The perfect start to the season for Minnesota United FC was bound to end at some point, even with their first two wins something of a pleasant surprise and the upgrades they made in the offseason. One hoped they would make it a third win against a Los Angeles Galaxy side missing their superstar striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Instead, United put on a performance that had plenty of 2018 to it, as the Galaxy deservedly picked up a 3-2 win that should probably not have been as close as it was. Minnesota was second-best for most of the warm California evening, and their late attempts to snatch a point did not yield fruit.
There were two changes in Minnesota’s eighteen-man squad for this game, but neither seemed to loom large at first glance. Abu Danladi received his first bench selection of the season, with Mason Toye sent to Forward Madison FC for the week — where he scored two goals in a 6-1 win.
The other was technically not in the 18, but no less important. Adrian Heath himself had complications from a dental procedure earlier in the week and was unavailable for the game, with assistant coach Mark Watson running the sideline game on Saturday night.
When Minnesota started the game on the back foot, it was no real surprise. They had been slow to start each of their first two games as well, even allowing an early goal to Vancouver, but had grown into the game and come out with three points each time.
This time, however, the Galaxy were not only on the front foot but looked remarkably threatening. The pace of their attacking forces had United scrambling on defense, with Vito Mannone required to spring into action early and often. The pressure applied by young Mexican striker Uriel Antuna forced mistakes and bad decisions from the Minnesotan backline just trying to play in possession out of defense.
The Galaxy appeared to have placed a target on the left side of Minnesota’s defense, with Rasmus Schüller and Francisco Calvo both put under heavy pressure by Rolf Feltscher and Emmanuel Boateng. Schüller in particular looked behind the pace of play, and was completely irrelevant to United’s attempts to move forward.
This also decapitated some of the better parts of United’s offense, with Calvo stuck in his own half and unable to impact the attack, as he has done to great success early in the season. Romario Ibarra had a couple of good breakaway attempts as United attempted to climb into the game, but United could not maintain possession.
Los Angeles’ breakthrough came just after some of United’s best play of the half, and it was Antuna’s speed that made the difference. Antuna soundly beat Ozzie Alonso on a run into the box, and Alonso’s foul on him from behind was a clear penalty. Jonathan dos Santos made no mistake, and the Galaxy had a deserved lead.
The killer was the second goal before halftime, with that very left side of Minnesota’s defense to blame. Feltscher’s run in from the right was completely untracked by either Schüller or Calvo, both watching the ball in the middle of the field, and his cross found Chris Pontius’ chest to double the lead.
Minnesota’s lack of its head coach seemed like a newly interesting — and frustrating — issue. The team had been nearly run off the pitch in the first half, and at least one change was clearly needed. United had a staggeringly low 38 percent possession in the first half, and while the team has often preferred to play on the counter, that was completely unacceptable.
It took until 60 minutes for Schüller to be withdrawn for Ethan Finlay, who was immediately more involved on both offense and defense. One has to wonder, with Minnesota off next weekend, if Finlay’s fitness and Schüller’s form will mark Heath’s first starting lineup change of the season at New England on March 30.
United’s probable two best shots of the evening came within five minutes of the Finlay sub, with a Calvo shot missing high from a tight angle, and a bullet header by Romario from a perfect Romain Métanire cross bounced off David Bingham’s chest and was gathered on the second attempt.
Watson, true to Heath’s likely mindset, turned up the heat with his final two subs. Both Danladi and Ángelo Rodríguez entered for both Ibarras, with United moving to a 4-3-3 with Danladi and his pace to run on the right wing.
Both of the two were on but neither were involved as United’s attacking intent created their first goal. Jan Greguš, whose shots from long range have been high and wide thus far in his Minnesota career, found a low, skimming shot that may have taken a deflection but definitely fooled Bingham. United had halved the deficit, were in their best period of the game and had fresh attackers ready to chase the game.
The problem, as it often was in 2018 for Minnesota, is that it really needed to not give the third goal up. Mannone made perhaps his best save of the evening in the 78th minute, but a minute later Antuna soundly beat Michael Boxall to put in a cross that Sebastian Lletget, who was clearly the best player on the pitch all night, finished inside Mannone’s near post.
The hole was on Minnesota’s left once again, and the damage was done. The positivity for the future will come from those two attacking subs, who combined for the game’s final goal.
Danladi was aggressive, fast and looking for his shot from the moment he came on, and it was his header from a Métanire steal and cross that cannoned off the base of the post, with Rodríguez first to react and chase the ball across the line. The deficit was one again, and United had three minutes plus stoppage to get lucky.
The Galaxy barely gave them the chance, with crosses all cleared away and wise timewasting with a late substitution. Danladi had the best attempt with a cannon of a shot that was just over the crossbar in the 90th, but close was not close enough.
The result is unfortunate for Minnesota and comes with questions about their defense when exposed to multiple players with high pace. One of the only questions with Alonso’s signing was his age of 34, and his ability to keep up with Los Angeles’ swift youngsters may have been called into question.
Perhaps United’s personnel would even have been better suited to deal with a Galaxy attack built around Zlatan than they were to deal with what they got. They will have to figure out what the solution is for other teams that will inevitably attack that weakness.
However, six points from their first three road games remains a solid result, and now the team has two weeks to get in order for a very winnable game against New England, who have just one point from their opening two games.
Heath’s observations from this match will be interesting. Will Finlay be ready to start in two weeks? Is it time to try Rodríguez — who may have aggravated an injury while scoring his goal — or even Danladi up top to mix things up? Does he trust this lineup to recover and improve with further training?
All things to figure out, and all things that come with a team with revealed potential but clear weaknesses. The perfect season and perfect start are finished, and now the hard work of the season begins in earnest for Minnesota.
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