The timing of Wednesday night’s opening U.S. Open Cup fixture for Minnesota United was not ideal.
United had the shortest possible turnaround from an away game in Kansas City on Sunday evening in MLS to Wednesday’s game in Cincinnati.
Sure, FC Cincinnati is an inferior team in theory, but the USL team had already proven their ability to beat MLS teams with a run to the semifinals of this tournament last season. They will enter the MLS next season and compete directly against United as a result of their minor league success.
This would not be an easy game.
Adrian Heath shifted his lineup a bit, but six players who played the full game on Sunday started on Wednesday: Miguel Ibarra, Bobby Shuttleworth and the four members of the Minnesota defense. Christian Ramirez also started after starting Sunday’s defeat against Sporting Kansas City.
The changes were in formation. Darwin Quintero received a well-deserved rest, and United gave Abu Danladi a chance to impress on the wing of a 4-3-3 — a potential audition to replace Alexi Gómez in the starting lineup. A midfield trio of Maximiano, Collin Martin and the rarely-seen Collen Warner would be the least-reliable piece of the team.
To say that the game was played at a slow pace would be a remarkable understatement. From the very start, United looked like they were very content to walk their way through 120 minutes and rely on Shuttleworth to carry them through a penalty shootout — a bold move.
The new midfield trio played the ball slowly and the glaring lack of creativity in Quintero’s absence was clear to see. Eric Miller’s departure with an injury after just 13 minutes give Carter Manley an opportunity to impress, but he was unable to make an impact down the sideline and was badly caught out of position a couple of times after entering the game.
Cincinnati were no pushovers. They had the better fluidity in attack, and easily dealt with the minimal threats United delivered. United’s defense, the least-changed part of their team, had its fair share of shaky moments and inaccurate shooting from the home side saved their day more than a few times.
Ironically to Sunday’s result, United’s two best chances of the first half came from the feet of Maximiano. While he did pick up his token yellow card late in the second half, a shot just wide of the post and a cross that Danladi failed to attack were both of his own creation. His 99 minutes before his departure for Frantz Pangop nearly doubled his previous total of 106 for the season.
Danladi did not take as much advantage of his chance. His speed was checked both by the Cincinnati defense and by the passing of his own team, and he was frequently unable to get a shot off when in a position in which he should have done so.
One suspects that he would look better with better players around him, but this was not a night of excellence for the young striker. On the positive side, Danladi played the full 120 minutes with no signs of injury, something which has remained the biggest question surrounding him both this season and last.
Cincinnati continued to have the better chances in the second half and after extra time began, and United continued to contrive ways to lose possession. On the occasions when Minnesota actually sent a cross into the box, they looked like they could easily get a head on the ball if they just did that a little more.
Unfortunately, they continued to neglect the sides of the field for forces into the middle, with overlapping sideline runs by Manley and Tyrone Mears frequently ignored for dribbles into three defenders in red and blue.
For all of this, Cincinnati never looked that close to scoring, and Shuttleworth did the necessary on the occasions when they didn’t hit the ball into the crowd — a positive sign for the inevitability of penalties.
Once penalties began, if United had planned to go this route, the plan worked spectacularly. Ramirez, Martin and Brent Kallman all scored near-perfect penalties, and Shuttleworth made two saves to go with a shot off the crossbar by Kenney Walker as Minnesota came out of the shootout 3-1 victors with a round to spare.
United will move into the fifth round of the Open Cup for the first time as an MLS team. Questions will remain over Eric Miller’s health, but these were valuable minutes for many reserve players, and valuable rest for a few key starters.
The opportunity now for United is rest for everyone. They do not play again until their next fixture in this tournament, which will be at least ten days off (the matchups will be drawn tomorrow, and the earliest possible date is June 16).
Their next MLS game is on June 23 at Colorado. They go into this break on the note of a long, slow, ugly game, but a long, slow, ugly win.
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