In an afternoon match at TCF Bank Stadium, Minnesota United FC welcomed Vancouver Whitecaps FC, looking for its second win in a row. The early back and forth found the teams deadlocked and scoreless at the half, but a red card for Mason Toye in the 50th minute forced adjustments that let the Loons take a 1-0 lead and hold it under intense pressure from a physical Whitecaps side.
“I thought it was a monumental effort considering how long we played with a man down,” said Head Coach Adrian Heath. “[Vancouver is] probably the biggest team in the league. I thought the players, every single one of them, put themselves on the line so many times. Overall I am incredibly proud of the players. It was a really big result for us and hopefully we keep this momentum going.”
The first 10 minutes of the match featured punches and counterpunches, with Minnesota earning its first corner kick quickly in the second minute, giving recent addition midfielder Alexi Gomez the chance to take his first corner from the right side. Vancouver got its first corner just four minutes later and goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth turned aside two decent chances, the first by forward Anthony Blondell and the second a header by defender Kendall Waston on the ensuing corner kick.
The Whitecaps’ size posed a formidable challenge throughout the match and they played physical and aggressive as the Loons looked to take advantage of their speed and creativity, primarily from midfielders Darwin Quintero and Gomez. The link-ups between those two and Ibson showed a level of creativity that bodes well for the future as the newcomers settle into the side.
By the 30-minute mark, Minnesota’s offense had slowed down a bit as they worked the ball around in an effort to stretch the Vancouver defense. Their patience paid dividends in the 34th minute when a Gomez cross forced a tough save from goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic he couldn’t quite corral. The ball ping-ponged around in front of goal but no Minnesota United player was there to jump on it.
As the teams headed to the half, it was Minnesota with the possession advantage, 59% to 41%, but Vancouver way out ahead in terms of shots, nine to two. Given the Loons’ propensity for stepping it up in the second half, though, heading to the break level at nil-nil was an encouraging first half result.
Just five minutes into the second half, the complexion of the match changed markedly when Mason Toye was shown a red card and sent off. Gomez was prowling along the left side looking for an opportunity to cross while Toye set up in the box with Waston behind him. Just before he made his move, Toye elbowed Waston and sent him to the ground, forcing MNUFC to adjust to playing a man down for the remaining 40 minutes.
“The hard part is when you have Darwin, who wants to play with the ball of the time and he doesn’t have the outlet to go in behind,” said Heath. “Everything that you play is short and you invite people to come and pressure more. I thought some of our play and (Miguel Ibarra) and Alexi Gomez had a great start. They put some great balls into the box and looked dangerous on the counterattack.”
Forced to play out of their own half, the Loons settled back, looking for opportunities to lay a little jujitsu on the Whitecaps and use their aggression against them. In the 60th minute, Quintero found himself in the middle of the pitch with a lot of space to work with and he drove the ball forward before finding Gomez in space down the left wing. His cross found midfielder Miguel Ibarra on the right wing, who cut across for a sharp angled shot on goal that Marinovic got a hand on, but couldn’t control. Ibarra chased down the resulting rebound and buried it for his first goal of the year and a 1-0 lead for the Loons.
“We switched the field and I see Alexi [Gomez] go one-on-one,” said Ibarra. “[The coaches] have been telling me since the season started, ‘Make sure you get to the back post.’ I had already done that against Portland Timbers which was called back. My instinct was don’t be offside on this one. The goalkeeper made a great save on the first one, but I just needed to bottle it up.”
“I think the competition for places is the biggest motivation,” said Heath when asked about Ibarra’s performance this year, which includes three match-winning assists and now a match-winning goal. “If you can’t get a game it generally livens everybody up. He has waited patiently for his chance and he has taken it. He will keep his place if he keeps playing like that. But we are getting more and more competition for places. That is the nature of what it is for. That is why you have a strong squad — to make sure that if you are in the team you have to play well to keep your place. He’s doing that at this moment.”
The Whitecaps responded by doubling down on their size up front, replacing the 6-foot-1-inch Anthony Blondell with the 6-foot-3-inch Kei Kamara, as well as Nicolas Mezquida with Yordy Reyna. As the Whitecaps’ attack piled forward, the Loons played it safe and packed men into the box. Kamara got two decent looks almost back to back in the 74th and 75th minutes, one a point blank strike that sailed over the crossbar and the other a header that did the same.
Those close calls were enough to get Heath to change the shape to a more protective 5-3-1 by bringing in defenders Wyatt Omsberg and Collin Martin for Gomez and Ibarra. Once the bus was parallel parked in front of the Loons’ goal, the match became reminiscent of Minnesota United’s loss to Atlanta when they were down a man, but with the shoe on the other foot. Defender Eric Miller, playing in his first match with MNUFC after coming over from Colorado in a last-minute trade for Sam Nicholson earlier this week, acquitted himself well even though he was forced from the match with some cramping in the 82nd minute.
“It’s been super, super hectic,” said the Minnesota native about his return this week. “I told a couple people the other day: It’s nice when you get traded and that night you can sleep in your parents’ house. It makes things a little bit easier. And then honestly, there’s so much stuff to do that playing soccer is the easiest part. It’s easy to just come out here to play with the guys. It’s a super talented group with a lot of quality, so it’s super easy to come here and do my job.”
Shuttleworth kept the clean sheet and saved MNUFC two points with a beauty of a save in the 83rd minute. Midfielder Brek Shea — who came on for Bernie Ibini-Isei — curled a pretty shot from the right side that was absolutely headed for the upper left corner of the goal, but Shuttleworth stabbed it away to preserve the shutout and a 1-0 Loons win.
“Bobby came up with an incredible save,” said Heath. “It was two or three feet outside the post, so it is going in the top corner. For him to get his hand on it was incredible save. He has done that the last couple weeks when we needed him.”
Minnesota United next heads to California to face expansion side LAFC at the recently opened Banc of California Stadium in a midweek match on Wednesday, May 9 at 9:00 p.m. CT. Pre-match coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. on FOX Sports North and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN.
Lineups
Minnesota United FC Starting XI: GK Bobby Shuttleworth; D Eric Miller (Carter Manley 82’), Michael Boxall, Francisco Calvo, Jerome Thiesson; M Ibson, Rasmus Schuller, Miguel Ibarra (Wyatt Omsberg 77’), Alexi Gomez (Collin Martin 77’), Darwin Quintero; F Mason Toye
MIN Unused Subs: GK Matt Lampson; M Harrison Heath, Frantz Pangop, Maximiano
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Starting XI: GK Stefan Marinovic; D Sean Franklin, Kendall Waston, Jose Aja, Brett Levis; M Bernie Ibini (Brek Shea 70’), Felipe, Nicolas Mezquida (Yordy Reyna 63’), Aly Ghazal, Alphonso Davies; F Anthony Blondell (Kei Kamara 63’)
VAN Unused Subs: GK Brian Rowe; D Jakob Nerwinski; M Efrain Juarez, Russell Teibert
Match Events
Goals
60’ – Ibarra – MIN
Discipline
20’ – Ghazal (YC) – VAN
26’ – Quintero (YC) – MIN
50’ – Toye (RC) – MIN
66’ – Aja (YC) – VAN
90+1’ – Shuttleworth (YC) – MIN
Attendance: 19,642
