On a chilly night at TCF Bank Stadium, Minnesota United and 17,605 of their closest friends hosted the visiting San Jose Earthquakes. The Loons and their recent success following a rocky start collided directly with a Quakes side desperate for a result after going winless in their last six. In a night of near chances for Minnesota, it was San Jose who walked away with a 1-0 victory and three points.
In the first 15 minutes of the match, San Jose seemed a bit disorganized, allowing midfielder Johan Venegas to get out on the break in the 10th minute. It forced the Quakes’ defenders to take him down but they escaped the whistle and regrouped. In the 14th minute, defender Cordell Cato struck an absolute rocket from outside the box on the right side of the pitch that kertwanged the crossbar menacingly.
Minnesota, however, couldn’t capitalize on that early laxity and by the second 15, the Quakes were getting more shots and threatening more often. Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth could often be seen exhorting the lines to push farther up the field — a concern echoed by Head Coach Adrian Heath in his post-match presser.
“I think sometimes you start slower in certain games,” he said.” Other games we started well and brightly. I thought we gave them too much respect and dropped off too much and gave them a foothold in the game and made it comfortable for them. I thought the second half we got higher up the pitch, we got people closer to people and made them play quicker than they want to.”
To be certain, there was some dazzling play by midfielders like Kevin Molino and Ibson, who confidently handled the ball and got around defenders, showing real creativity at times in how the navigated the middle third of the pitch with bang-bang passing. They were ultimately let down by the final or penultimate pass several times.
“We had some really good combination play in the first half — that 20 meters outside of the penalty area — and our final ball wasn't good enough,” said Heath. “As I say, it was a nearly night. Nearly really good and unfortunately that's not going to be enough.”
Although the offense struggled to find their footing, the defense looked crisp in the first half, especially Francisco Calvo, who tracked all the way back from midfield to break up a run by Urena with a timely slide tackle that deflected the ball long enough for the rest of the defense to catch up.
“I thought we were very good in the first half at times when we had to defend,” said Heath. “Like all of [Head Coach Dominic Kinnear’s] teams, they work the penalty area: a bit of size, a bit of pace, they always have that. But on the whole, I thought we defended quite well. I thought Calvo was outstanding at times this evening.”
Neither team found the net before the halftime whistle, though, and the teams went into the tunnel knotted up at 0-0.
Minnesota’s defense withstood several chances at the start of the second, including a header saved by Shuttleworth off a San Jose corner and beauty of a clearance by defender Brent Kallman directly in front of the net off of a throw-in deep in the Loons’ half.
But in the 54th minute, the Quakes converted when a corner from Jahmir Hyka deflected off of forward Chris Wondolowski’s head and landed at the feet of defender Florian Jungwirth, who scooted it into the net under Kevin Molino on the near post.
Sensing the team needed an injection of energy, Heath put in forward Abu Danladi for Venegas in the 65th minute. He immediately got to work, pushing the ball deep along the left wing in the 67th minute and serving up a nice cross that narrowly missed both forward Christian Ramirez and midfielder Miguel Ibarra in the box.
“He came [into the league] with a lot of hype and it's taken us three or four weeks to get him where I think he's match fit,” said Heath. “His training has been absolutely superb for the last two or three weeks. He gave us some energy and some life. I think he sparked his teammates, he sparked the crowd and it was a good shift for him. He's put himself very firmly in a chance to start next week.”
“It doesn’t matter how much minutes I get,” said Danladi. “It’s all about coming and seeing the situation where the team is. Either up a goal or down a goal and try to help the team as much as I can. Adrian brings me in for five minutes, two minutes and tells me what to do: that’s what I come in to do. It’s great getting more minutes today. Every minute I get is a learning experience for me.”
As the match entered its final 15, the Loons appeared to be building some momentum with multiple corner kicks and higher pressure. In the 79th minute, midfielder Ismaila Jome made his MLS debut, coming in for Kevin Molino.
“[Jome] had a good run, he had his little stepover and put a couple of good balls in the box and showed some life,” said Heath. “He's another one who's training really, really well. As I've said to the players, for the guys that are not in the team, Monday to Friday is when they can impress the coaching staff to show you that they can actually come in and contribute and that's what they've done, the pair of them. Gave us some life.”
“[Heath] stressed after the game that it was good that we came on and brought some life,” said Jome. “We just need to come on and do what we can and work hard for the team and just try to make something happen.”
The match’s closing moments featured a corner for the Loons that brought Shuttleworth all the way up into the Quakes’ box, but in the end, it wasn’t enough and Minnesota had to do with a 1-0 loss on what Heath repeatedly called a “nearly” night. With Sporting Kansas City coming to town and currently sitting second in the Western Conference, “nearly” won’t be nearly enough next Sunday. The match kicks off at 12:30 p.m on FS1 and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN and coverage on 1500 ESPN begins at noon.
Lineups
Minnesota United FC Starting XI: GK Bobby Shuttleworth; D Marc Burch, Francisco Calvo, Brent Kallman, Jerome Thiesson; M Sam Cronin, Ibson, Kevin Molino (Ismaila Jome 79’), Johan Venegas (Abu Danladi 64’), Miguel Ibarra (Bashkim Kadrii 90’); F Christian Ramirez
MIN Unused Subs: GK John Alvbage; D Jermaine Taylor, Justing Davis; M Collen Warner
San Jose Earthquakes Starting XI: GK David Bingham; D Cordell Cato, Florian Jungwirth, Kofi Sarkodie (Nick Lima 81’), Victor Bernardez; M Anibal Godoy, Darwin Ceren, Jahmir Hyka; F Chris Wondolowski (Fatai Alashe 78’), Danny Hoesen (Simon Dawkins 78’), Marco Urena
SJ Unused Subs: GK Andrew Tarbell; D Shaun Francis; M Jackson Yueill, Tommy Thompson
Match Events
Scoring
54’ – Jungwirth (Wondolowski, Hyka) – SJ
Discipline
87’ – Bingham (YC) – SJ
90+3’ – Home (YC) – MIN
