MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota
05.04.2019 | MLS Week No. 10 | MLS Game No. 10
7:00 p.m. CT (FOX Sports North, FOX Sports GO, MNUFC Radio on SKOR North)
2019 Records:
SEA: 5-1-3, 1-1-1 on the road
MIN: 4-3-2, 1-0-2 at home
Getting the first win at Allianz Field under its belt against D.C. United last week could not have come at a better time for MNUFC as the team this week faces a Western Conference opponent currently above them in the standings that also happens to be the former team of the Loons’ Osvaldo Alonso. Without brushing aside Alonso’s 10 years of service to the Seattle Sounders, the team will need to rally around their current captain against a dangerous team that could be getting back injured players including explosive forward Raul Ruidiaz and linchpin defender Chad Marshall.
The game closes out Minnesota’s three-game homestand and kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Allianz Field, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports North, streaming on FOX Sports GO and on MNUFC Radio on SKOR North.
After allowing three goals to NYCFC in their home opener and four goals in a road loss to Toronto, the Loons have now posted back-to-back clean sheets for the first time in their MLS history, playing the Galaxy to a goalless draw and defeating D.C. 1-0 in one week. Head Coach Adrian Heath has been adamant that the earlier defensive woes were not down to tactical problems, but something both much simpler and perhaps harder to correct.
“When I look back at the goals we've conceded over the last two or three weeks prior to these two games, it wasn't group defending,” he said. “Were we in a bad shape? Were the fundamentals wrong? No, it was individual mistakes that were costing us dearly and we stopped that the last two games. I don't think it's a coincidence that we've kept two clean sheets. Credit to the guys who've come in: Brent Kallman and Eric Miller. It's been a really good defensive unit the last couple of games.”
The last line of that defense is goalkeeper Vito Mannone. He kept MNUFC in the game against D.C. United with a clutch save in the 21st minute on a shot off a cleared corner but, like most keepers, he’s happiest when he doesn’t have much to do. For him, he feels there are many factors contributing to the Loons’ newfound defensive resilience.
“It's a mix of everything, I think,” he said. “We're getting to know each other, of course, because game by game, you go out and you know more about each other out there. But getting to know Allianz Field, the crowd, the moments, how to deal with moments in the game gives you the experience to be more united and do the right job. We've done it against tough opponents so from now on we set up the standards and we need to maintain them.”
Seattle will present a stern task for Minnesota. It looked like the Sounders would be missing Kelvin Leerdam and Cristian Roldan to red card suspensions, but the latter had his suspension overturned. Add in the possible returns of key defenders and attackers, and it’s possible the Loons will face a team that looks a lot more like the one that had a seven-game undefeated streak early in the season than the one that’s gone without a win in its last three.
“I've got an enormous amount of respect for Brian Schmetzer and their staff,” said Heath. “It's a proper run football club, I think. It's gonna be [Nico] Lodeiro. Is [Raul] Ruidiaz going to be back? Jordan Morris is an international player. They've got good players all around. Whoever they put out is going to be highly motivated and we know it's going to be tough.”
And adding an extra layer of meaning onto the game is the aforementioned element that this is a team that Alonso not only played for, but captained and led to championships in both the U.S. Open Cup and MLS. A year after defecting from Cuba, Alonso signed with the Sounders and established roots in Seattle. It’s where he built his reputation as a bulldog defender and it’s that tenacity and determination that will help him get past whatever he personally feels as the game approaches.
“Seattle is a great team, even though they’ve had a couple setbacks in their last few games,” he said. “[But] we have to think about ourselves, at home, coming out with everything and getting three points. Obviously, it’ll be tough in the sense that I’m playing against my former club, but the mentality of this team three points on the table for us to get and I think we’re ready to do it.”
Heath has little doubt Alonso will be able to put it all aside when the whistle blows.
“I know Ozzie,” he said. “It will be business as usual. As much as he's got great memories there and quite rightly so — he's been an incredible servant to that club over 10 years — he wants to win here now. We're the club where he's making his living. He'll want to win and they know that as well.”
