SAINT PAUL, Minn.-- They left it till nearly the last minute, but the Loons defeated the visiting Sporting Kansas City 2-1 and clinched the club’s first-ever playoff berth. Sporting KC came to Allianz Field with a similar game plan as many of those who have threatened to take points from the Loons – defend in a deep block and hit on the counterattack with pace. The strategy almost paid off for the visitors as a first half goal from Botond Baráth inside of six minutes stood until the 71st minute when Osvaldo Alonso finally broke through the SKC resistance. Heading into the 90th minute, both sides threatened with multiple chances to win the game but it was Hassani Dotson who came to the rescue for Minnesota United. A deflected shot bounced past the outstretched hands of Tim Melia to give the Loons a very late victory that clinched their first-ever playoff berth.
“They've worked really hard for what they've achieved,” said Head Coach Adrian Heath. “But we want to go even further than that. We don't want to just get in the playoffs. I didn't read one publication that tipped us to be in the playoffs this year in the Western Conference. It's not been a pretty evening in terms of football, but in terms of a will to find a way to win a game, I couldn't fault the players, certainly in the second half, I thought our will and our desire was magnificent.”
Going with an unchanged starting XI from Sunday’s 0-0 goalless draw against the Portland Timbers, Adrian Heath’s side came out of the blocks on the back foot. Pinned down by the early pressure of Sporting Kansas City, the Loons defended deep in their own half throughout the opening five minutes of the game.
Sporting KC capitalized on its early pressure as a Botond Baráth goal in the sixth minute gave the visitors a 1-0 lead over the Loons. After winning a corner kick, SKC’s Johnny Russell found a trailing Graham Zusi who laid the ball back to Russell on his stronger left foot. With a better angle to cross, Russell swung a dangerous ball that was easily touched home by Baráth – SKC’s centerback – who had remained in the Minnesota penalty area after the initial corner kick.
“I just don't think our play was good, I don't think it was crisp enough,” said Heath when asked about his side’s slow start. “I don't think we moved the ball quick enough. All the things that when we've been good at home, that's what we've had. Quality wasn't as good as it's normally been.”
The Loons were quick to respond to their disappointing start, though, as they won a flurry of corner kicks which in turn began to push Sporting KC back on its heels. MNUFC had a glorious opportunity to level the score in the 12th minute when Kevin Molino’s early cross found a cutting Mason Toye directly on the doorstep of SKC’s goal. Leaning back at the crucial moment, Toye sent his effort well over Tim Melia’s net, leaving the young forward disappointed not to score.
Unfazed by Minnesota pushing to equalize immediately, Sporting KC had two golden opportunities to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the 23rd and 26th minute.
First, Erik Hurtado – whose pace looked to be a threat early on – made a darting run across the face of goal that eluded both Ike Opara and Michael Boxall. Opening his body too much, Hurtado flashed his shot narrowly wide across the face of goal. Three minutes later, Vito Mannone then came up with an outrageous double save to keep MNUFC in the game when he parried a long-range effort from Graham Zusi and then incredibly used a strong right arm to stifle the follow-up shot from Gianluca Busio to keep the score at 1-0.
In the remaining 20 minutes of the half, Sporting KC began to sit deeper in their own half as they aimed to frustrate Minnesota and protect their 1-0 lead. As tackles began to fly in, the game became choppy with frequent stoppages for fouls and delays for players protesting their innocence. Determined to push aside the frustration sustained throughout the latter stages of the first half, the Loons came close to equalizing once again – this time through Darwin Quintero.
In first half stoppage time, a deflected Romain Metanire cross looped over the head of SKC’s Botond Baráth who had misjudged the flight of the ball. An unmarked Darwin Quintero loitered behind Baráth and attempted to steer a close-range header past Tim Melia. As the cross lost much of its speed through the deflection, Quintero was unable to get enough purchase on his header and it fell directly into the hands of Melia to hold Sporting’s 1-0 lead heading into the half.
