Minnesota could have had a commanding lead in the Spring title race with a victory in Indianapolis. Instead, a couple of defensive gaffes from the Loons meant Indy Eleven was able to come away with a 4-2 win.
With Ben Speas out, the question at the start of the game was how would Minnesota respond without their number ten? Coach Carl Craig decided to play Añor in that attacking midfield position with Pinho again out wide left. At the half, Craig switched the two players, which would lead to Pinho’s second goal for Minnesota.
1st Half
After a back and forth opening fifteen minutes, Indy would be the first to find the back of the net. A clearance on a Minnesota corner kick fell to Danny Cruz. When he mistimed his shot, Indy was off to the races. With four Indy players on the break, Venegas kept three of them on just long enough for Braun to be able to run on to the through ball. Ndjock did all he could, but Zayed was able to slot it home for the first goal.
After the goal, Minnesota had the lion’s share of the possession, but Indy Eleven’s bend-but-not-break defense stopped everything Minnesota brought. Minnesota struggled with the turf, and ended up trying to get the ball to each other in the air rather than allow it to bounce off the ground.
Indy had the second quality chance on goal on another Venegas mistake. Venegas was tracking back on a long ball into the box. As he brought the ball down, he misplayed it, and Danny Mares shadowing him pounced on it.
Minnesota’s best chance on goal would come late in the half when Minnesota had another corner, one of six they would earn in the first half. Brovsky’s corner would end up on Ramirez’s foot, but he would be unable to get it under control enough to put the ball in the back of the net.
2nd Half
Once again Minnesota’s defense let them down early in the second half. Omar Gordon scored his first goal of the season. Zayed managed to find space between Kallman and Lowe and touched it on to the far post to a streaking Gordon.
Pinho answered five minutes later. Venegas played it in towards Pinho and the striker let the ball run for a few yards before he put a laser into the upper ninety to bring Indy’s lead back to only one.
Damian Lowe evened the score at two apiece with a header off a corner, but Indy struck again after a lengthy injury delay. Ndjock parried away the initial free kick, but Braun was there to find a ball’s width of space between Ndjock and the near post to put the scoreline at three to two.
Minnesota pushed hard for another equalizer and with eight minutes of extra time due to a couple of injuries in the second half, they had a shot. Two quick yellows on Justin Davis put Minnesota down to ten men. The second yellow on Davis gave Indy Eleven a free kick outside the box which Patterson put into the back of the net to finish the scoring 4-2.
While the loss damages Minnesota’s chance for the spring title, Minnesota will miss their captain Justin Davis next week against Tampa Bay. What were your thoughts of the 4-2 loss?
Lineups
Minnesota United FC
33 SAMMY NDJOCK
22 KEVIN VENEGAS
31 DAMION LOWE (Goal ‘69)
2 JUSTIN DAVIS
6 BRENT KALLMAN
11 STÉFANO PINHO (Goal ‘54)
9 BERNARDO ANOR
8 DANNY CRUZ
77 JULIANO
3 JEB BROVSKY
21 CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ
Substitutions
BANKS for ANOR
LAING for CRUZ
MENDES for VICENTINI
Indy Eleven
18 JON BUSCH
12 GREG JANICKI
5 LOVEL PALMER
32 COLIN FALVEY
82 NEMANJA VUKOVIC
91 OMAR GORDON (Goal ‘16)
33 GORKA LARREA
6 DYLAN MARES
7 DON SMART
9 ÉAMON ZAYED (Goal 49’)
20 JUSTIN BRAUN (Goal ‘75)
Substitutions
PATTERSON for LARREA
MILLER for JANICKI
LaCROIX for SMART
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