It appears that Houston may have a Loon problem, as they suffered another 2-1 defeat to MNUFC this weekend, this time at Allianz Field. Despite a rather haphazard start to the game, the Loons were able to find their feet before it was too late, scoring two second half goals to complete a come-from-behind victory. Following the game, head coach Adrian Heath spoke about his team’s performance. 

“I don’t think we were complacent; I just don’t think we played particularly well when you consider the amount of good opportunities we had in the first half and our final ball,” Heath said. “The weight of the pass, the choice of pass. Decision-making wasn’t good enough, which has not been like us of late. The one thing that I can’t fault is that they keep going. The energy in the group to keep going…and when you’re chasing a game like that, you always leave yourself vulnerable. They’ve got a better pace up front. I don’t know why I said to the staff at halftime, ‘I think we’ll get something out of this game.’ I think the belief was strong enough that we would come back and get something. When I knew that if we got the next goal with enough time, that we’d have a chance of winning the game.”

Following a first half to forget, one that saw MNUFC concede a goal and lose starting center back Bakaye Dibassy to injury, the Black and Blue needed to regroup. In the locker room, Heath noticed that his players could feel the need for a better second half showing. 

“I don’t think there was a lack of effort today or a lack of energy,” he said. “I just thought a lot of the things that have been really good in the last four or five weeks at home — the movement, the quality in passing, the quality of the final ball and then the execution — I thought all of that was off in the first half today. If you don’t have all of that, you can have the best players in the world, but you’re not going to score too many goals if the final ball; the run’s not good enough. The lads were determined at halftime to get something into the game and they did.”

Going into the second half of the game, MNUFC had already utilized two changes: first, Brent Kallman came in to replace the injured Dibassy, then captain Wil Trapp came in at the break to replace Bongokuhle Hlongwane. These subs, along with the later additions of Ménder García and Abu Danladi, would help give the Loons a newfound energy and control of the game. Trapp identified García’s substitution as a turning point in the game.

“Those two guys, he and Luis [Amarilla] are really good at giving the center backs problems, cause now they're having to deal with one-on-one situations,” he said. “I thought what helped us immensely was the fullback play. These guys getting high and combining with Rey [Emanuel Reynoso], combining with Fraga [Franco Fragapane] and then now giving their fullbacks issues to deal with, and you see the second goal — that's exactly what happened. Those two guys, their movement, it's nice having two strikers because now one of those guys like Luis pulls off in the box and he can go free.”

For most of the second half, the Loons looked as though they were going to score. When Emanuel Reynoso’s free-kick found the back of the net after taking a deflection in the 79th minute, hope was restored with the roar of the crowd. With just over 10 minutes and stoppage time left, the home team went in search of a potentially pandemonium-inducing game-winner.

Just five minutes later, onlookers had the privilege of witnessing a beautiful passage of play. After some short passing between Reynoso and Alan Benítez on the right side of the attacking third, Rey slid the ball between two defenders, releasing Benítez into space on the edge of the 18. The Loons right back picked his head up and found the feet of his Paraguayan international teammate Luis Amarilla, whose first touch finish gave Houston keeper Steve Clark no chance.

This game extended what has been an incredible run of form for MNUFC, a trend that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Coach Heath. 

“I think in the last 11 games… what was it? Eight wins, two draws and one defeat,” Heath said. “The one thing I’ve said all the time and I say to you guys in the week is that I can say the right things to the players and try and make them believe me, but there’s nothing like winning games of football to give them that belief and that confidence to keep going — because good things will happen if we keep doing good things. Alan [Benítez] ran a million miles again this evening and for the winning goal, he’s come again. He’s made that 60-yard run again over the top for Rey [Emanuel Reynoso], and then he’s picked a great ball out for Luis [Amarilla].”

Though it wasn’t pretty for stretches of the game, the important thing at the end of the match is the result. This weekend, MNUFC found a way to grind out what was necessary. In this league, that kind of resilience and grit is often the deciding factor for team success. In the eyes of defender Michael Boxall, MNUFC has the collective resilience required to make a splash.

“It’s the mentality of that side of things,” he said. “I think this last stretch that we’ve been on, we’ve really stepped up in many ways from our team earlier in the season. We played for 45 minutes and then collapsed and dropped points and conceded goals. Turn 3-nil games into 3-2’s. Now we’ve stepped it up, and we’re playing a lot more together for 90 minutes. I think this is another facet of the mentality of it that when we’re not our best we still grind them out. When we’re down a goal, we can still come back. I think all of that, when it comes to the end of the season, that it’s important that we still get results no matter what.”

This victory puts Minnesota United into third place in the Western Conference with 44 points, the most ever accumulated by the team through the first 27 games. In the coming weeks, matchups with RSL, LAFC and FC Dallas will test the Loons as they look to prepare for a playoff run. The first of these tests will come this Wednesday in Utah, as MNUFC flies out to Rio Tinto Stadium to take on the West’s 6th place team. 

UP NEXT

Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United FC

Rio Tinto Stadium | Sandy, Utah

08.31.2022 | MLS Game No. 28

8:30 p.m. CT (MLS LIVE on ESPN+, Bally Sports North EXTRA, 1500 ESPN)