MLS Minnesota United FC

MNUFC Fail to Score in Goalless Draw against Whitecaps FC

Published on July 27, 2019 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. - A full 90 minutes wasn't enough to separate Minnesota United and Vancouver Whitecaps FC as the two sides battled to a scoreless draw at Allianz Field. Vancouver's resolute, well-organized defense fought off a first-half attacking onslaught from the Loons that stood in the end for the visitors. Making his return to Allianz Field from the African Cup of Nations, Romain Metanire fired in dozens of crosses that were dealt with by Vancouver goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau and his defense. The Loons will value the point but also leave feeling they should have connected on one of their more than three dozen crosses.

"We spoke about it in the week: This was gonna be one of them games and I was worried about it," said Head Coach Adrian Heath. "But the things that I was worried about didn't come to fruition this evening. The energy from the players was terrific. The only thing lacking was the final ball in the final third. What did we have, 30 crosses? 37 crosses? I can't remember the last time I was involved in a team that got 37 crosses off and probably didn't get on the end of more than two or three. That's an issue."

Minnesota United came flying out of the blocks in the early stages of the game as it came close to opening the scoring inside of three minutes. A clever dummy from Angelo Rodriguez opened a pocket of space for Darwin Quintero on the edge of the penalty area. A piece of good fortune then saw Quintero's deflected shot fall to the feet of Ethan Finlay who fired a low shot to the Vancouver back post. While Finlay's shot rolled inches wide of the post, a lunging Angelo Rodriguez arrived seconds too late as he attempted to slide and knock the ball home.

The Loons controlled the tempo of the game after their early chance - holding just under 60% of the possession in the first half. While the visitors struggled to create clear-cut chances throughout the opening 45 minutes, their best chance of the match came from an unfortunate Minnesotan deflection. In the 19th minute Romain Metanire failed to deal with a Vancouver set piece that was swung into the Minnesota penalty area from out wide. Fortunately for Metanire, the fullback's scuffed clearance smacked against the crossbar and rolled to safety.

Relieved as the scores remained knotted at zeros, Minnesota began to heap pressure on Vancouver. With five minutes to play in the first half, the Loons rode a wave of energy - spurred on by the roars of the Wonderwall - and created two golden opportunities to take the lead. In the 40th minute, a skillfully played give-and-go from Darwin Quintero to Metanire found the fullback with space in the Vancouver penalty area. Crossing first time with an inside-of-the-foot volley, Metanire's pass was deflected which fell to a streaking Quintero. Showing his composure in tight spaces, Quintero feinted past a Vancouver defender and blasted a goal-bound shot that was blocked off the line.

The chance sent the Whitecaps reeling as they almost conceded again, minutes later. In the 41st minute Angelo Rodriguez showed off his guile as he tiptoed past Vancouver's centerback Erik Godoy to make his way to the byline. Spotting an opening in the Vancouver goal, Rodriguez rifled a knifing shot from a tight angle but the ball again smacked the post. Miguel Ibarra was nearly on hand to tap the rebound home but the ball careened back with such pace that the midfielder couldn't adjust his feet in time to capitalize on the chance. Unable to score glorious chances just before halftime, Minnesota and Vancouver entered the break tied 0-0.

"We knew they'd set up and try to take away the middle of the pitch and we said let's switch the play," said Heath. "I thought we did really well in that in spells, but we never really had the great killer ball in. Darwin [Quintero] put a great ball in that bounced through the six-yard box first half and I expect somebody to be on the end of that. That wasn't to be."

Contrary to the first half, the second 45 minutes saw the Loons struggle to string a decisive final pass together and an air of frustration began to creep in around Allianz Field. As play slowed down, Heath deployed a familiar tactic as he subbed on Mason Toye and Abu Danladi in the 65th minute - looking to inject a bit of pace and energy into the game. Just eight minutes later, Miguel Ibarra rose to meet Metanire's cross and headed down to an open Mason Toye. Just six yards away from goal, Toye leaned back and sent his shot over the bar and out of play, a fantastic chance for the go-ahead-goal.

"They [Mason Toye and Abu Danladi] gave us some energy, which we thought one of them might produce something," said Heath. "I don't know if he was offside, but Mason had the chance, didn't he, after the little knockdown from Miggy. They've earned their opportunity, they've been training well. Especially Mason, you know, he scored seven goals recently. It is what it is, we'll go again."