Looking dangerous on the break again, Sporting KC had another chance that came inches from doubling their lead right out of the break. Pushing forward out of his spot in midfield, Gianluca Busio latched onto a trailing ball on top of the MNUFC penalty area. Taking the ball first time and expertly slicing his shot, Busio’s effort agonizingly dinked off the Minnesota crossbar and was cleared to safety.
Looking to bring some energy and fresh legs into an XI who had put in a shift against the Portland Timbers just three days earlier, Heath brought on Hassani Dotson and Abu Danladi in place of Kevin Molino and Mason Toye. Danladi and Dotson both clearly began to make their mark on the game as the duo helped to retain the ball and push SKC even deeper into their own penalty area. By the 70th minute, the visitors were defending with 10 men behind the ball with Erik Hurtado the only outlet going forward.
“We had to change the shape,” said Heath. “I was going to do it at halftime, but I wanted to see if we could get a little of impetus going, actually get a foothold in the game. The more I watched it, the more they had that spare body in midfield and they were using it well so we went to a 4-3-3 and matched them up in the middle of the park and I thought that helped us enormously.”
Finally making their attacking pressure count, the Loons got on the scoresheet in the 71st minute through Osvaldo Alonso – who hadn’t scored since the inaugural game at Allianz Field.
Whipping in his seventh corner kick of the night, Jan Gregus found the head of Abu Danladi, who sent a deftly flicked header into the path of Alonso. Making no mistake, Alonso buried it in the SKC net from close-range to equalize for the Loons.
Sporting nearly took the lead back moments after Minnesota’s goal when second half substitute Gerso Fernandes raced into the MNUFC penalty area. Cutting around the onrushing Vito Mannone, Fernandes attempted to lay the ball off but a last-ditch tackle from Romain Metanire sent the ball out of play and to safety.
While Sporting KC continued to threaten on the counterattack, Vito Mannone stood up to each Sporting effort, denying chance after chance to keep the scores level. Although the visitors created chances on the break, whenever MNUFC took control of the ball, it pinned SKC in their own penalty area with almost every man behind the ball. The last 10 minutes were a fight to the finish as both sides looked to find a break in the game to take all three points.
In the 90th minute, with the game on the line, that break came for Hassani Dotson who scored his fourth goal of the season – this one not a banger but the most important of the bunch. Cutting into the Sporting penalty area, Dotson feinted and skipped past the flying challenges of multiple defenders and onto his weaker left foot. With an open look 12 yards from goal, Dotson sent a scuffed shot that deflected off an SKC defender and past the outstretched arms of Tim Melia sending Allianz Field into delirium. Not only did Dotson’s strike win the game for MNUFC but it dramatically clinched Minnesota’s first-ever playoff berth.
“It means everything to me,” said Heath. “I'm proud of what I've done as a player and what I've done as a coach, but this is the most important thing because it's the next thing. When I came in, after the first year, I still think getting 10 wins is probably as big an achievement as making the playoffs, for what we had to go through that year. I'm really, really proud of everybody connected with the club, especially the players, the ownership group, with our supporters, who have been nothing short of magnificent since we've been in this stadium. This is just the start.”
Minnesota United's next game is its final regular season bout at Allianz Field in 2019 as it hosts Los Angeles Football Club on Sunday, September 29. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports 1, streaming on FOX Sports GO and live on MNUFC Radio on SKOR North. It’s Minnesota United’s Fan Appreciation Game, presented by Element Electronics, so come early for special events.
