Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay lamented tired legs from international players as part of the reason for the 2-0 road loss to Philadelphia Union last weekend.
Those players were in Minnesota all this week and could build up to Saturday’s match against Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field.
The Loons trailed 1-0 after the 24th minute but kept pushing until Robin Lod’s dribble created an opening for Tani Oluwaseyi to tap in for a 1-1 draw.
MNUFC (3-2-1, 11 points) bounces back from the Union loss, while RSL (3-2-2, 11 points) has a two-game winning spurt end.
Oluwaseyi has been a big bright spot for the Loons so far this season with an equalizing goal in the 1-1 draw with Columbus Crew on March 2 and two assissts vs. Austin and Orlando.
Salt Lake continually attacked the inexperienced left side of the Loons’ defense. Left back Joseph Rosales thwarted a few chances from winger Andres Gomes in the opening 24 minutes.
But Gomes, who was once a Minnesota transfer target, got a cross past Rosales and Chicho Arango headed it down and into the back of the net in the 25th minute.
Arango, who had a hat trick in a win over St. Louis last week, moved into a tie for the MLS lead with six goals this season.
RSL went back to that tactic to start the second half, but they weren’t clinical enough to double the lead.
The Loons’ attack struggled to string together attacks for most of the opening half hour, but started to find openings. Sang Bin Jeong had the Loons’ best chance of the first half in the 37th minute, but his hard shot went straight to goalkeeper Zac MacMath.
A bit of controversy came in the 67th minute when Jeong might have been pushed by RSL defender Brayan Vera inside the 18-yard box, but referee Mark Allatin didn’t blow his whistle for a penalty.
Fans at Allianz Field booed their disagreement.
The fans booed later when Joseph Rosales was booked for a second yellow card in the 89th minute and was sent off with a red card. The Honduran will miss next week’s game vs. Houston Dynamo.
Briefly
Starting central midfielder Hassani Dotson exited at halftime with hamstring tightness, with Alejandro Bran stepping in. A club spokesman said Dotson’s exit was precautionary. … The Loons’ Under-15 team went 0-3-0 in the GA (Generation Adidas) Cup in Bradenton, Fla., since March 30, but then went 3-0 in the consolation group with wins over Portland Timbers 2-0 and victories in penalty kicks over Manchester United and CF Montreal. … MNUFC’s U17 team went 1-1-1 in the GA Cup group stage and then lost 1-0 to LAFC in the Premier Playoff on Thursday. … Wil Trapp made his 300th MLS appearance Saturday, including 94 with MNUFC, 185 with Columbus Crew and 21 with Inter Miami. … Zarek Valentin was a special guest analyst on the KSTP-1500 AM radio broadcast while he works back from a leg injury. Valentin also multi-tasked, heading down to the locker room at halftime to help translate the coaching points for the Loons’ Spanish-speaking players.
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