Looking to push for the winning goal in the final stages of the game, Minnesota United began to throw numbers forward. Vancouver sensed the impending pressure and began to sit back in a deep block, defending wave after wave of Minnesota attack and only looking dangerous on the counter attack. Another chance for the Loons to win the game came in the 84th minute when Ike Opara flicked a header onto the Vancouver crossbar from a Metanire long throw. Bouncing off the crossbar, the ball fell to the feet of Ibarra who fired a volley from close range over the goal.

The final whistle brought an end to a frustrating night for Minnesota United as the home side will rue the chances that they missed and will feel unlucky to have had two attempts bounce off the Vancouver woodwork. While the Loons were unable to take all three points, they remain unbeaten in nine games as they head into a gargantuan clash with the Portland Timbers.

"I thought we had excellent preventative marking when we were attacking so much," said Heath. "Vito's had a save second half but first half, I don't think he had a save to make. We were pleased with a lot of aspects of our play. Our ball movement, circulation - at times - was excellent. Just the final third we couldn't pick a pass tonight. It's another point towards where we're going to try to get to and I've been doing this too long to look down at a point. Points are important and it's another clean sheet and we'll go again next week."

Minnesota United's next game is back at Allianz Field on Sunday, August 4 at 3:00 p.m. CT. in another Western Conference matchup against a dangerous Portland Timbers side. Pregame coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports North+, streaming on FOX Sports GO and on MNUFC Radio on SKOR North.

Lineups

Minnesota United FC Starting XI: GK Vito Mannone; D Romain Metanire, Ike Opara, Michael Boxall, Chase Gasper; M Jan Gregus, Osvaldo Alonso, Ethan Finlay (Abu Danladi 66'), Miguel Ibarra, Darwin Quintero; F Angelo Rodriguez (Mason Toye 66')

MIN Unused Subs: GK Bobby Shuttleworth; D Brent Kallman; M Hassani Dotson, Lawrence Olum, Rasmus Schuller

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Starting XI: GK Maxime Crepeau; D Ali Adnan, Derek Cornelius, Doneil Henry (Eric Godoy 14'), Jakov Nerwinski; M Felipe, In-Beom Hwang, Russell Teibert, Theo Bair (Lucas Venuto 73'), Yordy Reyna; F Fredy Montero (Brett Levis 81')

VAN Unused Subs: GK Zac MacMath; D Scott Sutter; M Andy Rose, Jon Erice

Game Events

Goals

NONE

Discipline

35' - Finlay (YC) - MIN

37' - Felipe (YC) - VAN

57' - Hwang (YC) - VAN

67' - Quintero (YC) - MIN

MINNESOTA UNITED QUOTE SHEET

MINNESOTA UNITED HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH

On his feeling about the game overall ...

"Really pleased with the effort, desire, energy. We spoke about it in the week: This was gonna be one of them games and I was worried about it. But the things that I was worried about didn't come to fruition this evening. The energy from the players was terrific. The only thing lacking was the final ball in the final third. What did we have, 30 crosses? 37 crosses? I can't remember the last time I was involved in a team that got 37 crosses off and probably didn't get on the end of more than two or three. That's an issue."

On the strategy of attacking wide ...

"We knew they'd set up and try to take away the middle of the pitch and we said let's switch the play. I thought we did really well in that in spells, but we never really had the great killer ball in. Darwin [Quintero] put a great ball in that bounced through the six-yard box first half and I expect somebody to be on the end of that. That wasn't to be. But as I said to the players, I can't fault their effort. It's another point towards where we're going to try to get to and I've been doing this too long to look down at a point. Points are important and it's another clean sheet and we'll go again next week."

On his team's defensive performance ...

"I thought we had excellent preventative marking when we were attacking so much. Vito's had a save second half but first half, I don't think he had a save to make. We were pleased with a lot of aspects of our play. Our ball movement, circulation - at times - was excellent. Just the final third we couldn't pick a pass tonight."

On the double substitution to bring in Abu Danladi and Mason Toye ...

"They gave us some energy, which we thought one of them might produce something. I don't know if he was offside, but Mason had the chance, didn't he, after the little knockdown from Miggy. They've earned their opportunity, they've been training well. Especially Mason, you know, he scored seven goals recently. It is what it is, we'll go again."

On Miguel Ibarra's performance ...

"He was okay, gave us the energy that he gives us. As I said to the front four, I expect someone, one of them, to produce me something at some stage and we haven't really had that today."

