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NASL Minnesota United FC

RECAP |Loons Soar Past Eddies in Dominant 3-1 Victory

October 15, 2016 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Minnesota United FC News Release


BLAINE, Minn. (Saturday) -- As the season's end draws nearer the Loons are healthy, playing well and back on the winning track with a 3-1 victory at home against FC Edmonton. Christian Ramirez scored his 51st league goal and 18th of the season as the Loons held a 25 percent edge on possession and bettered Edmonton with more shots on target en route to three points.

"The last few weeks we played quite well but didn't get the results, but we've been, in my opinion, improving each week, so there's no room for errors this evening," said Minnesota United Head Coach Carl Craig. "It was certainly our best performance of the second half of the season, because we not only played good football, but we scored some goals."

A clever give and go in the opening minutes of the game had United knocking on the Edmonton goal. J.C. Banks and Christian Ramirez had a quick interchange of passes near midfield that ultimately sent Ramirez streaking into space near the sideline. Ramirez took one touch and knocked it in low toward the far bar where Danny Cruz was crashing. Cruz slid in through a tangle of bodies, but his defender was able to get to the ball first, deflecting it out of bounds.

It was the beginning of a promising start for the Loons, who controlled possession throughout the first 20 minutes of the match ending the half with 66 percent possession and successfully finding space in the final third against the Eddies. United continued to test Edmonton goalkeeper Tyson Farago from distance with Banks dribbling into space and delivering a knuckling shot from the top of the box 14 minutes in, however it was Edmonton who would capitalize off a United mistake in the 16th minute for the first goal of the match. Sammy Ndjock struggled to catch a shot from a free kick that skipped off the turf and into his chest. Unable to control the shot, Ndjock bobbled the ball into the path of Edmonton captain Albert Watson, who tapped in the rebound, delivering an early Edmonton lead.

"The guys put in a shift tonight, it could have gone south really early, we were pumping them and they somehow sneak in a goal," said United forward Christian Ramirez. "But, the guys stuck together and that's what we talked about before the game and at half time and throughout the game if we huddled up that's what we were talking about just to stick together and we ended up getting that third goal that was so crucial."

After conceding against the run of play, United reorganized and moved forward as a more determined unit. One touch passing through the midfield led to a United equalizer as Ibson found Banks who flicked a pass along to Ramirez at the top of the box. Lifting his head, Ramirez hit the ball on a half volley hard past the face of Farago and into the back of the net evening the match at 1-1.

The Loons continued to put pressure on the Eddies back line, working the ball with a combination of passes outside in and directly through the center of midfield toward the Edmonton net. Ramirez nearly tallied his second of the match in the 38th minute, flicking a Kevin Venegas pass around the back of his leg toward net and wrong-footing Farago, who barely managed to get his hand on the ball for a block and sent it toward the far bar where Banks was crashing. Banks stepped hard, but Farago was saved by a defender, who got there first and hit it hard into the stands behind the net.

"The message at halftime was just to get out there and play as we had, play to the plan and play the same way we played in the first 15-20 minutes and we should be all right," said Craig. "When we play to the plan, then we look like a good football team."

The second half started with a more neutral pace than the first, but the Loons continued to look dangerous moving forward and just eight minutes in Ramirez tallied his second goal of the night. It was once again artful passing out of the midfield that lead to the chance, with Venegas finding Ibson on the far side of the box with a perfectly placed lofted pass. Ibson took one touch to center the ball and Ramirez slid in and slotted it home, giving the Loons a 2-1 lead.

United was not content to sit on a one goal lead and continued to push forward, looking to create some space on the scoreboard. That effort was rewarded in the 84th minute with Stefano Pinho directing a header on net and past Farago. Speas threw the ball in to Ramirez near the penalty area, then received the ball back in a series of quick passes from the Loons before Speas delivered a picture perfect pass meeting Pinho at the near bar. Pinho out-jumped his defender and put it away for his 5th goal of the year and United's third of the evening.

Three goals were enough for three points for the Loons, earning their first win in seven games and moving three points ahead of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Rayo OKC and Fort Lauderdale Strikers for the crucial fourth and final postseason place in the North American Soccer League standings. United travels to Carolina next weekend for its final regular season away match before returning to NSC Stadium to close the season against the New York Cosmos.

"Absolutely massive, we're in a good position, we've got the three points, we go to Carolina next week," said Craig. "We can go into Carolina now with a bit of confidence knowing that we can get results, so in that regard it's good, it's positive."

Minnesota United Starting XI: GK Sammy Ndjock; D Justin Davis, Brent Kallman, Damion Lowe, Kevin Venegas; M Jeb Brovsky, J.C. Banks (Chris Klute 90+2'), Ibson (Juliano Vicentini 76'), Ben Speas, Danny Cruz (Stefano Pinho 80'); F Christian Ramirez

MNU Unused Subs: GK Steward Ceus; D Tiago Calvano; M Aaron Pitchkolan, Lance Laing

FC Edmonton Starting XI: GK Tyson Farago; D Pape Diakite, Albert Watson, Shawn Nicklaw, Adam Eckersley; M Nik Ledgerwood (Shamit Shome 83'), Cristian Raudales, Daryl Fordyce, Tomi Ameobi; F Ben Fisk (Pedro Galvao 46'), Jake Keegan (Sainey Nyassi 66')

FCE Unused Subs: GK Matt VanOekel; D Karsten Smith; M Allan Zebie, Nicolas Di Biase

Match Events

Goals 16' - Watson (unassisted) - FCE 23' - Ramirez (Banks) - MNU 53' - Ramirez (Ibson) - MNU 84' - Pinho (Speas) - MNU

Discipline 51' - Diakite (YC) - FCE 58' - Fordyce (YC) - FCE

Attendance: 8,059

About Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC plays in the 12-team North American Soccer League (NASL), which also includes the Carolina RailHawks, FC Edmonton, Rayo OKC, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Puerto Rico FC, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Ottawa Fury FC, Indy Eleven, Jacksonville Armada, Miami FC and the New York Cosmos. Find out more about Minnesota United at MNUnitedFC.com, Facebook.com/MNUnitedFC, and on Twitter @MNUnitedFC.

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North American Soccer League Stories from October 15, 2016


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