Loons survive wild 3-3 draw in LA, make playoffs by narrowest margin

There was everything to play for between Minnesota United and the LA Galaxy and Decision Day did not disappoint.

The Loons needed a win or a tie to secure their place in the postseason while the Galaxy needed to win outright. With six goals in a game that featured Minnesota jumping out to an early lead before LA came back to level it twice, the final game of the regular season was an absolute barn burner. It ended with Minnesota holding onto the fifth seed and LA sliding all the way to eighth and on the outside looking in.

The challenge for Minnesota early was the same as it ever is on the road: control the tempo and do what you can with the possession you get. While the Galaxy dominated possession through the first 15 minutes with 62.4% of the ball, the Loons didn’t want for opportunities, including one by Robin Lod that went over the crossbar in the eighth minute after a string of good possession. Midfielder Franco Fragapane also got a clean cross from defender Romain Metanire deep on the right wing, but the Argentine couldn’t get it out from under his feet for a shot in the 12th minute.

The conservative approach that both teams appeared to be taking got a jolt in the 22nd minute as the visitors leapt out in front. Off of an LA Galaxy corner kick, the Loons sprung the counterattack as midfielder Emanuel Reynoso back heeled it to Metanire and the right back sent it forward to Adrien Hunou. Defender Julian Araujo tried to step up and catch the French forward offside and after Hunou struck the ball true for a goal, that was the initial call. Video review, though, showed that Araujo’s left foot kept Hunou onside and the goal was awarded.

Goalkeeper Tyler Miller — who ended up with seven saves, many of them massive — stoned a roundhouse strike by Kevin Cabral in the 32nd minute to preserve the lead and two minutes later, MNUFC made the most of a corner kick to double the lead. Reynoso’s corner was knocked down in front of goal by Bakaye Dibassy and towards defender Michael Boxall, who got enough of the ball to send it onto the far post and into the path of Lod for the visitors’ second goal of the game.

LA Head Coach Greg Vanney wasn’t about to let things continue like that, and he went to his bench early, bringing on the more attacking-minded Niko Hamalainen for Oniel Fisher in the 39th minute. The tactical shift unlocked something for the Galaxy because late in first half stoppage, they snatched a goal back courtesy of Sebastian Lletget. The midfielder lurked on the right side of the box as Kevin Cabral forayed down the left and forward Javier Hernandez drew the attention of the defense down the middle. Cabral’s cross skipped past Chicharito and towards Lletget, who took advantage of the opening to slot it onto the near post and cut the lead in half. The teams headed into the locker room with Minnesota up 2-1.

The home side rode their momentum heading into the second and in the 51st minute, Araujo found Chicharito on a secondary run with his cross from the right wing and the forward finished it confidently to level the game at 2-2. Minnesota suddenly found themselves in defensive disarray, scrambling to get control back. Just over 10 minutes later, they found their way back in via an LA miscue. Off another corner kick in the 62nd, Reynoso pinged the ball up the middle of the field and chased it down to send it to Fragapane on the right. Fragapane sent it back on a lofted through pass to Hunou who brought it down with his left but couldn’t strike it one time, instead opting to hold it for a beat before centering it hard. Caught off guard, Araujo tried to clear it over the crossbar but instead sent it into the back of the net, giving Minnesota their first own goal in their favor of the year and a 3-2 lead.

Vanney adjusted again, bringing on Samuel Grandsir for Lletget and Sacha Kljestan for midfielder Jonathan dos Santos in the 68th minute and then in the 75th, LA once again clawed their way back into the game. This time, Chicharito smashed a shot that was blocked by Dibassy, bringing cries for a handball call but as the ball bounced back to him, Chicharito fired again and this time beat Miller to make it 3-3.

Minnesota had a golden opportunity in the 87th minute to put the game away as defender Derrick Williams was called for a handball on a hard shot by Fragapane from the left side of the box. Fragapane stepped up to the spot — the eighth different Minnesota player to take a penalty in their last eight penalty shots — and took a long direct run onto the ball before striking it into the left post.

