MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. LA GALAXY
Allianz Field | St. Paul, Minnesota
05.18.2022 | MLS Week No. 12 | MLS Game No. 12
7:00 p.m. CT (Bally Sports North and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN)
Sunday's showdown in Seattle was a rainy one that ended in a tough 3-1 loss for the Loons. Despite going into the second half with 0-1 lead, the Sounders were able to bounce back after Raúl Ruidíaz converted a PK in the 50th minute. Christian Roldon followed suit with a goal in the 73rd minute, then added insult to injury with another in the 93rd minute of stoppage to complete the comeback effort. The Loons will regroup and be back in action again with a mid-week matchup against the LA Galaxy. As of late, the Galaxy has struggled to score in league games, with only three goals in their last five matches. Ironically, the last two games between the Loons and the Galaxy have also been ruled by the number three. In their most recent, the game ended in a 3-3 draw that sent MNUFC into the postseason but ended LA's season in dramatic fashion. The game prior marked the first time the Loons ever secured three points against the Galaxy — with a final scoreline of, you may have guessed it, 3-0. After a tough loss out West, the Loons will need to recover quickly to get back in the win column against the Galaxy.
ADRIAN HEATH ON HOW TO BEST BEAT THE GALAXY...
“I think if you look at the way they play, for everybody, the home field advantage is where you have to make them pay. I’m more concerned with ourselves. Our last couple of games, I look at the Cincinnati game, I don’t know how many chances we had on the night, but it was an awful lot. Even against Seattle before that, for the last hour we were by far the better team. We’ve just got to play our normal game. Move the ball quickly, put them on their back-foot, play in their half of the field, work the penalty area, work the final-third, and if we do that as well as we can then we will be difficult to play against. Especially at Allianz.” MORE
WIL TRAPP ON THE UPCOMING MATCH AGAINST THE LA GALAXY...
“It’s massive. First and foremost from the perspective of getting us back on the right track. Winning a game at home in front of our fans. I think it will allow us to kind of let go of what the past three games in the league have been and move forward into a tough game which will be in Dallas. But understanding that the next three or four games coming up are not easy, we have to take it one game at a time.” MORE
STORYLINES PRESENTED BY BMW
- GOING... THE... DISTANCE: With the Galaxy’s proficiency from outside the 18-yard box, all eyes are on St. Clair. Of Los Angeles’s 12 goals this season, four have come from outside the box, tied with four other teams for second most in MLS (Columbus leads the league with six such goals; in contrast, none of MNUFC’s twelve goals have come from outside the box this season). LA Galaxy, Columbus and Charlotte FC all bear the distinction of scoring single-digit goals from inside the box while scoring at least four from outside the box. It’s not just one player making it count, either. Each of Efraín Álvarez, Douglas Costa and Marky Delgado have at least one such goal, with Costa’s free kick in the Galaxy’s 3-1 loss to FC Dallas last weekend being a most recent example. The Loons need St. Clair at his best, yet again, to keep another unique threat out of Minnesota’s net. MORE
FIRST TOUCHES
- Historically, the Loons have been the better second half team; the Galaxy win the combined first halves 9-4, but Minnesota gets an 8-8 stalemate from the combined second halves.
- The Galaxy sit fourth in the West with 19 points, but have scored just 12 goals on the season; only Real Salt Lake has as many points with so few goals scored.
- Oniel Fisher played on the other side of the field the last time these teams met, having played for the Galaxy in 2021.
- On the other side, Raheem Edwards played for Minnesota in 2020, and now plays for the Galaxy. And most recently, of course, Chase Gasper was traded from Minnesota to Los Angeles just weeks ago. MORE