It’s official: Minnesota United is one of the best teams in MLS
Minnesota United earns road draw
Another match against one of the top teams in MLS, another result for Minnesota United, a side that is beginning to make a habit of frustrating some of the top teams in the league. A draw on Wednesday night at Banc of California Stadium gives Minnesota United a result in 10 of their last 11 matches.
The 2-2 result via a Hassani Dotson goal in second half stoppage time got Minnesota United the road draw. The central midfielder now has two goals and two assists in 15 appearances (13 starts) this season.
More from MLS Multiplex
- Javier Milei Elected in Argentina: Potential Impacts on MLS and Signings of Argentine Players
- Orlando City and New York City FC in the Battle for Matías Arezo; Grêmio Enters Negotiations! Who Will Come Out on Top?
- USA, Honduras, Panama, and Canada Close in on a Spot in the 2024 Copa America
- De Gea Turns Down Al-Nassr’s Lucrative Offer: Speculation Points to Possible Reunion with Messi at Inter Miami
- Messi’s Magnetic Impact in the United States
The tie against a talented LAFC team is yet another indicator that the four losses to start the season are a thing of the past for Minnesota United.
“This season we’ve had good play but with the first four losses that we took, we looked at each other and we realized that we needed to play with a little more grit, little more energy,” Dotson told reporters after the match.
“That’s showed in the last two results coming back. And getting a good result for us. The mentality has been ‘it’s not over until it’s over’ and keep fighting and keep pushing and do your best and the rest will take care of itself.”
Minnesota United now sits at 6-5-4 (22 points) and in sixth place in the Western Conference.
Building up by Minnesota United
The difficult start to the season, including the aforementioned four losses in the first four games, came as a surprise to most around MLS. Last season, the club made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
But with more matches – and if they can keep their big names such as Emauel Reynoso fit and healthy – then Minnesota United should be able to continue their charge up the conference table.
After overcoming their rocky start to 2021, it appears that head coach Adrian Heath has his team headed in the right direction. They’ve managed 22 points from their last 11 matches, an impressive run of results that includes results against top teams such as LAFC.
“A point on the road, I would take it every time, especially here,” Heath told reporters after the match.
“They ask questions of you that other teams don’t. They’ve got two or three quality, quality players, as good as anybody in the league. It’s never an easy 90 minutes here. For us to come back and do something… I thought there was one or two outstanding performances. I thought Brent Kallman probably had his best game he’s probably had for the club, thought he was outstanding. Thought Jacori [Hayes], considering he’s not played a lot of minutes, and I just thought there was a lot of good stuff tonight. The boys can be extremely proud of what they’ve done.”