As the game ticked over into stoppage time, word came that Real Salt Lake had scored late on against Sporting Kansas City, meaning that the Galaxy would have to win to get into the playoffs. The home side through everything forward and lined up several shots in the six minutes of stoppage time but Miller and the defense were up to the task, holding the line and preserving the 3-3 score line. With the result, the Galaxy were dropped out of the playoffs for the fourth time in five years and Minnesota secured their spot for the third straight year. They will face the fourth-seeded Portland Timbers in Round One, with details on date and time to come.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Midfielder Emanuel Reynoso

LINEUPS:
Minnesota United: GK Tyler Miller; D Chase Gasper, Bakaye Dibassy, Michael Boxall (c), Romain Metanire; M Hassani Dotson, Wil Trapp, Franco Fragapane, Emanuel Reynoso, Ethan Finlay; F Adrien Hunou

LA Galaxy: GK Jonathan Bond; D Julian Araujo, Derrick Williams, Nick DePuy, Oniel Fisher; M Rayan Raveloson, Victor Vazquez, Jonathan dos Santos (c), Sebastian Lleget; F Kevin Cabral, Javier Hernandez

UP NEXT
MINNESOTA UNITED FC @ PORTLAND TIMBERS
Providence Park | Portland, Oregon
TBD | MLS Cup Playoffs | Round 1
TBD

MINNESOTA UNITED QUOTE SHEET

MINNESOTA UNITED HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH

On how his nerves are after the game…

Well, relieved…so pleased for the players and staff, and everybody back in Minnesota. It’s been a really stressful day as you can see, but we came through it…and I thought that our first half performance was outstanding. You know huge, huge praise for the players because to come in here, when they know they need a result, is not small feat. So just delighted for everybody connected at the club.

On decision day being great for the league, how is it for coaches…

Well it can be a bit stressful, but you know, coming from Europe where we have promotions and relegation, I’ve been through it quite a few times…and I know how nerve-wracking they can be. You know, obviously, pretty late on when they’re putting so many crosses in the box, and Chirinos has great movement, and then they put more forwards on…so, you know you’re always one mistake away from being out…and that would’ve been a travesty the way we played today…but we were excellent and love the commitment and drive and desire to the players…they got what they deserved and now we got to Portland, and we prove we can win there. As I’ve said, we’ve got our best players on the field, especially the front four, we can score goals – and we will – and we’ll make it difficult for teams…and although we know it’s going to be hard in Portland, certainly not impossible for this group of players.

On the second half message after conceding…

Well you’ve heard me say it before about not beating yourselves…Chase had a really good game and he could have cleared it twice, he had an opportunity to roll it back to Dibassy or he could’ve slid it down the side…he decided to do one more little-Cruyff turn and he caught out and then we were a little bit stretched…and it changes the momentum of the game. Suddenly their crowd are back into the game and I knew the second half was going to be tough, but we’ve looked really dangerous on the breakaway.

On if he told the team on the RSL result…

Yeah, we told them that if we concede the game then we would be out. Obviously, sometimes don’t want to do that, because then it just gets nervy and people start doing things that they shouldn’t in panic-mode…but I think they probably guessed by listening to the crowd and the way they were going as well. When it was nil-nil for so long I said “trust me, Salt Lake will have an opportunity, and probably Kreilach will score.” I said it on the bench. You know, big players come up strong when you need them.


On Fragapane taking the PK instead of Reynoso…

I don’t know at this moment in time, but I’ll find out. I don’t know the reasons why Reynoso didn’t take the penalty, so we’ll ask the question for sure.

On success against Portland the past few years…

Playing well, taking our opportunities when they arise. I think that we match up well with them, the way we like to play. They’ve been really strong at home, late on…and playoff game atmosphere will be terrific in there…it’s a good place to play, but we’ll have to play well for sure, and if we do take our opportunities when they arise, we can go there and win for sure.

On starting this year off with four losses and making the playoffs…

Well it puts us behind the eight ball a little bit, doesn’t it? We didn’t give ourselves much room for error. I think, if I’m right, only two teams that have ever done it from that type of start, so speaks volumes for the players and the staff – how hard everyone’s worked. If you look at our record since front four have been playing regular, it’s pretty impressive…so, we have to keep our best players on the field like everybody. Playoffs now, all the big, all the best players have got to bring their A-game…and if you do, that’ll make the difference for whichever team we play or whichever team plays us.

