Adrian Heath pulls no punches after Minnesota United’s road draw
Minnesota United gets road draw
It was a difficult night for Minnesota United, who settled for a 1-1 result at the San Jose Earthquakes on Tuesday night. A red card to Earthquakes defender Nathan in the 21st minute meant that Minnesota United played up a man for much of the match and still came away without the win.
The road result, while good on paper for Minnesota United, comes after a frustrating 1-0 home loss to the LA Galaxy over the weekend.
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One minute after San Jose went down a man, Minnesota United pulled level as Wil Trapp scored his first goal of the season (and first with the club). Despite controlling the match after the Nathan red card, Minnesota United never was able to pull ahead.
“It’s obviously disappointing. I actually thought we played well the first half when they went down the man. Played more horizontal,” Minnesota United head coach Adrian Heath told reporters after the match.
“Tried to switch the point of attack and spread them out a little bit. I thought second half we were too vertical and didn’t really make the man advantage pay enough. Then when we did get into the final third, I don’t think our quality was good enough this evening. I don’t know how many opportunities we’ve had to put the ball in the box, but, I don’t think their keeper has had enough to do in the second half.”
The tie keeps Minnesota United in fifth place in the Western Conference with a record of 7-6-6 (27 points).
Minnesota United wastes second half advantage
Some of the momentum from the first half, where it seemed like Minnesota United was knocking on the door and poised to take the lead, evaporated after halftime. The Earthquakes came out organized and balanced, consolidating space and making it difficult for Minnesota United to play between the lines.
Heath had a simple reason for why his team was unable to get the three points despite holding possession and a man-advantage for the entirety of the second half.
“Because our quality wasn’t good enough. We’d gotten off of the ball in their half of the field, as I say, I don’t think we play side to side enough,” Heath said. The overload is on the opposite side. The weaker side. When they only then start to play one up, and you keep playing in straight lines, you’re not really getting what’s in your numerical advantage. And when we did get it wide and when we did get overloads in wide areas… I’ll just say that I don’t think we had enough quality tonight.”