Minnesota United blanked at home
Minnesota United came down to earth on Saturday, a 1-0 home loss to LA Galaxy a bit of a surprising drop from a side that was one of the hottest in MLS over the past three months.
To show how hot this side has been this is just the second loss for Minnesota United since May 8. A 43rd minute goal by Galaxy midfielder Kevin Cabral was the difference in the match.
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In what was a measuring stick match against one of the best sides in MLS this season, Minnesota United came up short.
“It’s difficult. One, when you consider the goalkeeper’s performance today was unbelievable. I feared the worst when he made the save after about two minutes because sometimes it sets people up for the way it is. But, no. The game was… I thought was going to be really tight,” Minnesota United head coach Adrian Heath said after the match.
“I thought it was going to be tight margins. And that’s the way the game proved. I can’t fault the players, because they kept going and kept going. Other than for what, four, five unbelievable saves from the keeper? We would have got something out of the game. So, overall, obviously disappointed in the results. Incredibly pleased with the player’s efforts and desire to do well. And, as I say, when the opposition at the end of the whistle will run over to the goalkeeper, you know he’s had a good game. But, no, it’s disappointing to lose in that manner because we had… I can think of three or four opportunities that we had and then the keeper has come up with three, four great saves. When I’ll look back. Disappointed.”
The loss sees Minnesota United’s record sit at 7-6-5 (26 points) and fifth place in the Western Conference. The LA Galaxy are now 11-6-2 (35 points) and in third place.
As Heath noted in his postgame press conference, the Minnesota United loss was in large part due to the play of Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann, who was making his first start of the season and the fifth of his MLS career. Klinsmann made seven saves, several of the spectacular variety, to get the road win for his side.
“Jonathan had a great game,” midfielder Wil Trapp said after the match.
“We certainly put a lot of threatening plays together to test him, but I mean if you look at the deflection and you look at the saves in the first half off Ethan , he did a wonderful job and it’s difficult when a goalkeeper is having a good day to score but we still feel a little bit disappointed that we didn’t get one.”