan it was raining goals at Allianz Field. Emanuel Reynoso, Kervin Arriaga and Robin Lod all found the back of the net to give the Loons an impressive 3-0 win over the Fire, who had only allowed two goals prior to their trip to St. Paul. Up next, Minnesota United heads west to sunny Los Angeles to face LAFC this Sunday, May 1. Los Angeles is a tough place to play, and so far this season, Portland has been the only team to leave Banc of California with a point of any sort after they tied LAFC 1-1 on March 6. Draws have been commonplace between MNUFC and LAFC with their last three matches ending with the teams splitting the points. Going into Sunday's game, both the Loons and LAFC are fresh off of a three-game week that ended in three sets of three points. As long as the Loons continue to maintain their momentum, they stand a good chance to top the white-hot Western Conference leaders.

ADRIAN HEATH ON LAFC AS A CLUB

"They play in a similar shape, they play their 4-3-3 and they've got really good attacking pieces, whether it be [Cristian] Arango or whether it be [Carlos] Vela. Obviously, [Cristian] Fernandez is injured. [Kwadwo] Opoku has come in and done well. It's going to be tough at their place. It always is. We've been there in the past and got a couple of results so it's going to be tough but not impossible. Looking forward to it."

DAYNE ST. CLAIR ON LAFC FROM AN ATTACKING PERSPECTIVE AND PLAYERS SUCH AS CARLOS VELA...

"We know that when he does well, LAFC does well. Going into this weekend, if we can try to eliminate him and do our best job against them, we know we've gone there before and gotten a result, so it's not impossible. We're going to go in with the same mindset. We can go and get a result again."

STORYLINES PRESENTED BY BMW

POSSESSED: Traditionally, Minnesota has more success playing on the counter-attack, ceding possession to many opponents they've played. In two recent matches, the U.S. Open Cup game in Madison and the MLS win over Chicago, Minnesota controlled a majority of the possessions and won. In the first half of the Chicago game, the Loons had the majority of possession in every single five-minute increment of the half, resulting in quality chances from their ball control (most notably Reynoso's offside goal in the 10th minute and his free kick off the bar in the 20th minute). If the Loons can figure out the secret to consistently scoring goals while controlling possession, they will become an even more dangerous opponent. As we noted in last week's Storylines, set pieces are a great start, with another goal from a corner kick against Chicago.

FIRST TOUCHES

LAFC forward Carlos Vela's brother, Alejandro, played for Minnesota United during its NASL tenure. He made eight appearances for the Loons in 2015.

PLAYER AVAILABILITY REPORT:

Minnesota United

OUT:

H. Dotson - Knee (out for the season)

R. Metanire - Thigh

P. Weah - Knee

QUESTIONABLE:

N/A

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 30, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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