Beyond that, Alonso and all of the Loons will also be motivated by what they finally got a taste of against D.C. United: the home crowd singing “Wonderwall” in Allianz Field after a win.
“It was great,” said Mannone. “We waited two, three games, but it's nice to get it against a tough opponent like D.C. The way it came as well, with a second clean sheet, is great and it's something the fans were waiting for. We were working so hard for it and it's good to be united at the end with them and ‘Wonderwall’ is amazing. The whole stadium was along and it was a nice moment, the first one and hopefully the first of many.”
Minnesota United next heads back on the road to face the Chicago Fire at SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday, May 11 at 7:00 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports North, streaming on FOX Sports GO and on MNUFC Radio on SKOR North.
INJURY REPORT
Minnesota United FC
- QUESTIONABLE: D – Chase Gasper (hamstring)
- QUESTIONABLE: M – Darwin Quintero (ankle)
D.C. United
- OUT: M – Victor Rodriguez (concussion)
- OUT: M – Gustav Svensson (left hamstring strain)
- QUESTIONABLE: F – Will Bruin (left hamstring strain)
- QUESTIONABLE: F – Raul Ruidiaz (right heel contusion)
- QUESTIONABLE: D – Chad Marshall (right knee inflammation)
- QUESTIONABLE: D – Nouhou (left ankle sprain)
FIRST TOUCHES
- Vito Mannone has shut out opponents in the past two games. This is the first time MNUFC has not allowed a goal in consecutive games since joining MLS.
- If Mannone does not allow a goal in the first 11 minutes of Saturday’s game, he will claim the longest scoreless streak in the club’s MLS history. The record is currently 201 minutes, set by Bobby Shuttleworth from April 28 to May 9 in 2018.
- Romain Metanire provided his fourth assist of the season last week against D.C. and now leads the Loons in that category.
- Metanire’s assist was his first game-winner since joining MNUFC.
- Metanire made the MLS Team of the Week for Week 9. This was his second time being named to the Team of the Week this year, last being honored in Week 2.
- Angelo Rodriguez’s goal against D.C. was his first game-winner of 2019.
- Ethan Finlay scored his first goal for Minnesota against Seattle on August 20, 2017.
- Osvaldo Alonso will make his 300th MLS start the next time he is in the starting XI for the Loons. He has 275 starts in the regular season and 24 in the playoffs.
- Abu Danladi made his 50th MLS appearance last game against D.C.
- Minnesota and Seattle both have 18 goals on the year, tied for the fourth-most in MLS.
- Sounders FC will be without Kelvin Leerdam this game. He is serving one-game suspension after receiving a red card in the last game against LAFC.
- Cristian Roldan was also ejected from the LAFC game, but the decision was successfully appealed by Seattle and he is eligible to play Saturday.
- Seattle is 1-1-1 on the road this year.
- Minnesota has scored three or more goals four times, a league-best.
- Stefan Frei is tied for the most saves in the league with 36 through nine games.
- Frei and Mannone both have three clean sheets on the year.
- Nicolas Lodeiro has been fouled 35 times, the most in MLS this season.
- Lodeiro has also taken the most corner kicks, with 61 so far. The next-highest total is Portland’s Diego Valeri with 39.
- Abu Danladi and Darwin Quintero lead Minnesota with two shots on goal in the all-time series with Seattle. Will Bruin’s six shots on frame is the most for Seattle in the series.
- Osvaldo Alonso played for Sounders FC for 10 seasons. He made 277 regular season appearances and captained the team to win four U.S. Open Cups, the 2014 Supporters’ Shield and the 2016 MLS Cup.
- Darwin Quintero and Raul Ruidiaz both joined MLS last season from Mexico’s first division, Liga MX. Peru international Ruidiaz signed as a Designated Player for Sounders FC from Morelia in June, while Quintero joined the Loons at the end of March as a DP from Club América.
- MNUFC Assistant Coach Mark Watson played for Seattle during its USL days, donning the Sounders’ green in 1997.
- Chad Marshall and Ethan Finlay were teammates on Columbus Crew SC in 2012 and 2013.
- Saad Abdul-Salaam and Ike Opara played together on Sporting Kansas City from 2015 to 2017.
