Minnesota United’s second game in a stretch of three in eight days was always bound to be a challenge.
Wednesday’s matchup was the only away game of those three, a game against a Los Angeles FC squad that had started the season hot.
Mason Toye’s red card suspension — received in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Vancouver — left United without an eligible striker for Wednesday’s game with Abu Danladi and Christian Ramirez still injured.
Minnesota was tired, hurt, and not their best as they slipped to a 2-0 defeat at the Banc of California Stadium.
The recipe for LAFC was a familiar, sad look from the Minnesotan perspective. This involved two goals within a few minutes of each other, both set up by catastrophically bad defense with United captain Francisco Calvo at the heart of both.
Los Angeles had been on top of the game from the start, hitting the post within six minutes. United were content to play on the counter with their returning attacking midfield trio of that single Saturday goal ready to run: Miguel Ibarra, Alexi Gomez and Darwin Quintero.
Quintero paid LAFC back in kind with a post hit of his own just a minute later, and there were hints of chances for Minnesota through combination play between Quintero and Ibarra throughout the first half.
The familiar problem, again, was the defensive shortcomings.
LA’s breakthrough came just after the half-hour mark, created through smart passing, an overplay from Calvo and a smart finish by Eduard Atuesta. The passing was too easy, the finish had too much space, and criticism could be had from many angles.
Six minutes later, the lead was doubled, and the mistake was even more egregious. A high cross was hit into Minnesota’s box, and somehow Calvo lost a header to the shorter Latif Blessing (listed at 5 feet 5 inches, and noted by the broadcast as one of the shortest players in MLS), which set up a finish by Mark-Anthony Kaye.
United’s best chances came from Ibarra, who could have chipped Tyler Miller but hit it low and was stuffed. On another occasion, he got Miller off his line but had his shot blocked away by Walker Zimmerman. Calvo had a header that could have worked, and Collin Martin was unable to get power on shots from eighteen yards.
The best chances of the second half fell to Los Angeles, and neither of Adrian Heath’s subs — Rasmus Schuller for Maximiano, who debuted tonight, and Frantz Pangop for Martin — inspired more of an attacking confidence.
Quintero’s role at the head of the attack took some things away from his game, and the lack of a fully fit striker to put on to chase a goal was notable. Christian Ramirez was on the bench but did not appear, which was not a surprise.
Minnesota returns home for Saturday’s game against San Jose with no further injuries, no red card suspensions and game minutes for the week’s new-look midfield trio of Martin, Maximiano and Harrison Heath.
Maximiano was likely the most impressive of those three, and given the expectation for him to fill a role that neither Schuller nor Ibson — who was not available on Wednesday — traditionally fill, his first MLS minutes were a perfect source for a little optimism in an otherwise-disappointing game.
“There is not a lot of time to be sad and disappointed about it because the next home game is just around the corner,” Jerome Thiesson said to Callum Williams and Jamie Watson after the game.
Both the players and fans will be unlikely to mourn this result too long. The comforts of TCF Bank Stadium and a weaker opponent await on Saturday.
