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MLS Minnesota United FC

MNUFC Fall to Union Omaha in US Open Cup

May 25, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. - On paper, the matchup may have appeared to be more of a mismatch than a matchup, but last season's USL League One champions, Union Omaha, weren't about to roll over for the Loons. Especially with such a golden opportunity to play spoiler to a bigger, faster MLS opponent and move on to the next round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

At first, it didn't look like MNUFC was going to let Omaha create any kind of underdog narrative. Right away, in the 6th minute, the Loons drew first blood off of three quick passes from Arriaga to Fragapane to Adrien Hunou's right foot and onto its final destination, the net.

However, the Horned Owls wouldn't allow MNUFC to grab the momentum from them. Late in stoppage time before the half, Union Omaha midfielder John Scearce headed a pass to forward Hugo Kametani, who put the shot past Loons goalkeeper Eric Dick's diving save attempt. That tied things up at 1-1. Not exactly a comforting way to head into the locker room.

Union Omaha forward Joe Brito came into the second half ready for his moment. His goal in the early stages of the second half was a beauty. For the home team, things felt like they were getting ugly in a hurry. Not long after that, Coach Adrian Heath went to his short-staffed bench to add some fresh legs to the pitch with midfielders Aziel Jackson and Niko Hansen subbing in for Fragapane and Hlongwane.

The switch did give the Loons a bit more energy in their attack, but the physicality that the Owls had shown throughout the contest never relented. In the 78th minute it looked like there might be an equalizer in our midst but, cross bar.

Niko Hansen and D.J. Taylor worked the right side of the field much of the latter parts of the second half which afforded the team some very good opportunities to stave off the upset. Unfortunately, the Loons attack just could not make a solid connection from boot to ball.

And so, the underdogs had their day. To be fair, Union Omaha stood toe-to toe with the Loons and didn't allow the moment to be too big for them to handle.

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United: GK Eric Dick; D Oniel Fisher, Michael Boxall (c), Nabilai Kibungychy, DJ Taylor; M Kervin Arriaga, Jacori Hayes, Franco Fragapane, Adrien Hunou, Bongokuhle Hlongwane; F Luis Amarilla

Union Omaha: GK Rashid Nuhu; D Gabriel Claudio Daltyn Knutson, Emir Alihodzic; M Joseph Brito, John Scearce, Conor Doyle (c), Hugo Kametani; F Noe Meza, Kemal Malcom, Ryen Joba

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. NEW YORK CITY FC

Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota

05.28.2022 | MLS 2022 Regular Season | Week 14

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

MINNESOTA UNITED QUOTE SHEET

MNUFC HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH

On how he sums up the result...

"Embarrassing. Firstly, tip your hats off to them. Looked like they wanted it more than we did tonight, which is a poor reflection on us. We had plenty of chances and plenty of possession, but with the attacking team that we had out, not to have scored more than one goal with the opportunities and the amount of goals we've had in the final third, is a little bit strange, I'll have to watch it again. But, no, not good enough. We always talk about players coming in asking 'when am I going to get my chance, I need an opportunity'. Some of them have had a chance now, not done a lot with it, I'm afraid."

On different players getting on opportunity...

"No, they didn't play well. We can dress it up. I've played in these games. I've been the underdog. I remember going with Orlando City as a USL team, going to Sporting Kansas [City] and winning to go to the quarterfinals like [Omaha] have done today. And if you approach the game properly, these are professional kids who for some of them might have been the biggest game they ever play. Fair dues to them. They played like it might be a huge game for them and we didn't. Too many of ours just coasted through the game and thought that would be enough. It's not. Every year there's a Cup competition. Last round it was four MLS clubs. Didn't approach it properly, you get beat and we've done the same and we fell for it again."

On the reason for the short bench...

"I've got one or two guys who are injured and obviously with the weekend in mind. We've got two DP's on the field, got three internationals on the field, some guys who have played 150 games in the MLS. Should be more than enough to win the game. If we had approached it like we should have done and we started the game quite rightly, creating a lot of opportunities, but then you don't...the first goal is a comic goal. A long, straight ball from the goalkeeper and then there's a guy who's 5'8" heads it on and the guy runs through and scores. It's schoolboy stuff really."

On the performances of Adrien Hunou and Luis Amarilla...

"I think they looked the same as everybody else. It wasn't good enough. I expect more out of the group, full stop. I expect more out of them. I expect more out of the guys who've not played an awful lot."

On if the team gave enough respect to Union Omaha...

"I'm more concerned with the way that we played. I knew what was coming. I know their two coaches really well. The assistant, Bobby Murphy, worked with me for six, seven years. I knew they would be well organized. I knew they would be highly motivated. And we really didn't meet that challenge head-on. With the group of players that we had out we should've and we have to take it on the chin. As I just said to the group there, we're kidding ourselves if we think we did enough tonight to impose ourself on another team. And we didn't."

On how Kervin Arriaga is feeling after leaving the match due to injury...

"I think he's mad. Broke his nose or something. He's suspended for the weekend and we've got the break so hopefully he'll be okay for after that."

On the feeling following the first goal...

"No, it was a good start. When these games go longer at nil-nil they get more belief and get more belief that they can snatch a goal. You go one up that early, you should really then go on to dominate the game and we had a lot of possession. I don't think we had enough in the final third, quality to make something out of nothing. Unless it was a perfect ball which the first goal was. That's a good finish. We didn't do enough with the possession that we had. I don't know how many crosses we put in this evening."