On what it takes to get that final ball ...

"You've got to get quality, keep that sustained pressure, which we've done. We had a ten minute spell in the first half where they really didn't get out of their own final third. It was just a little bit of quality was missing and that's the most important part of the pitch. Always has been, always will be. That's why the Josef Martinezes go for 20 million, 30 million. That final third of the pitch has always been and always will be the most important part of the game."

On Darwin Quintero's yellow card and the implications for Portland ...

"It's disappointing but ... it's strange because I ... I don't want to talk about it anymore because I don't know what a foul is anymore. I don't know what a handball is anymore. I've been doing this over 40 years and you watch the World Cup Final and the guy's not even looking and it hits his arm here ... today the ball hits the guy with his hand up here and even the referee's got his arm up here saying it hit him on the arm! I don't know what is and isn't a penalty anymore."

On the consistency of the calls this evening ...

"I actually think Armando [Villareal] is one of the best referees. I don't think he's had his greatest day today. I'm more disappointed with the time of both halves. Two minutes - there was somebody down for more than two minutes, we timed it. So forgetting all the other time wasted so ... five minutes? For the game that we've had today? Not sure that's right. But hey, I'm not a referee."

On Chase Gasper's performance ...

"Outstanding. Thought he was Man of the Match today. Thought he was absolutely outstanding. Once again, he's played against Reyna, he's played against Venuto. Pace, people who are a threat, I think he's been outstanding and I'm so pleased for him."

On Vancouver's progress since the first game of the season ...

"We had a brief chat after the game and I know they're in a difficult run at this moment in time. We've been there. You've just got to keep believing in what you're trying to do. You believe in your group and I thought they battled for him today. I heard one fella say to him last week, Do you feel as though you've got the players? I thought the players showed a real battling performance today for him. Hopefully that can continue."

MINNESOTA UNITED DEFENDER CHASE GASPER

On if the results reflected the way they played...

"No, they don't. I thought we deserved the 3 points but I mean that's soccer. You've got to tip your hats to Vancouver. They came in, they fought to the very last minute, they made the game very tough so hats off to them. I just don't think it fell for us tonight but keep our heads up. We're gonna focus this week and we've got a huge game next Sunday."

On what was missing...

"In soccer, that final pass, the bounce, the header, I mean we put so many shots that just went over. We hit the crossbar, we had a few bad bounces so I mean that's just happens some nights. Unfortunately, that was the case tonight. I thought defensively the whole team did well. We locked down again and that's really what we've been focusing on these past few weeks, not conceding goals and so I thought the team defensively, we did our job at not conceding. Just take the positives out of the game and I thought that was the biggest positive."

On not wanting to let down Adrian Heath...

"Yeah definitely, I thought we were all over them from minute 2, we were already in their box. I think we definitely didn't let him down. I think we came out intense, focused and what'd he say 37 crosses or something like that. I mean, we were on them the whole game. Like I mentioned earlier, it just wasn't our night. The final pass, the final bounce hit the cross bar. It happens in soccer but we're going to take the positives out of this game and focus on the next week."

On going up against some of the top right-winger in the MLS...

"Yeah, [Yordy] Reyna came on my side a few times. He's really good, really fast, creative player and I think it's been the continuing trend of fast, smaller creative wingers that have been right-wingers I've been marking but it's a learning experience every game. Just go in, try to do my best, work my hardest, do what my coach tells me. So tonight and this week, going to reflect on the game, figure out the positives and the negatives of my game specifically and just try to get better every single game."

On if he's holding his own as an MLS left-back...

"Yeah, I feel like I'm definitely holding my own, but you can't get content, that's where you kind stall out. I'm just getting started and I'm hungry. I want to get better every single game so that's my goal. Every single game get better and better."

MINNESOTA UNITED GOALKEEPER VITO MANNONE

On the clean sheet tonight...

"A little bit of disappointment, but we kept this run going. We look at the positives, we have to focus on the next two months because it's a long way to go. Still twelve games to go and it's important not to lose these kinds of games. It definitely feels like two points lost, but at the same time we have another big game on Sunday with Portland Timbers and then we have a massive game against them in the semifinals. We need to stay positive and think about working hard. The effort was there tonight, we gave 100 percent, but we weren't as bright as usual around the box."

On keeping your composure when lots of play is away from your goal...

