The statistics will say that Hlongwane’s goal came from a pass from Carlos Harvey, but the possession of Joaquín Pereyra has created the objective. Pereyra, a dribbling near the Loons touch line, cut towards the end line and then to the midfielder with the ball, and pulled four defenders of Miami with him in the process. When Pereyra slipped them and found Harvey, the back of the huard center had a ton of space to turn and find Hlongwane, rushing behind the back line.
No MLS team is no longer taking advantage of return opportunities in the penalty zone than Minnesota. Upon entering the game, the Loons had more than double the number of “return cross” as a second place team from MLS, Vancouver.
The figures say that it is just an intelligent game, to bring the ball into the region from a return, and the second goal of Minnesota supported this. Michael Boxall whispered a long throw of the same with the penalty point, Nicolás Romero directed the ball to the nearby post, and Markanich was all alone at the rear post to return a head to the house and double the advance of the Huards.
This week is the first week of two MLS games at Minnesota on the MLS calendar this season, while going to Houston in the middle of the week and play in St. Louis at home next Saturday. These games may not be matches marked on the calendar like Miami, but taking points in two clashes from the Western Conference would greatly contribute to other matches marked in the playoffs this fall.
