ATLANTA, Georgia-- Playing in their first ever cup final, Minnesota United were unable to find a second half equalizer against a 10-man Atlanta United side, coming up just short, losing 2-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The hosts struck twice in the first 20 minutes of the game through a Chase Gasper own goal and a strike from Pity Martinez. The Loons answered directly after halftime when Robin Lod steered home a lovely weighted cross from Kevin Molino in the 47th minute to open his account for the club. After Atlanta’s Leandro Gonzalez Pirez was shown a second yellow card in the 74th minute, Minnesota United pushed for an equalizing goal in the final 20 minutes of the game. Coming painfully close to tying the game in the final moments of the game, Atlanta’s two early goals stood to win the 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
“We dug ourselves a hole with the two goals we conceded early,” said Head Coach Adrian Heath. “But, I thought the attitude of the guys was immense at times. We said to them at half time, ‘can we go and get the next goal?’ If we do, we feel there is something for us. And we did. As the game wore on, it was more desperation for them. We started to use the ball better, circulated the ball well. As you look back over the 90 minutes, we probably had four or five really good chances. Can’t fault the guys for their effort. A little bit too little too late.”
In what was a tough start to the game for the Loons, Adrian Heath made the decision to leave Darwin Quintero on the bench and opted for a much more defensive minded midfield three with Jan Gregus, Osvaldo Alonso and Hassani Dotson all playing together. Atlanta United threatened early and often, first in the second minute when Josef Martinez received a through ball in behind the Minnesota defense and fired past Vito Mannone but was ruled offside.
Piling on the early pressure, the hosts then demonstrated their attacking firepower as they scored twice in the first 20 minutes of the game. An unfortunate deflection off Chase Gasper’s outstretched boot in the 10th minute caused a Leandro Gonzalez Pirez cross to fly agonizingly over the outstretched hand of Vito Mannone to give the hosts the lead. Atlanta then doubled their advantage in the 16th minute when Pity Martinez fired home Justin Meram’s low cross.
“It was just one of those moments,” said goalkeeper Vito Mannone. “He crossed the ball and Chase [Gasper] put his foot out, I think he got his studs on the ball and the ball started to spin on top of me. It is the only place it can spin towards the goal. I tried to keep it out, but I didn’t. After that we kind of tried to stay in the game and we suffered a little bit.”
While they looked shaky in the opening spells of the game, Minnesota United finally began to settle in and possess the ball with confidence. Threatening mainly down the right flank through the industry of Romain Metanire, Minnesota’s best chance of the first half came through a corner kick. As Jan Gregus delivered from the corner flag in the 33rd minute, Ike Opara rose to meet the ball and steered a header just wide of Atlanta’s far post.
The Loons knocked on the door again just before halftime as they began to get Mason Toye into the game – who had looked isolated up front early on in the game. In first half stoppage time, Toye received the ball on top of the Atlanta penalty area, took a touch and wrapped his foot around a low right-footed strike that screamed just wide of Brad Guzan’s far post. Kevin Molino, who was loitering unmarked the penalty area, didn’t expect the shot to come from Toye and stared at the ball as it whizzed past him and out of play.
Minutes later, Mason Toye had another great chance to grab an important goal for the Loons just before the halftime whistle. Kevin Molino spotted the forward peeling off the back of an Atlanta defender and sent a lovely lofted ball into the path of Toye. Molino’s ball dipped a bit at the end and Toye was unable to bring the ball down and get a shot off. Frustrated that they were unable to get on the board before halftime, the referee’s whistle took us to the break with Atlanta up 2-0.
Coming out of the locker room down 2-0, Minnesota United grabbed an all-important goal just 64 seconds after the restart. Finding himself in space out wide on the edge of Atlanta’s penalty area, Kevin Molino rolled a cross into the feet of Robin Lod. Making no mistake, Lod expertly opened his body and steered a left-footed shot into the corner of the Atlanta net to open his account for MNUFC.
Seconds later, Atlanta United came close to catching the Loons off guard directly following their goal when Julian Gressel nearly fired in a third for the hosts. A dangerous cross made its way through the Minnesota penalty area and found an unmarked Gressel trailing the play. Coming up big once again, Mannone did well to stifle a stinging shot from Gressel.
Desperate to put the game out of reach for the Loons, Josef Martinez beat Mannone from close range in the 53rd minute when he combined with a streaking Justin Meram – but Meram was offside in the buildup which ruled out Martinez’s strike.
