On a nearly perfect meteorological autumn day in Blaine, Minnesota United FC found their first victory against a well-coached Rayo OKC side after three straight road draws. While the stands were relatively sparse due to the Labor Day weekend and the State Fair, the fans who were there were treated to a fantastic game by Minnesota.
The single goal was scored by Christian Ramirez in the 44th minute after a fantastic run down the left side by Lance Laing. His cross in was tipped by the goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes, but Jamie Watson headed the ball down to Ramirez’ feet. Ramirez finally found a way to get the ball past Fernandes, who had managed to stop everything Ramirez had thrown at him up to that point.
Rayo OKC tried to play a very compact defense, not allowing Minnesota much time on the ball, but Minnesota proved too much with their pressing and Rayo OKC had only one shot on frame all game.
Minnesota has morphed their typical 4-2-3-1 into a 4-1-4-1 for two reasons. First is to allow right-back convert Jeb Brovsky to focus on defense, as his overlapping runs are not as important to the offense as a healthy Kevin Venegas’ runs are. The second is to bring more players into the attack in the middle of the field to help break down the tough defenses teams have been bringing against the team.
With Lance Laing’s speed on the wing, Ibson’s creativity in attack, JC Banks’s cutting runs inside and Watson’s attack dog-like attitude on the right side, Christian Ramirez finally had opportunities in front of goal. Besides his goal, he managed to put two additional goals into the back of the net and earn a penalty that were, unfortunately, but rightly, called back for offside.
Minnesota is currently in 4th place in the combined table, with seven points of daylight from Carolina RailHawks, who have two games in hand. Next week, Minnesota travels to take on the first-place New York Cosmos, who drew on Saturday night against Fort Lauderdale.
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