The narrative heading into Saturday’s contest was clear: win it for the gaffer.
Minnesota United did just that as it took down Orlando City and coach Adrian Heath’s former club 1-0 at TCF Bank Stadium.
The Loons defeated the Lions and in the process partially vindicated their esteemed coach, who was let go by his former employer last season after being with the franchise since 2008.
“Players know what it means to players when they go back to their old clubs and it’s no different for coaches,” Heath said. “There’s been a lot said about my relationship and departure from Orlando… I wanted to win probably more today than I have in the past, but the most important thing for the club was to win.”
Other than about a handful of defensive zone lapses, United came close to playing a complete game, a feat that has alluded them on a number of occasions. At times this season that has been due to tough luck, but with Orlando unable to capitalize when given the chance, the Loons can finally be counted the fortunate ones.
“The strange thing, I’ve said to the players, is I don’t think we played as well tonight as we have done,” Heath said. “But we got the rewards for what we’ve put in over the last two or three weeks.”
Though it didn’t seem that way from the onset as it was revealed just prior to kick off that Minnesota would be without its premier player Kevin Molino due to an illness. Both he and Bashkim Kadrii were absent due to a bug Heath said he hopes is “just a 48-hour thing.”
In Molino’s place, 22-year-old Minnesota native Ismaila Jome got his first career Major League Soccer start. The youngster impressed quickly as he was the one that created United’s first chance, teeing up Ramirez splendidly with a ball over the top, only for the striker to skew his opportunity and not catch the shot fully.
Ramirez, per usual, was the focal point of Minnesota’s attack and was given a good chunk of chances that he couldn’t turn in. He didn’t let it get to him and showed amazing patience when he was put through on goal from a cheeky fleek from Johan Venegas. The move, specifically the no-look pass, needs to be seen to be believed.
“He didn’t even look because he knew I was waiting for it,” Ramirez said.
After the goal, Ramirez sprinted all the way across the field to go hug his manager in celebration.
“We knew how much this game meant to him,” Ramirez said. “So I made sure he got recognized for what he’s doing here.”
For more, check out the latest episode of the Minnesota Soccer Podcast and tune in on Monday morning for a breakdown of the Orlando City victory.
McGuire talks stadium at halftime
Minnesota United owner Dr. Bill McGuire spoke to the media at halftime about the club’s ongoing stadium planning process. He said getting the grass ready on the new stadium will be toughest challenge in terms of timeliness.
McGuire projected 2019 for the stadium’s completion and called trying to get it done by 2018 to be a “challenging timeline.” He got a little testy and steered away from any questions regarding a grocery store’s mortgage needing to be bought out.
Christian Ramirez is among the MLS goal leaders and notched his 8th of the campaign.
Ismaila Jome said he knew as early as Friday that he may get his first-ever MLS start.
Ibarra said the team discussed how they wanted to win this one badly for coach Adrian Heath and they’ve deserved more from their most recent matches.
