Jul. 18—Minnesota United manager Adrian Heath’s lack of substitutions in the Western Conference final loss to Seattle last December were scrutinized by supporters in the offseason. Heath himself acknowedged some second-guessing.
When Heath then made head-scratching changes against Colorado in a hard loss in May, this bugaboo reared its ugly side yet again.
Then in Sunday’s matinee at Allianz Field, Heath’s first substitution and personnel tweak in the 74th minute helped unlock the first-place Sounders and gave Minnesota a direct route to end two long streaks.
Niko Hansen subbed on for striker Adrien Hunou and starting winger Robin Lod moved up to the No. 9 spot, with the faster Hansen taking Lod’s place on the right flank. Seven minutes later, Hansen’s cross found Lod open at the back post and Lod calmly scored in a 1-0 win.
“We just thought with the game getting stretched late on, Niko might give us a bit with his energy,” Heath said. “So, hey, alls you do is make them decisions, hoping that they have an influence on the team. Putting Robin up there got us a goal. So it looks as though you know what you are doing” as a coach.
The Loons (5-5-3) earned their first win over the Sounders after going a painstaking 0-7-1 against MLS’ gold-standard club since joining MLS in 2017. The victory also killed off Seattle’s MLS-record-best 13-game unbeaten streak to start this season.
Sunday’s win also was a milestone for Heath, who earned his 50th regular-season win since joining Minnesota in 2017. “I would have liked it to be bit quicker, but there you go,” he said. Heath is 50-59-27 overall with MNUFC, including 29-21-18 since the club’s fortunes turned around post-2018.
The Loons’ own seven-game unbeaten streak this season had been undone in a flat performance against Colorado on July 7, which perturbed Heath and had him cancel players’ mini vacations last week to keep them training. The Loons then came out on the front foot Sunday.
“Obviously the Colorado game was really low from us,” Lod said. “The work rate wasn’t there and people didn’t play their best, I would say. I’m happy that the team bounced back and work hard. We deserved the win for sure.”
The Sounders (8-1-5) had allowed a league-low eight goals this season, and Minnesota struggled to earn a shot on frame through the majority of the match. They ended with only two.
In the first half, the Loons had 65 percent possession in the opening 20 minutes and 52 percent for those 45 minutes. They had four corners to none for Seattle and Minnesota earned a couple free kicks in threatening spots, but couldn’t put a single shot on goal.
Minnesota’s best chance came in the 37th minute when Franco Fragapane’s corner kick went to Bakaye Dibassy for a glancing header, but Emanuel Reynoso couldn’t connect with it at the back post.
The Sounders had three shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes, including two in the final minutes of the half, but Tyler Miller was in the right spot each time. To start the first half, the Sounders quickly earned a corner kick and Franco Fragapane was needed to clear the shot off the line.
The Loons welcomed back center back Dibassy from a one-game absence due to a thigh injury. He was paired with Brent Kallman as captain Michael Boxall remained out with a thigh injury and instead joined the SKOR North radio broadcast. Their key responsibility was containing Sounders striker Raul Ruidiaz, who is tied for first in MLS with 10 goals. Ruidiaz managed two shots on target, but neither dangerous for Miller.
“Feel like we did well with a lot of preventative marking,” right back D.J. Taylor said. “I think that was one of the key things that Adrian told us to do before we came into the game was to be aware of him and when we are attacking to stay locked in, so they couldn’t get out and play out of pressure. … (The center backs) did a good job of closing, so they couldn’t really get the ball to their feet.”
When the Loons tied San Jose on July 3 and lost to Colorado on July 7, the dressing room was an uncomfortable place to be. On Sunday, so Latino pop music emanated beyond its walls.