Minnesota United FC’s Franco Fragapane showed potential in MLS debut
Franco Fragapane’s debut for Minnesota United was a dream one, the new signing scoring in his debut as his club shared a 1-1 result at FC Dallas on Saturday night.
What Franco Fragapane showed in the draw is exactly the type of performance needed to help Minnesota United continue to put together results. He certainly backed up the hype when Minnesota United signed him last month.
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The goal came in the 36th minute when Jacori Hayes, after winning a tackle, carried the ball 60 yards down the right channel, feeding a ball to Adrian Hunou at the top of the penalty area. The French attacker, who like Fragapane is a recent signing for Minnesota United, saw his shot well turned away by FC Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer.
Fragapane was there to capitalize from six yards on the ball that Maurer pushed away. It was a smart move from the Argentine, who continued his run as Hunou collected the pass from Hayes and then took his shot.
“It was a fast play where Jacori passed the ball to Adrien and Adrien took a shot and well, the goalkeeper rebounded it to where I was and it was just right and I scored it,” Fragapane told reporters after the match.
It was a good bit of soccer intelligence from Fragapane, a 28-year old wide player signed from Talleres last month.
The international break came at a good time for Minnesota United, as they were able to slowly integrate Fragapane and Hunou over the past two weeks. In addition, creative midfielder Emanuel Reynoso was a second half substitution, welcome news after injuries have limited his impact this season.
“The truth is that they’re very good players,” Fragapane said about getting on the same page with his new teammates.
“The truth is we need, a little bit more time to adjust to each other, but anyways, I think that game by game we’re getting better and we’re going to start playing better together.”
Time they might have, as the road result continues Minnesota United’s solid run of results. After losing their first four games to start the season, Minnesota United has eight points from their last four matches.
It isn’t a sudden tear of results but a team that was just minutes from MLS Cup a year ago is starting to play better. Saturday’s road result gives Minnesota United another sign of progress as the season begins to heat up.
The emergence of Hunou, the return to health of Reynoso and the promising results from Fragapane on Saturday are all signs that Minnesota United should be able to battle into a playoff spot. Even if they are currently on the outside looking in things are certainly looking up for the club.
The overall performance of Fragapane, as highlighted by his goal, is what head coach Adrian Heath knew he could get from his new signing.
“What we expected. He’s smart. Gets in really good holes. Gets in good spots. He’s going to be a big pick up for us. I told him between now and the end of the season, we’ll try and get 10 goals out of him,” Heath said after the match.
“Because he got a real smart way of getting in the box at the right time. Could have had a couple others tonight. He had one early on where he made a good, late run into the box. Probably could have done a bit better because he’s a really good finisher. And, then he’s in the right spot. Adrien Hunou has had a couple of really good opportunities first half. So, there’s been a lot of pleasing stuff.”
Follow Kristian Dyer of ‘MLS Multiplex‘ on Twitter @KristianRDyer