On Omaha's first goal potentially being offside...

"It looks offside but, as I just said, win the first one, if you can't win the first one, second. Then you must get around and cover each other and deal with the second one. The guy who's heading the first one is probably as big as me. Nabi [Nabilai Kibunguchy] and Boxy [Michael Boxall] are what? 6'2? 6'3?"

On Aziel Jackson and Niko Hansen coming off the bench...

"I thought AZ [Aziel Jackson] did some nice stuff. He's worked hard with the reserves and I think he deserved an opportunity to get on the field this evening. I'm disappointed with the experienced guys we had on the field. I thought they could have given us more tonight and I expect more out of them."

On dropping points at home this season...

"I don't know. I wish I knew, I'd put it right. I said to you before I look at the Cincy [FC Cincinnati] game, I look at the Galaxy game. What we had twelve, thirteen good opportunities, chances. We are given ourselves too much to do at times in games by not taking opportunities when they come our way."

On looking for chances and getting it done...

"We sit down, we go over the video and we speak again. As I just said to them, we've all been here, I've been here before. The longer I'm in football I'll be here again. The game is littered with it all over the world. Premier League clubs getting beat by fourth division clubs. Invariably it's because you don't approach the game in the right manner. I couldn't have said any more to the guys from Monday, Tuesday, and tonight's game of what to expect and what was to come. We have to shoulder the responsibility of that and I do. It's my responsibility to make sure they don't play like that. Sometime along that way you act as an individual, stand up and go, that isn't going to be me. He's not gonna label that at me after the game."

On something he looks for from any particular player...

"You look at your experienced players. They are the ones who have been there, seen it, done it. We had enough out there today to have won the game."

On DJ Taylor's crossbar volley...

"No, I think we had a crazy amount of possession the last fifteen, twenty minutes and we got the ball in good spots and we put the ball in good areas. But we didn't have enough desire to get on the end of it at times. Actually from what I've said this evening, the one exception I want to put out is DJ [DJ Taylor]. I actually thought he was top draw again this evening. He's one of the few I think can say, 'I did my bit tonight'. And he is."

MINNESOTA UNITED DEFENDER MICHAEL BOXALL

On tonight's performance...

"They had two poor goals, that is the most basic when [defending], the ball is five yards in front of the player we need to go up and win those balls and maybe defend better on their shot as well. The second one is just a poor giveaway in our own third, really. No one reacts and they just put it top bin. The rest of the game, we had seventy-odd percent possession, not doing enough with it, particularly in the final third. We didn't create enough chances, we didn't test the keeper a whole lot. Omaha defended well, very organized. Congrats to them. It's one that we should be walking away with."

On if the club took Omaha serious enough as an opponent...

"It felt like we were moving the ball around well, but just not really incisive enough in the final third. Controlled the ball fairly well at times. It felt like they came into our half like seven or eight times. The amount of possession we had, we needed to do more with it. That's not just...the group of players who played tonight, but we have to do better in league games as well. It's not going to be news that we are not as dangerous as we should be in the final third. It wasn't taking them lightly. Maybe it's a bit difficult for players who haven't been playing regularly to come in, but when you have these opportunities we need to do a lot better than we did tonight."

On what is said to teammates after a game like this...

"It's just something that top to bottom, within the whole club has to go home and take a look in the mirror tonight. [Tonight's] not reflective of what we want to be as a club. We have a few young guys coming in and we expect them to do better, but we have a sixteen-man squad tonight with some healthy players sitting in the stands that could've helped us tonight. 30-40 minutes isn't going to kill anyone for the weekend. Everyone, top to bottom needs to have a good look in the mirror, if you want to be a professional footballer, if you want to be involved in this club you then that's far below the standard that we want to set."

On whether the first goal conceded was offside...

"No, I'm not too sure. It doesn't matter at this point. The mistakes before that; that shouldn't be happening at our club. That no one was challenging for those balls. Up until Kervin [Arriaga] got injured and taken out he was winning all those balls, but when he is not on the field it's the centerbacks job. So, between me and Nabi [Kibunguchy] it's got to be us and it wasn't that one time and we got punished for it."

On tonight being a low point...

"Well, the freshest wounds always hurt the worst. There certainly have been a lot of low points. We just need to give credit to Omaha. They well organized. They took their chances excellently tonight. Again, we need to have a good look at ourselves tonight as well."

On how Nabi Kibunguchy played...

"He's got all the tools, all the attributes. It's one thing, I need to look at myself, when playing beside him, to lead there a bit more. As a centerback you have just need to do all the simple stuff right. To play the ball to whoever is on, don't give away any stupid shit in your own third, win your headers. It's difficult for him because he has been used in quite a few positions, so I think it's on me help guide him through the times. He will learn from tonight for sure. He's a good kid, he will come back and work hard and still be important for us."

On DJ Taylor's performance...

"He's certainly come in with his opportunity and made the most of that. It's hard to single out anyone that really played well tonight, after that result. He's a good professional, he's got a lot of energy, he gets up and down. We rely on our fullbacks to create a lot of our opportunities getting forward from those wide positions and he's got the tools to do that for 90 minutes. On the back of his great performance on the weekend. It's hard to give anyone a glowing report card after that result."

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