Spurred by their early second half tally that kept them in the game, Minnesota United pushed to equalize. In the 61st minute, a bit of lovely play from the right flank, this time from Romain Metanire, led to a great chance for Osvaldo Alonso. As Metanire cut back a low cross, Kevin Molino dummied the ball through his legs which rolled into the path of Alonso on top of the penalty area. Using his weaker left foot, Alonso leaned back a bit too much and his shot sailed over the goal.
Beginning to control the flow of the game, the Loons should’ve taken the lead through a close range shot from Kevin Molino in the 69th minute. When Atlanta’s Brad Guzan spilled Robin Lod’s cross directly to Molino six yards from goal, Molino fired a quick shot directly at Guzan who denied the midfielder.
Another golden chance then fell to Chase Gasper when Brad Guzan unconvincingly dropped another ball – this time from Jan Gregus’ whipped-in free kick. The ball fell at the feet of defender Chase Gasper who attempted to turn and volley the ball into the Atlanta net but he was unable to control his effort and his shot went high of the mark.
The game was then turned on its head when Atlanta United was reduced to 10 men. In the 74th minute, Defender Leandro Gonzalez Pirez was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on Kevin Molino. With Atlanta playing down a man, Minnesota began to throw bodies forward to find an equalizer.
The Loons came close to forcing extra time in the waning moments of the game through a barrage of crosses into the Atlanta penalty area. In the 91st minute, Ike Opara found himself high up the field and in one motion, brought down a lofted cross, turned and hit a left-footed shot that was narrowly pushed to safety by Brad Guzan.
Playing exclusively in Atlanta’s half, the Loons continued to pump the ball directly at the home side’s defense. In the 94th minute, Ike Opara did brilliantly to head Chase Gasper’s service back across goal. Fellow center back Michael Boxall was on hand to connect with Opara’s redirected header but the defender put his shot agonizingly over the crossbar. Barely hanging on in stoppage time, Atlanta’s two goals in the first 20 minutes of the game stood to give the hosts the title of 2019 U.S. Open Cup Champions.
“As I said, we gave ourselves a huge hole to get ourselves out of,” reiterated Adrian Heath. “We got the goal and I thought the initiative was with us. It was the first time we’ve come here and had as many chances as we had tonight. Even after they scored the goal, [Michael] Boxall has a free header from eight yards out, nine yards out and Mason [Toye] had a couple. You look at the second half and we had another three or four really good chances. Disappointed, but we move on.”
Minnesota United’s next game is back on the road as they travel to the Banc of California Stadium to take on Western Conference leaders LAFC on Sunday, September 1. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT with pregame coverage beginning at 9:00 p.m. on FOX Sports North+, streaming on FOX Sports GO and on MNUFC Radio on SKOR North.
Lineups
Minnesota United FC Starting XI: GK Vito Mannone; D Romain Metanire, Ike Opara, Michael Boxall, Chase Gasper; M Jan Gregus, Hassani Dotson, Osvaldo Alonso (Darwin Quintero 75’), Kevin Molino (Abu Danladi 85’), Robin Lod (Ethan Finlay 70’); F Mason Toye
MIN Unused Subs: GK Bobby Shuttleworth; D Brent Kallman; M Lawrence Olum, Miguel Ibarra
Atlanta United FC Starting XI: GK Brad Guzan; D Florentin Pogba, Julian Gressel (Jeff Larentowicz 85’), Miles Robinson, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez; M Darlington Nagbe, Eric Remedi, Ezequiel Barco (Emerson Hyndman 70’); F Gonzalo Martinez (Franco Escobar 76’), Josef Martinez, Justin Meram
ATL Unused Subs: GK Alec Kann; D Michael Parkhurst; M Mohammed Adam; F Hector Villalba
Game Events
Goals
10’ – Gasper (Own Goal) – ATL
16’ – G. Martinez (Meram) – ATL
47’ – Lod (Molino) – MIN
Discipline
29’ – Dotson (YC) – MIN
44’ – Alsonso (YC) – MIN
71’ – Gonzalez Pirez (YC) – ATL
74’ – Gonzalez Pirez (2YC) – ATL
87’ – Escobar (YC) – ATL
87’ – Gasper (YC) – MIN
MINNESOTA UNITED QUOTE SHEET
MINNESOTA UNITED HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH
On how the match was lost…
“We dug ourselves a hole with the two goals we conceded early, but I thought the attitude of the guys was immense at times. We said to them at half time, ‘can we go and get the next goal?’ If we do, we feel there is something for us. And we did. As the game wore on, it was more desperation for them. We started to use the ball better, circulated the ball well. As you look back over the 90 minutes, we probably had four or five really good chances. Disappointing. Can’t fault the guys for their effort. A little bit too little too late.”
