After drawing 1-1 with Los Angeles FC at Allianz Field on Tuesday, Minnesota United had one point with three games left in the MLS regular season and lost their star in the next game.
LAFC needs one more day to clinch the top seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The draw ended Loons’ three-game, shutout-losing streak and put him in fifth place with 45 points. They are one point behind his fourth-placed Nashville and his game in the home playoffs.
They will play at Sporting Kansas City on Saturday without star playmaking midfielder Emmanuel Reynoso. The Loons would then play in San Jose before heading home to Vancouver in the finale.
“No worries, I think we’ve played well the last three games,” Loons coach Adrian Heath said. I know there are 7 of them…it just gets the point closer to where we want to be, we know we have to go and we probably put that one in the rest of the See where the results go.
“I know I have a really good chance if I keep performing like I’ve been doing.”
As he did after the 0-3 loss to Dallas and the 0-1 loss to Portland, Heath vowed he played well enough for his team to win.
“You never take points down, I’ve always said,” Heath said. “But I thought we did more than enough to win the match.”
In a rare Tuesday game, Heath saw the two teams trade goals when Loons veteran defender Brent Cullman’s perfectly timed flick-on header opened the scoring in the 45th minute. I was. LAFC superstar, world-class striker Carlos Vela scored from long range as he equalized 1–1 in the 64th minute.
Kalman converted Reinoso’s curling corner kick into his second goal of the season.
“It’s a big moment,” said Kalman. “If you can find the net, it’s an area where you can really make an impact in the game.
Heath and his players lamented the side’s defensive form stretched out before Vera, who started at 11, the same as newly acquired international star Gareth Bale, tied the game.
Heath also acknowledged Vera’s skill and fame.
“It’s a quality finish by a quality player,” Heath said. “We’d look at it and think we could have done better before we got to Vera. From there, it creates that moment, doesn’t it? The level he’s got. Those split moments are the top , top, makes the difference with the top players.
Each team had chances between the two goals and back and forth. Most memorable because it was last, LAFC’s Kerrin Acosta made a defensive save near an open goal late in stoppage time.
Heath criticized referee Tim Ford for not giving LAFC star Christian Arango a second yellow card in the first half. Had Ford done so, Arango would have been kicked out.
“Look at what happened and write about it,” Heath told reporters. “We know what the rules are: If you waste your time, you get a yellow card. Apparently. Maybe not. … It’s the first half. It’s a game-changing decision. At this point in the season, it probably affects the outcome.
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