Lineups
Minnesota United FC Starting XI: GK Vito Mannone; D Romain Metanire, Ike Opara, Michael Boxall, Chase Gasper; M Jan Gregus, Osvaldo Alonso, Kevin Molino (Hassani Dotson 61’), Robin Lod, Darwin Quintero; F Mason Toye (Abu Danladi 61’)
MIN Unused Subs: GK Dayne St. Clair; D Wilfried Moimbe-Tahrat; M Lawrence Olum, Miguel Ibarra, Ethan Finlay
Sporting Kansas City Starting XI: GK Tim Melia; D Botond Barath, Graham Zusi, Ille Sanchez, Luis Martins; M Daniel Salloi, Felipe Gutierrez, Gianluca Busio (Jimmy Medranda 89’), Johnny Russell (Gerso Fernandes 71’), Roger Espinoza; F Erik Hurtado (Krisztian Nemeth 71’)
SKC Unused Subs: GK Erick Dick; D Graham Smith, Seth Sinovic; Nicolas Hasler
Game Events
Goals
7’ – Barath (Russell) – SKC
70’ – Alonso (Danladi, Gregus) – MIN
90’ – Dotson (Gregus) – MIN
Discipline
79’ – Gasper (YC) – MIN
90+3’ – Gutierrez (YC) – SKC
90+4’ – Gasper (2YC) – MIN
90+6’ – Nemeth (YC) – SKC
HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH
On the celebration in the locker room ..
“We're pleased, obviously, but we go again, don't we, in another three days. I want them to be pleased, I want them to be excited, because they've worked really hard for what they've achieved. But we want to go even further than that. We don't want to just get in the playoffs, we said that. I didn't read one publication, I didn't read any magazine that tipped us to be in the playoffs this year in the Western Conference. So kudos to the staff, to the players, who've proved a few people wrong and I'm delighted for that. Delighted for our ownership group, Dr. Bill McGuire, all the investors in the club. Pleased for our fans. It's not been a pretty evening in terms of football, but in terms of a will to find a way to win a game, I couldn't fault the players, certainly in the second half, I thought our will and our desire was magnificent.”
On what he said at halftime …
“I think I have to be careful with what I said at halftime. We got into one or two and we told them, 'Let's go play in their half of the field, let's play with a bit more desire and put them under a bit more pressure.' I thought we stayed in our defensive shape a little bit too much in the first half and let them get a foothold into the game. They're a good team, they've got good players, so it didn't surprise me.”
On having a two-point cushion …
“I haven't even looked at the table.”
On being two up on third place in the Western Conference …
“Let's hope it stays that way. But we won a big game! Let's go on and see if we can win this game against LAFC. I know nobody gives us a chance, but it'd be nice to beat them on Sunday and that'll be three times we've beaten them out of four.”
On the team starting with a lack of energy …
“I don't think it was a lack of energy, I just don't think our play was good, I don't think it was crisp enough, I don't think we moved the ball quick enough. All the things that when we've been good at home, that's what we've had. Quality wasn't as good as it's normally been, but in the end of the day, I can criticize as much as I want because sometimes football is not all about free-flowing football, about people showing you how good they are. Sometimes it's about rolling your sleeves up and having the desire to actually go and get a result. Hook or by crook, however you get there.”
On what he got out of the subs (Abu Danladi, Ethan Finlay, Hassani Dotson) …
“We had to change the shape. The change of shape actually helped us more. I was going to do it at halftime, but I wanted to see if we could get a little of impetus going, actually get a foothold in the game. The more I watched it, the more they had that spare body in midfield and they were using it well so we went to a 4-3-3 and matched them up in the middle of the park and I thought that helped us enormously.”
On the quality of Hassani Dotson’s finishing …
“I'm not sure that was his best finish since I've been here. Did it take a deflection? I'm not sure he's been working on that in training. But hey, they all count. It doesn't surprise me. He has a great feel for the game and even playing and not wanting to stay behind the ball, he went on to the next ball. The kid's had a really good year.”
On Vito Mannone’s performance tonight …
“I said on Sunday in Portland that I thought he saved what he should save. Tonight, he saved a couple of things — those were top drawer saves. They're saves that keep you in the game and that's why goalkeepers are so important. The second save. The first one, he got a big hand to it, but the second save's the one, the reaction, and it was a big night for Vito.”
On Osvaldo Alonso’s goal …
“He's very happy in there. First thing he said to me when we signed him: 'I've been in the playoffs 10 years on the trot — I am not not making it this year.' So I'm pleased for him to keep that record going. And just his desire, and the one thing about people like Ozzie, I thought him and Jan put a great shift in at times. Ozzie's infectious personality and enthusiasm to play the game the way that he does, rubs off on people. As I say to people like Hassani, if you want to model yourself on anybody, don't look any further than this guy.”