On taking Reynoso out when he got the yellow card…

No, no he was tired late on and he said his calf was cramping a little bit. I’m always reluctant to take the best players off the field. Sometimes you have to do it to protect them. I thought the referee had a very difficult evening. I’m trying to work out some of his decisions, but we got bookings for, but then the foul was on Rey…I’m just pleased that he’s come through and that he’s okay.

On Tyler Miller being big in stoppage time…

He’s been like that, hasn’t he? You know he’s had a couple of errors in recent weeks, but at no stage have I ever thought about changing the goalkeeper because you look at his body of work throughout the year and it’s been outstanding.

On plan going forward and International break…

Well we’ll get back late this evening…we’ll give them two or three days off and then we’ll start to build up from there. What you have to be careful of is you don’t do too much and you don’t do too little either…you got to keep them in great shape, the ones that are back here, keep them sharp and that sometimes is a bit tricky at this stage, but I think we’ll probably be back here on Wednesday and we’ll work Wednesday, Thursday Friday…weekend off, and then we’re in the full week build-up.

On who will be away…

Robin [Lod] and Jukka [Raitala] are away. ‘Boxy’ [Michael Boxall]is away, and Romain.

On if he thought about if …

No, trust me, I’ve had too much on my mind today to think about anything that negative. I think three years on the charts speaks volumes of what we’ve done, keeps getting better…just keep working at it, working hard with the players, look to bring some reinforcements next year…keep incrementally getting better and that’s what we try to do…and if we do we’ll give ourselves another good chance next year and make the playoffs for sure.

On what he told the players after the game…

After the game? I’ve hardly spoke to them, I’ve had about six interviews…so I will go in there and thank them for all their efforts, outstanding performance in a very difficult place on the road, and they’ve got what they richly deserve.

MNUFC MIDFIELDER ROBIN LOD

On what it means to go to playoffs after 0-4 start…

“It’s a huge thing. It’s been a rollercoaster of a season. We started really bad then we had a really good games in the middle of the summer and then these last few games we have been struggling a little bit, but we have been getting the points that we needed for the playoffs and now we can just reset ourselves and focus on the playoffs.”

On knowing the other results during the game…

“No, we were just focused to get the win or the draw and to not lose the game and focus on that. After the final whistle we heard about those results. At the game we didn’t think about it at all.”

On what it means to go to playoffs after 0-4 start…

“It wasn’t the best way to start the season but at least in the end we made it to the playoffs and showed them that we deserved to be here.”

On the mindset after going up 2-0…

“I felt confident, but at the same time we felt that there was a lot of game to play and the Galaxy can be good and take chances on the attack. It goes both ways.”

On knowing that if the team lost that you would be out…

“No, as I said before inside the game you have no idea about the other scores and just try to focus on getting the win or the draw. It’s stupid to think about it that if you lose you need the other teams to win, so we just focused on getting the win.”

On the rollercoaster of the game…

“I don’t know this game easily could’ve ended up 10-10. In my opinion I felt that both teams had fair enough chances to get goals in this game and luckily for us, the three was enough.

On why the team has been so successful against Portland…

“I feel like the matchup is just playing well for us. There is nothing to get scared about them. I have really good confidence about our team and what we are capable of doing. If we are playing close to the best we can I feel like we have a good chance against any of the teams.”

On when you play with the best four up front…

“If somebody scores goals, that helps the team to win. We haven’t played that many games together as a four in the whole season and now we have been building up the last few games with our chemistry and we know what others are doing and I am really enjoying playing with those guys.”

On playing for Finland and then returning for a playoff game…

“I had the same thing last year and there are many players that are going to go play national team games between the end of the regular season and the playoffs. You just go to national team camp and focus on those games and then see how it goes, then you come back and focus on the playoffs.”

On the scene in the locker room…

“It was a relief, a lot guys were too exhausted to celebrate too hard. It’s good to get to the playoffs, but that’s not our goal, we are now focused on the next game.”

Courtesy: Minnesota United FC