For a third game in a row, Minnesota United was left shorthanded because of international call-ups, injuries, and what Eric Ramsay called “a perfect storm” of other issues.
Unfortunately, among the things the Loons are missing in that three-game stretch is points.
FC Dallas striker Petar Musa had a hat trick, helping the home team to a 5-3 win against MNUFC in Frisco, Texas. It was Minnesota’s second consecutive loss overall, and its third straight road defeat.
It was also the second time in 12 days that the Loons have dropped points against Dallas, statistically one of the worst teams in the league so far in 2024.
Minnesota fought back to tie the game twice, with goals from Bongokuhle Hlongwane in the first half and Hassani Dotson in the second half, but both times conceded another go-ahead goal within six minutes of scoring.
Musa had gone five games without a goal coming into the night. After some help from defensive errors by the Loons, though, the Croatian claimed his first hat trick in MLS. First, fullback Caden Clark was slow to step forward as part of Minnesota’s effort to trap Musa offside, leaving the Dallas striker able to run onto a long over-the-top pass from Paul Arriola and roll a shot past Clint Irwin from a surprisingly acute angle to the goal.
Then, after the Loons had tied the game 1-1, an attempted cross went right through the feet of center back Victor Eriksson, and Musa was able to poke the deflection past Irwin for his second of the half.
With the score 2-2 in the second half, Musa completed the hat-trick after Dallas was able to knock down another over-the-top pass from Arriola, and Musa ran onto the loose ball and scored again.
Jesús Ferreira got the fourth goal for Dallas, in the 75th minute — once again, after the Loons’ attempt to trap a Dallas forward offside failed, leaving Ferreira to waltz in alone and beat Irwin. Logan Farrington made the scoreline even more embarrassing for Minnesota, adding a fifth in the 90th minute.
Hlongwane’s first-half goal came after one of the most up-and-down single minutes you’ll see from any player.
First, the forward snuck in behind the Dallas defense but completely whiffed on an attempt to volley home a lofted pass. Minnesota, though, won the ball back from the resulting goal kick, and the ball went straight to Hlongwane, who stung Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes’s palms with a rocket from outside the penalty area, winning a corner kick in the process. On the corner kick, Hlongwane rose in front of Paes to head home his first goal in seven games.
Dotson, in the second half, simply repeated what he did 12 days ago against Dallas. In that game, he scored after picking up a loose ball from Bongokuhle Hlongwane. In the 57th minute, he did it again — but this time, he added an extra trick. His blast went off Paes’s gloves, off the left-hand post, looped gently across the goal line, hit the right-hand post, and trickled into the net for a goal that both tied the game and seemingly defied the laws of physics.
Wil Trapp scored from the penalty spot in stoppage time to make the game 5-3 after a handball by Dallas in their own penalty area.
The Loons got Wil Trapp back in the starting lineup after the defensive midfielder missed last Saturday’s game with a family-related absence. Michael Boxall also started for the Loons, four days after leaving a game at halftime with an injured ankle.