On getting so much out of the rookies this season …
“We've done really well out of the draft. If you look at Dayne St. Clair was on the bench, Abu came on — he was out of the draft a couple years ago — Mason's given us a lot of important moments recently, Hassani, Chase, we've done really well out of the draft and all them kids can be really, really please with their input. They've added something to this group this year, which sometimes you don't get for such young kids.”
On his feeling of making the playoffs for the first time as a coach …
“It means everything to me. I'm proud of what I've done as a player and what I've done as a coach, but this is the most important thing because it's the next thing. When I came in, after the first year, I still think getting 10 wins is probably as big an achievement as making the playoffs, for what we had to go through that year. And only people within the club will know that. I'm really, really proud of everybody connected with the club, especially the players, the ownership group. I'm really pleased with our supporters, who have been nothing short of magnificent since we've been in this stadium. This is just the start. We have to keep moving on, we have to keep trying to get better and that's what we'll do.”
MINNESOTA UNITED MIDFIELDER HASSANI DOTSON
On scoring the biggest goal in professional career…
“Yeah I would say so. It was the game winner but the credit goes to the team and all the effort that everyone in the organization has put for us to get here.”
On receiving the ball at the top of the box…
“At first I just played it to Ozzie then I saw a little gap and I just asked for the ball. At first I was going to slide it to Ethan but the defender, he changed his movement so I just decided to take it myself.”
On taking the shot for the game winning goal…
“I took a few extra touches because against Real Salt Lake I tried shooting with my left foot a couple times and they blocked it so I was just hoping that this one went in the goal.”
On celebrating after the ball went into the back of the net…
“We were all just excited, there weren’t many words being said it was just a bunch of screaming and you know being embraced by the fans is just a good moment.”
On playoff excitement…
“I’m very excited. I mean its big for all of us here, we are all very strong competitors and we want to be the best and to do that we have to keep playing the best we can and keep winning games.”
On doing the double knee slide…
“That’s probably the second time and my knees are burning from it.”
On first knee slide attempt…
“It was probably U-11.”
On preparing for LAFC on Sunday…
“I think we are going to enjoy the moment right now and as soon as tomorrow hits to start recovering, like I said we want to win every game and the game plan is not my decision so everyone here is just going to focus on that and do the best we can.”
On what was said in the locker room at half time…
“Just that we needed to do more, obviously we were down. Just do more, fight harder and play like we want it.”
On tactical instructions received before coming on…
“Umm just to play on the side of the 4-3-3. Play with Darwin on my side so he can get the ball from the outlet.”
On new haircut on Sunday…
“Yeah so Chase told me I should braid my hair and I told him if I score another goal before the end of the regular season happens that I would do it, so we got to start looking for an appointment.”
On having a stylist ready…
“Not yet, not yet.”
On bleaching hair like Dayne…
“Who knows, maybe? We have to keep you guys guessing.”
On bleaching hair after one more goal…
“Yes only if we have another goal in the last two games, I’ll bleach my hair.”
MINNESOTA UNITED MIDFIELDER OSVALDO ALONSO
On the source of his frustration in the first half …
“You know, when you come here at home, play in this game, trying to win the game and you start losing. It’s always frustrating but we believe in our team. We believe in ourselves. And we fight and fight until the end and we got to be sure to make us through the playoff.”
On what it means to him to go back to the playoffs …
“When I came here, nobody thought we were gonna make the playoff. And we’re here in the playoff, so very excited and very happy. Because, from the beginning, we believed in this team, they were gonna make the playoff. And we did it. So, now we got to keep going. We also have two more games. And ready for the playoff.”
On if he told Adrian Heath that the not-making-the-playoffs streak was one he wanted to end when he joined the team, and they were going to be in every year now …
“Yeah, when I came here… First, I wanted to win the playoff, and tried to win the Cup. That was my goal when I signed here with Minnesota. I told to Adrian [Heath], before I came here, I said, no, I have to go there to give my best for the team, my team, we did it, during the season, to make the playoff. It was hard, but finally we did it. First time ever for the club. We’re happy, we’re excited glad to keep going.”
