Another match at Allianz Field, another disappointing result. Minnesota United’s less-than-fortunate home form continued this weekend in their 2-1 loss to Orlando City SC. Though Loons fans will continue their wait to serenade the team with Wonderwall for the first time this season, there were signs of life throughout Saturday’s match.
For most of the contest, Orlando failed to threaten the home side at all. However, games are won in moments, and the Lions seized both of theirs.
“What’s gone wrong? I’m not sure it’s gone wrong,” Head Coach Adrian Heath said about the match. “When I look at the 90 minutes, for them to have two chances in 90 minutes with the amount of forward players they have on the field, I think we did a really good job looking after them [Orlando City SC]. But obviously they’ve got the overload for both goals. We’ll have to look at it, but the way they played, they played their three front guys very narrow, so that brings your back four in, and then they’ve got the high wingbacks, and they cause you a problem with it, but we dealt with it most of the evening. A couple of occasions where we haven't, when Kemar’s [Lawrence] had to come across to pick people up in the middle and [Ivan] Angulo was available for both of them.”
The Loons’ effort on the night was evident, but the finer details of their play were just barely off. Whether it was a slightly wayward pass at a crucial moment, a shot with too much under it, or a momentary lapse in man-marking, the Black and Blue found themselves without much luck to help them out.
While they didn’t do enough to win, MNUFC could have easily come away from this game with some points if the ball had bounced their way once or twice. At the end of the day, though, chances need to be seized and no excuses can be made. Coach Heath was pleased with plenty of what he saw, despite the disappointing result.
“Today, I feel for the players a bit because I think they [Orlando City SC] only had two efforts at goal,” he said. “I can’t think of much else that Dayne [St. Clair] has had to do, and I thought the first half we played really well. I thought there was a lot of good football, and we’ve talked about creating opportunities. Bongi’s [Bongokuhle Hlongwane] had an unbelievable opportunity after a minute. Fraga’s [Franco Fragapane] probably had the best chance of the game to go 2-1 up. Robin’s [Robin Lod] had a really good chance by his standards, so it’s a difficult one to take, but that’s football. Small margins, at either end, and tonight they’ve [Orlando City SC] probably had a little bit of the rub of the green and we haven’t.”
On a night when chances were plentiful, the Loons simply failed to convert. Of the 17 shots they took, only four attempts were on target. Pedro Gallese played well for Orlando, but he wasn’t tested as thoroughly as he perhaps could have been. Midfielder Robin Lod was among the players to come close to scoring, expressing his frustration after the match.
“It’s not ideal to start three home games and haven’t won,” Lod said. “The frustrating part is that we had the lead in all of those games and then just collapsed. Especially today, I think we had enough chances to score. We just have to be more precise in the final third. That was the issue today, for sure. All these games, when you have the chances, I feel like if you don’t make it, they end up in your own net. That’s something that we need to work on.”
Lod wasn’t the only one to feel that way after the game. Midfielder Hassani Dotson was similarly upset but encouraged by the way his teammates were moving the ball.
“I think it’s just disappointing not to get three points at home for how the fans have been and we have that many chances; it’s disappointing,” Dotson said. “But I think we’d rather have that problem than not create any chances at all, and sometimes that’s just how the cookie crumbles. I have all the confidence in our attacking players, and we are a team. We win as a team and we lose as a team.”
The chances created on the night were thanks largely to Sang Bin Jeong’s performance at attacking midfield in his first start for the club. The South Korean attacker looked lively and comfortable in the playmaking role, demonstrating excellent vision and passing range. As he continues to settle into his new squad, he is already impressing his teammates.
“I thought he played really well,” Robin Lod said of Sang Bin. “I think he hasn’t played that many games lately, so the time he was on the field, I think he did really well, and you can see that there is a lot of potential. I think he’s a skillful player. He works hard, and I think he likes to play combination plays. He’s a pretty good all-around player.”
This was certainly an improvement over the effort against Chicago, but the result remained the same. With a true number 10 in the midfield, there was an added fluidity and cutting edge to the Loons attack, even though it wasn’t quite sharp enough on the night. In a game filled with “almosts” and “what-ifs,” the Loons are left to wonder what could have been if they had been a bit more clinical in the final third.
MNUFC will be heading out on the road once more next weekend, with a trip to Lumen Field up next. They’ll be taking on the league’s leading goal scorer in Jordan Morris, along with the rest of the third-place Sounders squad. Kickoff will be at 9:30 p.m. CT, with the game available for streaming for free on Apple TV this week.
UP NEXT
Seattle Sounders FC v Minnesota United FC
Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington
04.22.2023 | MLS Game #8
9:30 pm CT (Exclusively on AppleTV’s MLS Season Pass)
