Shorthanded Loons pour it on Puebla in 4-0 blowout
A red card can be a death knell for a soccer team, especially when issued in the first half. But on Sunday, Minnesota grew stronger and stronger after one of its players was ejected early in the new Leagues Cup.
MNUFC led 1-0 when Michael Boxall received a red card for violent conduct in the 30th minute. Instead of sustaining heavy pressure from Puebla and the increasing probability of giving up an equalizer or more, the Loons poured in three more goals in the second half for a 4-0 blowout over the Mexican Liga MX team at Allianz Field.
Bongi Hlongwane scored in the 24th and 51st minutes, while Emanuel Reynoso notched goals in the 59th and 65th.
Reynoso’s second goal was a stupendous strike on a free kick from the outside corner of the box. It was a highlight rivaled only by fellow Argentine Lionel Messi’s free kick to jolt the tournament in Miami on Friday.
Postgame, Reynoso also put Sunday’s wonder goal ahead of the Olympico — scoring directly on a corner kick — which he wowed fans with against the Portland Timbers on July 1.
The Loons will next play the Chicago Fire in a Central Group 2 tilt on Thursday in St. Paul. If MNUFC doesn’t win, they will likely have to wait to see which two of the three teams advance to the knockout rounds; Puebla and Fire meet in the final group match next Monday in Bridgeview, Ill.
In a pause of MLS play, the Loons dispatched the 17th-place team in the Liga MX to start a month’s long tournament. With giant and bigger-spending Mexican clubs in other groups, the level of competition will only grow as the tournament progresses.
That didn’t stop Hlongwane in stating how he feels MLS compares to its Southern rivals.
“I feel like the standard is not the same,” Hlongwane said. “I think MLS is on another level from Liga MX. I’m not undermining Liga MX, but (in this game Sunday) it showed that we are far better than Liga MX, so I will say so.”
Manager Adrian Heath was sitting next to Hlongwane in the news conference room and struggled to keep a straight face. “That’s a good sound bite,” Heath said smiling. “We’ll leave it on that one, and on that note! … There you go: Bongi kills ’em.”
After only three days of action, MNUFC gave MLS a narrow 4-3 lead in head-to-head games with Liga MX. Heath has routinely said Liga MX has been ahead of MLS in his decade-plus in the U.S., but that gap has closed considerably in recent years.
Sunday’s first half was defined by two moments. On a long dribble, Hlongwane fought through a near dispossession from a Puebla defender to get back on the ball and rip a shot past goalkeeper Jesus Rodriguez in the 24th minute.
Five minutes later, referee Selvin Brown consulted video assistant review and determined Loons defender Boxall had violent conduct toward Guillermo Martinez’s back.
Boxall was issued a straight red card — the first of his career — and the Loons were down to 10 men for the final hour of the match. Boxall will be suspended, barring a successful appeal, for Thursday’s match vs. Chicago.
Without its right-sided center back, the Loons shifted to a 4-41, with midfielder Kervin Arriaga taking over for Boxall, and Hassani Dotson going from left wing to midfield.
Loons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair made a massive save of a long-range rocket from Angel Robles just before halftime. It stood up as vital until MNUFC poured in three more goals after the break.
Briefly
Loons winger Sang Bin Jeong suffered an ankle injury during Saturday’s training session and missed Sunday’s match. The South Korean had just returned from a two-game absence due to a groin injury to be a substitute in the 1-1 draw with Los Angeles last weekend. … Boxall reacted to “something” Martinez did, Heath said, with Heath adding the staff will need to take a closer look at the incident to determine if they will file an appeal.