On what it means to score two goals at historic moments in Minnesota United history …
“Been amazing. Scored the first goal, I’m always going to remember. And today also because losing 1-0, it’s the kind of goal to give you the motivation to keep going to win the game. But, for me, it’s the thing if we fight, we fight. Wasn’t a pretty game today, but, at the end of the day, we win. We go 2-1. Tomorrow the newspaper is going to be Minnesota in the playoff. Doesn’t matter how you win, you did it. We did it.”
On what the scene in the locker room was like at halftime …
“We always believe in our team. We come in here, I say, guys, we have 45 minutes to turn now. Everybody was focused. We come out. Like I said before, we fight, we fight to the end. We never give up. And we finally did it.”
MINNESOTA UNITED GOALKEEPER VITO MANNONE
On his thoughts on the win tonight…
“It’s a great achievement, great win, and there’s more time to celebrate because there’s another game in three days. We’re trying to let it sink in because it’s a historic moment for the club and it’s a great achievement after a long season. We’ve just fought so hard, and it’s a great achievement for the club, the fans, the team, the staff, and everybody involved.”
On what he said to Romain Metanire after his goal saving tackle in the 74th minute…
“I try to be there for them and they try to be there for me, so it was an important moment that tackle. When I make a save for them, it’s the same way around and they thank me. Tonight inside of the dressing room they thanked me again, and it’s just a great feeling to respond to that. To give something back and for them to give me something back with amazing tackles like Romain’s.”
On fans chanting his name over and over again…
“It’s great, it’s a great feeling. You don’t get this many time in your career but when you get it you need to enjoy it. I really work hard and was probably the nicest moment for me in the past few years. I lost my mom and it’s been difficult moment for my family, I came over to the states and I’m very proud. When I hear my name, I’m hoping that song goes up to the sky because my mom and my god are there to listen and they have given many sacrifices for me. It’s an emotional moment for me.”
On Sporting Kansas City’s first goal…
“Hell of a ball whipped in. We knew Johnny Russell had these kind of balls and we didn’t pick up the bodies. It was a wakeup call, we didn’t start as we wanted. It was a difficult night for us but sometimes we dig deep, we’ve had many games like this and we learned from it. You take away a win that we should not have won but grit. It was nice to come out to work hard and come back after that goal. It was a difficult first half because they came here, they stretched us and they were wide open with the wingers. It was difficult, they had good players on the ball they created chance after chance and we dug deep. Second half we said, come on we have to give something back to the crowd and they pushed us as I said, great achievement and great win. It doesn’t stop there, we are second and we need to stay second.”
On seeing a handball during SKC’s goal…
“No, I need to check again but you tell me. You saw more replays than me, I didn’t. I thought he hit it with his shin or with his knee somehow but I don’t know how it went because he was so close. If it was [a handball], I would be angry because he took a clean sheet away.”
On what the celebration was like in the locker room…
“It was fantastic. We were kind of tired because it was a long night and a long season in general, but we traveled back from Portland which was a difficult game, we had this game to win, and sometimes when you need to get the job done it’s difficult, because you’re the team that’s at home and needing to impose the game, and we felt the pressure a little bit in the first half. All in all we came back strong. Tonight was a game of passion and heart. We dug deep and ran until the 92nd minute, so it was fantastic. It was a difficult win, but something that showed what we’ve done all season. When you’re struggling or in a difficult position you need to react, and that’s what all of these boys did all season.”
On how the post game locker room compared to the halftime locker room emotions…
“Very different. Halftime we needed a response, and we encouraged ourselves in a bad and a good way. It doesn’t matter, whatever needs to be done, we do it. It was a fantastic reaction in the second half. We were on top of them, we were fighting more, we gave it all, even if sometimes we gave chances away. I thought we gave it all to get the win, and it showed tonight.”