On conceding two goals early…
“As I said, we gave ourselves a huge hole to get ourselves out of. But I can’t fault the guys for the effort that they put in to try and get us back on level terms. We got the goal and I thought the initiative was with us. It was the first time we’ve come here and had as many chances as we had tonight. Even after they scored the goal, (Michael) Boxall has a free header from eight yards out, nine yards out and Mason (Toye) had a couple. You look at the second half and we had another three or four really good chances. Disappointed, but we move on.”
On adjustments made at halftime…
“Not a lot really. Just said, ‘can we not turn the ball over cheaply in the midfield?’ Two or three of their best chances in the first half were cheap giveaways by us. I was pleased with the attitude of the guys. I thought the shape we used helped us. We just didn’t have enough quality at times in the final third.”
On how much he was concered with Atlanta coming at them from out wide…
“Well, we were but I didn’t want it to be a rear guard all evening. They are going to get out at some time, I wanted the two wide guys to play higher up the field and that’s what we did. I thought we didn’t do enough for the second goal, gave him too much time and he got us in the penalty area. (We) should’ve gone out and addressed it earlier but it is what it is.
On when he felt confident that tonight’s lineup would be the one that he would choose …
“Probably a few days ago, a few days ago, yeah.”
On what went into the decision to leave Darwin Quintero on the bench…
“Well, you just pick the team that you think (is going to win the game). As I said before, there’s nothing personal in that, you just pick the team that you feel looks sharp in training, players who I think would help us do what we wanted to do tonight and that was what I did. There’s nothing personal in the decision, I just picked a team that I thought would win us the game.”
On what he said to the guys after the game…
“I said exactly that. You can’t come into a place like this and go two-nil down. Their response after that was terrific. I think it shows you how far we’ve come in the last year or so. We’ve come here but we feel really disappointed that we haven’t taken something from the game.”
On what the big moment was for Atlanta
“A bit of both. We could’ve done better with the first one. The first one was a soft goal to concede and then the second one, we didn’t have people in the right spots, stuff that we work a lot on and then as I said, after that, the response was good.”
On what lesson he takes from tonight heading into the end of the season…
“Well, being away from home, we’ve got some huge games coming up. We can’t give ourselves that big of a mountain to climb against teams that are vying for playoffs. We have got three or four teams in and around us, above us. They’re going to be tough games but we can’t give ourselves that much work to do.”
On if he worries about coming down now from this run…
“Well, that’s our job now. We have to pick this up and we start again (with that) tomorrow. We’ve got some big games coming up.”
On how limited Osvaldo Alonso was in tonight’s final…
“You’ve seen. He hasn’t trained much for the last (week) but he felt okay and I thought as the game went on, he actually got better as the game wore on. We changed it at the end to try and get extra forwards on.”
On what the value is in the players clutching their medals …
“Everybody’s different. I don’t know where mine are, I’ll tell you that much.”
On if not playing double gameweeks will help towards the end of the season…
“It will, yeah. It will help one or two to get themselves – recharge the batteries a little bit. We’ve got a really tough game, we know that, in LAFC but then we’ve got a bit of time. Give some guys minutes against Pachuca and hopefully be ready for the next one which will be huge.”
On where he’s at emotionally…
“Disappointed. I honestly was disappointed in the start that we did but I’m sure when I look back at the game, I’ll realize that we’ve actually had chances. More importantly I think that we’re moving in the right direction and that’s all you can ask for as a coach and as a club, that we’ve come to a place – probably one of the most expensive assembled teams in MLS – and we’ve given it a right go.”
On if he said anything to Michael Boxall after he missed his last chance…
“No. We’ve all missed them. He’ll have to get on with it, that’s what it is. You don’t mean to miss them. You put yourself in there, you take your chance and it was a great opportunity for us. Had we gone in there with the 10 men, we might have made something more of it. He’ll be disappointed but hey, no.”
