In their past three games at Allianz Field, Minnesota United has welcomed the second-placed and fourth-placed teams in the Western Conference and the second-placed team in the Eastern Conference. They have faced teams whose attacks were lead by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and now Jordan Morris.
With that said, Minnesota’s third draw in their first four games, 1-1 against Seattle on Saturday, still felt in some ways like two points lost. Rather than a statement about disappointment, it should be a statement of how far this team has come that such a result can be seen this way.
Minnesota welcomed a Seattle team that successfully got a point from the league’s best team in trying circumstances in their previous fixture, and a team that has been one of the best in the early part of the league season. The Loons had one particular connection to the Sounders that meant a little more than others.
Now fully enlisted as Minnesota’s captain with the Friday departure of Francisco Calvo by trade to Chicago, this game had to mean a little more for Ozzie Alonso than for others. Alonso played in Seattle for his first 10 seasons in MLS, serving as that club’s captain as well. This was his first game against the team in his career.
“Yeah, it’s hard, you know? But it’s part of life, but it’s part of sport,” Alonso said after the game. “I think they come here to win the game, they do the best they can to win the game, but it’s hard when you play against your former team.”
Alonso and the rest of Minnesota’s back seven looked to maintain their defensive record of two consecutive shutouts, with no changes among any of those players. Adrian Heath opened the game with Miguel Ibarra and Ethan Finlay to flank Ángelo Rodríguez, with Darwin Quintero left on the bench to start after his injury in the previous game.
Seattle’s attack, based around the returning Morris, came in tied with Minnesota as the second-best in the Western Conference. The Loons had dealt with their previous two challenges well, and clearly came in with a plan for Morris.
Luckily for them, Morris didn’t seem so prepared. After the opening nibbles by both teams, the game’s first major chance fell at his feet after an Ike Opara run left the Minnesotan defense badly exposed. Morris received a pass just three yards away from the goal with a chance to shoot, but his shot went inside the near post, almost unbelievably.
Just two minutes later, his disappointment was compounded as Minnesota took the lead through Opara himself. The Loons have been notably bad at both defending and attacking set-pieces in the past two years, but Opara’s addition changes the math. The defender rose to nod a Jan Greguš corner-kick in, and while his celebrations were limited by a head hitting the back of his, the crowd’s were not.
“This one hurt so bad,” Opara said later. “Normally I can celebrate through it, but it was there, it hurt.” Opara was good to continue, fortunate as he still wears protective headgear during games after a collision in the home opener against New York City FC.
With Minnesota ascendant, Seattle looked to find their own opening. Morris had the ball in the back of the net with a finish past Vito Mannone, but he had been caught offside, one of four such occasions in the half. It took a moment of class to break this defensive front, and Cristian Roldan was there to provide it.
Opara headed a cross clear of the box, but could only get it so far as Roldan just outside, and Roldan’s first time volley was hit with such power and spin that neither Mannone nor any defender had any chance to stop it. United’s resistance was broken, and the game was on.
As the first half drew to a close, Greguš’s temper threatened to become a story once again. The Loons’ midfielder had won many of the challenges he took in the opening part of the first half, but as he began to be called for fouls, he appeared to lose his temper, culminating in a yellow card on a foul he (and the rest of the stadium) disagreed with strongly.
Greguš had stolen the ball and was positioned to make a breakaway counter-attack. As he began to run, the backswing of his elbow caught Roldan in the face, and the whistle blew. It was unclear to the stadium that Roldan had actually been hit, and the boos were loud and clear.
As halftime hit, those boos continued, not for the players in grey on the field but for the men in yellow tasked with controlling the game, and those in green that the Wonderwall deemed to be going to ground too easily. Minnesota was well-positioned, but the mood was uneasy.
As the second half began, the Loons marked some of their best ball of the night. Romain Métanire had a nearly wide-open chance to shoot from eight yards, but missed the far post badly. Crosses rained in, with Opara, Brent Kallman and Rodríguez all looking for the right moment.
The craziest moment of play came just after the hour mark, when Kallman did get a header, but the ball got stuck bouncing around just six yards outside of goal, and the decisive shot came to Eric Miller, of all people. Miller could not get any power on his strike, and Seattle survived a moment of panic.
As the changes for both sides came in, Romario Ibarra was the first change to replace Ethan Finlay, then it was the late entry of the home side’s hero. Quintero replaced Rasmus Schüller, shifting United’s system back to Heath’s preferred 4-2-3-1, with 15 minutes to play and a game to be won.
Unfortunately, this coincided with Seattle threatening to do the winning with their strongest portion of the entire game. Seattle’s changes brought on Will Bruin and Roman Torres, and the two tall gentlemen provided all kinds of aerial threat on set-pieces of their own. As the clock hit the 80th minute, Seattle hit both posts on headers and maintained possession inside Minnesota’s box for a good three minutes.
The Loons weren’t done yet either, as Quintero looked to create some of the magic that he’s been missing in the early portion of 2019. He wriggled free in the box on the right side and looked to chip Stefan Frei, but the chip was just too high and the chance went wanting.
A chance for Rodríguez filtered away, a heavy touch from Miguel Ibarra gave away possession, and the final whistle declared the points split. Both teams had their chances to take all three points, but the draw felt like the correct result on the balance of play.
“I thought it was an excellent game of football, I really did,” Heath said to open his postgame remarks. “I thought we were the better team in the first half. They were probably a bit more dangerous and had probably the better chances in the second, but overall I’m delighted with the group.
“There were a lot of fights, and a lot of determination, and it shows how far we’ve come. We don’t win that game right there, we don’t take anything from that game last year. Trust me.”
Minnesota maintains an undefeated home record, but with just six points from a possible 12. The quality of this point, against one of the West’s best, is there, but for the Loons to move up the table, these draws need to turn into wins in future games against likely easier opponents. They fly to Chicago for a reunion with their former captain on Saturday, a fresh opportunity to make a statement.