On what Ozzie Alonso has shown as a leader on this team after showing a lot of emotion at the half…
“Everyone was emotional. We knew we were much better than that. This is a lesson for the next few games, but we can’t allow teams to have better starts on our own field. Everyone played great. It was a great effort from everybody. We deserved this playoff and the crowd deserved this playoff, and today was a lesson to not give away too many first halves, because it’s difficult to come back. Not many teams give you that chance to come back.”
On setting the club record for saves tonight with 122…
“I’m proud of it. Any record is something that goes into history, so I’m proud of that. I’ve been trying to do my best since stepping into this club. Any save is important, and every save can help my team to gain points, and that’s the most important thing to me. At the end when we sit down and look at the stats, I’m going to be happy about it."
SPORTING KANSAS CITY QUOTE SHEET
SPORTING KANSAS CITY HEAD COACH PETER VERMES
On his thoughts of the game…
“You’re going to expect that a team is going to push like that at the end of the game and go for the win like they did. I’m not saying that we should give up two goals by any means, but I will tell you that we should’ve scored four or five goals. It just puts the pressure on the team. As much as I think that we’ve given up a bunch of bad goals this season, I think that the biggest thing is that we’ve had a ton of chances in a lot of games where we could be up, and we’ve just shot ourselves in the foot. When you miss those chances, you play differently. When you’re up 1-0 or 2-0, it’s a different game from the other team. We’ve done that way too many times this season, and then late giving up the goals like we have, then you lose confidence in trying to close out a game. The bottom line is we’ve had more than enough chances to close the game out tonight, and we didn’t, and that’s been the story of this season. No doubt we’ve given up a lot of silly goals, but there have been a lot of chances where we haven’t scored, and that’s put a lot of pressure on the team. As far as play and the way we played in the game and chances, all of that’s good, but that doesn’t get you the three points that it should. I think it’s a big lesson from the season, because it’s not like we’ve only had one game where we’ve missed too many chances, it’s been far too many games this season. To me, that’s the difference.”
On how well the defense held up tonight for the first 70 minutes…
“No the defense was great, don’t get me wrong. That’s why I said overall we were fantastic. We really were. I mean defensively, we were tremendous. They have a very potent team going forward. When you don’t score like that when you’re playing away from home, you can pull those games out and win 1-0, because the other team just can’t find it, but in this situation we gave up way too many opportunities by not scoring the ones we created. That’s where the difference in the game was.”
On being eliminated from playoff contention as coach…
“It’s a failure. It’s a complete disappointment. It’s not a place that we ever want to be, and all of us have a lot of assessing to do, a lot of evaluation, and a lot of different things. We’ve still got two games left, so we’ll deal with the rest of the stuff when the season’s over, but very disappointing. I have a lot of real, definitive thoughts about our games this year, what we did and didn’t do. We gave up a lot of silly goals this season and we also missed a lot of expected goals on some really great chances. We just haven’t put the ball away. It’s a far cry from last year having scored the most goals ever in the club’s history, and that’s not something to be proud of by any means. You can’t go from the best to not scoring any. That’s not good as a team, so that’s an area we’re really going to have to improve in.”
(From TV) On losing late to Minnesota…
“It’d say it was unfortunate, but it’s been a big part of our season this year. We’ve given up a lot of goals here and there, but we’ve had a lot of chances and we had a lot of chances in this game, and for us to only score one goal puts a lot of pressure on our team defensively. Honestly we should’ve scored another two or three easily and we didn’t, and that’s why we suffered. We have to score those goals."
SPORTING KANSAS CITY MIDFIELDER ROGER ESPINOZA
On the feelings of giving up the late winner to Minnesota…
“This sucks because it’s been the same story all year. I thought we played an unbelievable game, we had our share of opportunities, and we didn’t finish them, and that takes a lot from our defense at the end of the day. They got one opportunity, it ricocheted off of some people, and it ended up going in, and that’s just been the story of the season for us. We play a great game, but we don’t have the product at the end.”
On being eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in eight years…
“We gotta keep working hard, we gotta bring the team together. There’s still two games left to play. I know we’re out of the playoffs, but at the end of the day we gotta play for our jobs and we gotta play for the club and get prepared for next season. We need to just let this season go away. We’re a great team and we just need to get better next year."
