Tonight’s Year 10 Celebration didn’t end the way your Loons had hoped, as Minnesota United fell to Atlanta United 2-1 in a rematch of their first-ever home MLS match. After yet another performance that saw the Boys in Black and Blue dominate the expected goal metrics, it was two superb finishes from an opportunistic Atlanta side that spoiled the night.
With an air of celebration at their backs, the Loons started the match in a free-flowing shape that got the best out of the squad. With the introduction of Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Marcus Caldeira to the starting lineup, the hosts were able to rotate around a central figure up top, allowing creative midfielders Tomás Chancalay and Joaquín Pereyra to drift freely with the knowledge that they could find him waiting. As time went on, the spaces left by their movement opened up lanes for Hlongwane and Markanich to get forward, with chances coming in a steady trickle.
Around the 20th minute mark, Atlanta began to find some attacking success of their own. The likes of Paraguay international Miguel Almiron and Aleksei Miranchuk began to pull some strings, but it was an unfortunate deflected shot that gave the visitors the opening they needed, as the ball bounced out to an unmarked Jacob on the right side of the box for an impressive half-volley finish. The Loons created a few chances before the half, but ultimately came up empty-handed as they went into the locker room.
Head Coach Cameron Knowles opted to let his starters keep pushing after the break, and based purely on style of play and chances created, his choice was the right one. However, several shots clanging off the crossbar and narrow misses either side made the home side increasingly frustrated, while the visiting Five Stripes were content to play on the counter and take whatever came their way.
The pressure built to a head in the 58th minute, when a short free kick routine saw midfielder Owen Gene hit a pinpoint ball to the backpost, where Chancalay’s attempt once again left the crossbar ringing. This time, though, Anthony Markanich was in the right place at the right time once again to claim his fifth MLS goal of the season, leveling the match and lighting a fire under the home side.
A slew of substitutions from both sides saw the managers start putting more fingerprints on proceedings, as Aziel Jackson made his second MNUFC debut, playing his first minutes since returning to the club, and Mamadou Dieng replaced Caldeira up top. This shifted the shape to more of a 4-5-1, putting Jackson in front of the double pivot of Trapp and Gene.
As the subs got up to speed, the game lost a bit of rhythm, which favored the visitors. In another transition moment, a missed tackle put Atlanta through on goal, and Tristan Muyumba’s finish in the 78th minute cleared the cobwebs out of the left corner of the Loons’ net to re-establish Atlanta’s lead. More subs came on to try and find another equalizer, but it was too little too late, despite a shift to an extremely attacking 3-5-2 shape.
While it feels like the same story on a different day, your Loons were still incredibly creative on the night. They won the expected goals battle 3.1 to 1.4, but they know better than anyone that it isn’t the expected goals that count, but the actual ones. After promising performance after promising performance, this result has to sting Coach Knowles and the boys a little extra, after having put together a truly cohesive game with no more than a handful of mistakes. There’s nothing you can do after a game like that but regroup and move on to the next.
Your Loons will be heading on the road for that next match, facing a San Jose side who were absolutely flying in the first half of the season. It should prove to be a good challenge for the now 12th-placed Loons, as they look to reestablish themselves as playoff contenders in the Western Conference. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT, with the match available on Apple TV and our official watch party beginning at 8:00 p.m. at the Uptown VFW.
