Jordan Harvey assumed the captain’s armband in place of an injured Carlos Vela against Minnesota United on Sunday night.
Everything has just about gone right for LAFC this season.
Best record in the league, just one loss at home in all competitions, and boasting one of the most potent offenses, LAFC has been riding high all season. Yet LAFC was due for one clunker, and unfortunately, it came on Sunday night, and it was Minnesota United that emerged as the beneficiary.
Two goals from Mason Toye combined with a sound defensive game plan stifled the LAFC attack, and Minnesota, also benefiting from the absence of Carlos Vela, who is nursing a hamstring injury, did what very few opponents have been able to do at Banc of California Stadium; come away with a win, which they did with a 2-0 win.
“When you become a good team, teams are going to come in with a real plan and then your ability to understand how to deal with those games, that’s always going to challenging,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said regarding Minnesota’s defense.
The three points were huge for Minnesota, which saw them jump from the seventh and final playoff spot in the Western Conference all the way to third place, a trend that figures to occur more frequently as the season enters the final month, and the last six spots behind LAFC in the West playoff race all up for grabs.
Despite the absences and lineup changes, LAFC looked like it would continue its offensive showcase. LAFC had a chance in the 14th minute, as Eduard Atuesta played Brian Rodriguez into the penalty area, Rodriguez fired a one-timer, keeper Vito Mannone made the save, but left a juicy rebound chance in the box, which Latiff Blessing looked to capitalize on, but Brent Kallman went to ground to get the ball away from Messing.
Minnesota United sent a surprising punch to LAFC in the 26th minute. Toye dribbled forward, played a ball to Jan Gregus, who then sent a ball back towards Toye, LAFC defender Eddie Segura missed on a clearance attempt, freeing up Toye for a chance at goal. Toye sent the shot past keeper Pablo Sisniega, beating him far post to stake Minnesota to the lead.
Minnesota in general and Toye in particular was not done. Five minutes later, Darwin Quintero played a ball to Toye, who took two touches before firing a volley from about 25 yards out, and the shot sailed past Sisniega into the back net for a goal that further stunned the crowd and just like that, Minnesota was up by two goals.
“When their lineup came out, we had a pretty good idea of what their game plan was,” Bradley said “That they were going to defend their low block, let Toye try to be a threat, let Quintero, then play off of him a little bit.”
LAFC did its best to find that momentum-changing goal, but it turned out to be elusive against a Minnesota side that basically implemented a five-man backline that saw the outside backs play close to the midfield. The closest LAFC got to finally finding the back net was in the 59th minute, when Lee Nguyen bended a free kick towards goal, but Mannone recovered in time to parry the ball from goal. Two chances by Adama Diomande were pushed narrowly wide of goal and a chance by Adrian Perez inside the six-yard box was stopped by Mannone.
“It’s challenging when teams park the bus so much and they just have eight guys behind the ball sitting inside their box, but we’re a team they’re going to face in the later parts of the season so we have to figure out,” Sisniega said.
LAFC is on the road for its next two matches, starting next Saturday with a trip to Central Florida to face Orlando City.
