MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. FC DALLAS
TCF Bank Stadium | Minneapolis, Minnesota
06.29.18 | MLS Week No. 18 | MLS Game No. 16
7:00 p.m. CT (FOX Sports North Plus, FOX Sports GO, MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN)

2018 Records:
MIN: 5-9-1, 4-2-1 at home
FCD: 8-2-5, 3-2-1 on the road

After more than a month away, Minnesota United returns to the friendly confines of TCF Bank Stadium this weekend to square off with FC Dallas and wash away the bitter taste left by last Saturday’s last-second loss in Colorado. Dallas, meanwhile, is riding high with five wins from its last six MLS matches.

The two teams will meet for the first time this season on Friday, June 29 at 7:00 p.m. CT at TCF Bank Stadium. Pre-match coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports North Plus, streaming on FOX Sports Go and on MNUFC radio on 1500 ESPN. The Loons will also celebrate the LGBTQ+ community on Friday night with its fifth annual Pride Match.

“We have to have a short memory and get our minds ready on the next game,” defender Brent Kallman said. “It is going to be good to be back at home. Our home form is good. It is important that we find a good performance and find a way to get a result, which is three points.” 

Since its last home match — a 2-0 win over Montreal on May 26 — Minnesota has lost two-straight MLS matches and three of four overall, but the Loons believe a little home cooking is exactly what they need to reverse their recent trend. Minnesota’s home form has been superb this season with five results in seven matches, including four wins, which accounts for 13 of their 16 points.

A postseason berth remains Minnesota’s goal and continuing to take points at home is crucial to realizing it. The team’s consecutive defeats have left them in ninth place in the Western Conference and seven points back of sixth place Vancouver.

“We have been really good at home,” Head Coach Adrian Heath said. “Our performances have been really competitive and I expect the same this weekend. It is a difficult game against Dallas. They are difficult to play against and very good on the counterattack.”

FC Dallas is coming off of a 3-0 road loss to New York Red Bulls, which snapped a seven-match unbeaten run (5-0-2) in MLS play. It sits in second place in the Western Conference at 29 points and boasts a dynamic attack headlined by midfielder Roland Lamah and forward Maxi Urruti with six goals apiece.

“They are a very good side,” Kallman said. “They are organized and they have some very dangerous pieces up top that we have to deal with. We have to be keyed in on their attackers and what they like to do and try to keep them off of the board.”

Dallas has also allowed the third-fewest goals against in the league, conceding only 17 through 15 matches and has kept five clean sheets. With midfielder Miguel Ibarra serving his red card suspension, MNUFC will have to re-tool its attack to compensate for the loss of one its offensive linchpins against one of the league’s stoutest backlines.

“We will assess what we think is available to us,” Heath said. “Do we change the shape a bit just to see if that gives us some more options? We will come up with a plan. We have to come up with a game plan and be as competitive as we can. If we carry on as we have done at home it will be a tight affair.”

After Friday’s match with FC Dallas, Minnesota United faces a short turnaround for its Wednesday, July 4 match against defending MLS Cup champion Toronto FC. The club’s Salute to Freedom kicks off at 6:00 p.m. at TCF Bank Stadium. Pre-match coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on FOX Sports North Plus, streaming on FOX Sports Go and on MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN.

INJURY REPORT

Minnesota United FC
QUESTIONABLE:
D - Eric Miller (left hamstring injury)

OUT:
M - Sam Cronin (cervicogenic dysfunction)
M - Kevin Molino (left ACL tear)
M - Ethan Finlay (right ACL tear)
D - Marc Burch (left knee surgery)
D - Jerome Thiesson (right lower leg injury)
F - Abu Danladi (left leg injury)

FC Dallas
OUT:
M - Santiago Mosquera (left hamstring injury)
D - Kris Reaves (sports hernia surgery)
F - Cristian Colman (high-ankle sprain)

FIRST TOUCHES

• Collin Martin, Sam Cronin, Jacori Hayes, Brandon Servania and Emmanuel Twumasi all played for Wake Forest in college. Hayes and Martin are both natives of Maryland.
• Ghana natives Twumasi and Abu Danladi came up through the Right to Dream Academy before playing NCAA soccer.
• Servania and Wyatt Omsberg have both gone on loan to Tulsa Roughnecks this season.
• Reggie Cannon and Danladi were teammates at UCLA in 2016. Ryan Hollingshead also attended UCLA during his college career.
• Maynor Figueroa, Burch and Cronin played together for Colorado Rapids during the 2015 season.
• Kellyn Acosta, Matt Hedges, Ethan Finlay and Miguel Ibarra have all been capped by the U.S. national team.
• FC Dallas assistant Marco Ferruzzi played two seasons for the Minnesota Thunder (2003–04). He made 47 appearances and scored eight goals.
• Maximiano returns to the squad after serving a one-match suspension for receiving two yellow cards in the club’s 4-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City on June 3.
• The Loons will be without Miguel Ibarra this week after he was ejected from the 3-2 defeat at Colorado Rapids on June 23.
• Ibarra tied Ibson for the club record of 44 career MLS appearances last week against the Rapids.
• FC Dallas lost 3-0 to New York Red Bulls last week. The result ended a seven-match unbeaten run for Dallas in MLS play, which included four consecutive wins.
• Five of Minnesota’s next seven matches are at home.
• Ibson (1A), Marc Burch (1G), Sam Cronin (2A), Abu Danladi (1G), Ethan Finlay (1G), Ibarra (1G), Collin Martin (1A), Kevin Molino (1A), and Christian Ramirez (1G/2A) have gotten on the score sheet against FC Dallas during their MLS careers.
• Ramirez scored his fourth goal of the season last week. He has scored 18 goals in his MLS career.
• Ramirez has scored in three of the past five MNUFC matches.
• Darwin Quintero got his second assist of the season last week. He becomes the third MNUFC player with multiple assists this year, joining Ibarra (4) and Rasmus Schuller (2).
• Both MNUFC and FC Dallas have scored multiple goals in seven matches this year.
• MNUFC has not scored more than two goals in a match this year. The last time the Loons scored at least three goals was October 13 in a 3-2 win over Atlanta United FC.
• FC Dallas is the only team from Texas to ever win the U.S. Open Cup. It won the 1997 and 2016 editions of the tournament.
• FC Dallas also won the MLS Supporters’ Shield in 2016.
• Bobby Shuttleworth earned his first career win against FC Dallas in the Loons’ 4-1 victory on September 23, 2017. Shuttleworth saved a penalty in the second half of a six-save performance that gave MNUFC its ninth win of the season.
• Minnesota’s last home match was on May 26. The Loons defeated the Montreal Impact 2-0, with goals from Ramirez and Ibarra.
• MNUFC has scored at least once in its past five MLS matches. The Loons have also scored in each of their past five home matches.