By Nicolas Hallett
The top half of the table is more like it.
Two weeks ago, Minnesota United coach Manny Lagos made a host of changes to his squad. Prior to his side’s fifth game of the season, the Loons remained winless and looked continually lackluster on the pitch despite lofty preseason expectations.
Since that evening United has scored seven goals and won three straight matches, ascending them to second-place in the North American Soccer League standings with 12 points. The New York Cosmos, Minnesota’s next opponent, sit atop the standings with 18 points.
The Loon’s latest victory came Saturday when they defeated expansion franchise Jacksonville Armada 3-2 in an electrifying contest at the National Sports Center. With 9,012 in attendance, the Blaine stadium is the site of another United streak: three consecutive sellouts.
The alterations made by Lagos earlier in the season have held firm since and are proving to be the catalyst in this winning run.
The striking partnership of Pablo Campos and Christian Ramirez wasn’t firing and new signing Johnny Steele, though certainly skilled and plenty experienced, looked like a square peg in a round hole.
Lagos adjusted the formation to one operating with a lone striker, leaving Ramirez on the bench. Then Steele was placed on the sidelines and Kalif Alhassan was inserted in a swap of midfielders and veterans of Major League Soccer.
It may have appeared NASL’s newest team would be an easy notch in Minnesota’s belt entering the contest, but the first half proved to be dead even. In fact, the Armada led in possession and shots at the break.
Alhassan has been United’s breakout player this season. He’s provided a vital contribution to a goal in each of the past three games. On this night, he made a mazy run past nearly a handful of defenders before being taken down in the box.
Campos took the spot kick and slotted it home, tallying his team-leading third goal of the season.
United scored its second seven minutes later off a corner kick when Tiago Calvano made an acrobatic tap-in after a horrendous attempted clearance by a Jacksonville defender. The quick recreation from the Brazilian centerback deserved its reward.
It felt a bit unfair, though, for United to be leading by two at this stage of the game, especially considering both of their goals came against the run of play and from dead-ball situations.
Throughout the game United struggled to create many clear opportunities from flowing sequences. The chances they did create all looked like carbon copies of one another: the Loons working the ball to either flank before flashing a cross into Campos. The strategy has proved effective this season and nearly did so on this occasion as well, but such one-dimensional attacking will be taken note of around the league.
Jacksonville was not deterred by the scoreline and battled back admirably. Pascal Millien was particularly dangerous and eventually found the net in the 71st minute. The 29 year old was a menace going forward all night, always attacking his defender at full pace. His style of play is positive and the type that gets fans out of their seats. His talent is such that his opponents on the night should consider bringing him aboard during the next signing period. His speed on the outside coupled with that of Miguel Ibarra’s would be a headache for any defense.
The Loons finished off the game in a fashion a top team should. With the trailing side pushing for an equalizer, United used the counter attack to devastating effect.
A smart through ball found Campos in a great position high up the pitch. Brilliant hold-up play saw the veteran striker out-muscle his defender and place a layoff pass to star man Ibarra, whose quality was apparent when he finished with a one-touch strike at full sprint.
It once again must be said that the Loons won a game where maybe they didn’t reach top gear. However, the consistency of this occurrence is hinting it may actually prove to be a positive.
Winning without playing your best game is often the sign of an elite team. The Loons are also proving they can close out games — another attribute that often follows championship-caliber teams.
“I’m excited about the three points,” Lagos said in a release. “We let the Armada back in the game a few times, but we were able to deal with the situation and earn the win. It was a physical match, but we worked hard to win the individual battles and control the game.”