On what he thought Hassani Dotson would give the team…
“I thought he was excellent again. He’s growing by the week. He’s going to be a top player. We are really pleased with him. I thought the younger ones were terrific. I thought Chase (Gasper) was really good as well and Mason (Toye) had a couple of chances so the future is bright for that lot.”
MINNESOTA UNITED DEFENDER MICHAEL BOXALL
On their mindset after coming up short…
“The mindset is that we should still be playing. Obviously, Atlanta came out in the first half pretty strong. We had a few issues containing their front four or five. But then at half time when we spoke we knew that if we got one we would give ourselves a chance of bringing the trophy home. We responded very well. The boys played their hearts out the second half and I just hurt that we are not still out there. I feel like if that goes in, all of the momentum is on our side and it is a different story. Unfortunately we don’t live in a world of shoulda, coulda, woulda.”
On if he feels they had an advantage in the second half…
“Yeah, I think after the first half they made a few adjustments and we were able to read the runs that they were making a bit better. Obviously, Ike (Opara), Chase (Gasper) and Romain (Metanire) were able to mop-up a few loose balls and everything else was being hit through to Vito (Mannone), so, we had a lot more joy in that second half.”
On his last chance to score…
“As I said before, we should still be playing. Everyone worked their balls off to get us in that position and it just doesn’t go away. Obviously, we had a few other chances there and it just hurts to let the boys down. We will refocus and lock down our playoff spot now.”
MINNESOTA UNITED GOALKEEPER VITO MANNONE
On Atlanta’s first goal…
“It was just one of those moments. He crossed the ball and Chase (Gasper) put his foot, I think he got his studs on the ball and the ball started to spin on top of me. It is the only place it can spin towards the goal. I tried to keep it out, but I didn’t. After that we kind of tried to stay in the game and we suffered a little bit. We could have scored more, but the fact that we came in at 2-0 we said, ‘we have done it before.’ We did it in Houston. If we get the next goal, it is going to be game-on. That is what happened. I thought we did the maximum we could. We can’t dwell on our performance because we knew it was going to be a difficult game. In Atlanta, it is difficult. It is not an easy place to go. It is a quality team and the crowd behind them, it is difficult. It is not an easy final and I thought in the second half when we got the goal, we had many chances to score again. And with ten men, you never know what is going to happen. I think it was going to be a different game if we score, but we didn’t.”
On the travelling Atlanta fans…
“It is fantastic. It’s a fantastic effort from the fans. We heard them and they were loud throughout the full game. It was great to come out for warm-ups and feel a piece of Minnesota was with us. I’m sure the guys at home follow the game, but the one’s who made the trip here was incredible. Hats-off to them.”
On the shaky start to the game…
“It is not easy. They have been there already, for sure they have more experience than us in a final. We have different players who have been in a final already, but also young boys that have never been and you need to adjust to the game. It’s a lucky moment as well. A guy crosses the ball and gets a deflection, it changes the game. But I think we had other chances after that. We tried to defend as much as possible and be in the game, but I don’t think there is a massive difference after 15 minutes. We were in the game, we had a plan and the goal changed the game. We had a bit more pressure on us to deliver. I think even in the first half we could have nicked a goal, if I’m honest. But it didn’t happen. We kept fighting as always, this season we did. We fought so hard in every game. I can’t complain with the character of the team and that is what we need to do from now until the end of the season because you like to win a final, of course, but we have to be proud I think. We have to be proud of what we have done. It is the first final for this club so it is a massive achievement. It is another achievement to get to the playoffs. We have eight ‘finals,’ we need to stand tall.”
On not coming down too much with big games to close the season…
“Same thing, routine. Recovery, recover well. We will certainly have a chat and regroup and go from there. As said, there’s a lot of positives from tonight. We can’t dwell on it. We neary made it, we nearly leveled the game and who knows, they got ten men, we got 11, who knows if we get to extra-time, it’s a different game. It’s soccer, it’s futbol, it’s the way it is. It’s another ‘final’ on Sunday with against, probably, the best team in the league so there’s no time to be down.”
On how he saw the own goal…
“No, I think it’s spinning in anyway. I think the way it came as well, it dipped down from the top of the crossbar and it was spinning towards the goal. As I said, it was a lucky moment for them, little bit unlucky for us. We tried to stay in the game despite the few more chances and it could be a bigger score but the second half was certainly ours and they got scared, the fans got scared that we could level at any time. It’s about the bounce, a lucky thing. [Michael Boxall’s] last chance as well is heartbreaking but it is what it is.”