"Yes, these games can be tricky ones. At the back you don't see as much of the ball and all of a sudden you have to switch on for a shot or something, it's important to stay focused 100 percent on the game without dropping outside the game."

On the amount of crosses and what it's like to view from a distance...

"Vancouver came here with five losses in a row and you could see that from the start, they dropped into their box and put everyone behind the ball and said 'ok we are going to defend the crosses', they let us go on the wings with Romain [Metanire] and Chase [Gasper] and they expected to clear every cross. Sometimes you get lucky with a bounce and sometimes you don't. It nearly went in for us and it nearly went in for them. Sometimes this game is all about the first goal and unfortunately tonight we didn't find the goal."

On defending in front of the Wonderwall in the second half...

"Yes, sometimes teams come here and they try this trick to put us in a different spot. Hey, it doesn't change anything in football. We are ready to play and obviously we try our best to play this game and get the three points. Maybe by the end it will be an important point. It's up to us now to keep this run going and focus on the next game."

On the implications of Darwin Quintero's yellow card suspension...

"He is a big player, but as I said this team is made up of twenty-six, twenty-seven players and everybody needs to be ready to jump on board and be ready, 100 percent and [we] are going to miss his quality and creativity but we have players who can help us and that's what the team is all about and everyone needs to be ready to push on and help achieve the objective, which is to make the playoffs."

MINNESOTA UNITED MIDFIELDER ETHAN FINLAY

On if he sees it as one point earned, two points dropped, or a combination of the two...

"Well the fact is that it's one point earned, but I think we feel like we gave two up tonight in the end. It's obviously a game that we think we should win, but saying that they had a good game plan tonight, they executed, we weren't sharp enough in the final third, and that all results in a 0-0 tie."

On what he saw out there tonight playing on the wing...

"I thought that movement had to be a little better in the box. We just weren't quite able to get on the final ball. We were very close a couple of times, Miguel [Ibarra] came pretty close, Mason [Toye] had one there. It was kind of just that final touch, and I think just putting more guys in the box, I'll have to go back and look how many crosses had two or more guys. It felt like that a lot of the time, we kind of just had one or two guys in there and we didn't have enough guys in the box. So I think that if we're going to have 37 or more crosses, we've gotta have more guys in the box and that's something we need to work on."

On if he noticed a difference in playing against a true left back like Ali Adnan...

"No, I mean for probably like 60+ minutes he didn't go forward too much, and I thought my job tonight was to run him a little bit, and I felt like in the end he was probably a little tired. He played pretty conservative defensively, and I don't think compared to the stuff I watched before that he got as high up the field as he usually gets. He's still got a really good left foot, and things like set pieces he can be really dangerous on. It's a matchup I was actually looking forward to because I heard about this guy back in 2015, I remember watching some of his Serie A tape at the time, so yeah I know he's a pretty good player and he's got heavy femurs, but I don't think he had anything on goal tonight besides on from distance that went over on the corner."

On if it felt nice to have the full week off...

"Yeah, it did, but that's kind of what's so disappointing about only coming away with a point and no goals here, because we've had a down week compared to what we've had over the past 4-6 weeks. Now we get an extended long week looking towards Portland, so we just gotta move forward with it."

On his thoughts about having to play Portland in back to back matches...

"It's weird for sure. It's weird because it's in two different competitions and they're both very very meaningful games. It's not a situation where you can drop points or drop a result in either one, that's just the facts. I expect that we'll put a full lineup out for both games and we're going for everything, we kind of have to at this point. Portland's a team that's chasing for a playoff spot and right now they're on the outside looking in, and they need to come here and gets points. They're a team that's trying to win trophies there, and so I think they're going to take the Open Cup very serious. Yeah they're on the road, but they have full intentions to come in here and get a result for the Open Cup. So managing that, and then the second game could go 120 minutes, so this could be a big week for us coming up."

On what the priority is for this season...

"You're in the semifinals of an Open Cup competition which isn't quite and equivalent to a twenty-second regular season game obviously. But it would be a bad idea to think we ca drop points on Sunday and focus too much on Wednesday, that could be something we regret come October 6. I really think we have to stress it. Tonight was a missed opportunity to extend the league on some teams and now we are right back in the dog fight. I haven't seen some of the results tonight and I don't know where the standings will be, come that Sunday [Decision Day, 10/6], but the advantage still sits with us. We have the home games. We don't have to travel and we have the home field advantage. This is what we train for. This is what preseason is for and we are getting our depth back and you saw that tonight."

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