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Minnesota United kicked off the first game of a three-game preseason tournament with a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Sunday.
Head Coach Adrian Heath had a new-look lineup with new striker Luis Amarilla upfront and new goalkeeper Tyler Miller between the pipes. Here was the lineup for the match:
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*One notable absence was midfielder Osvaldo Alonso. He made the trip to Portland, trained the past few days with the team but left Sunday to fly back to Minnesota for personal reasons.
From the start, striker Luis Amarilla and Jan Gregus were out to prove a point early. Jan Gregus recorded the first two shots on goal and just missed a goal with his second shot.
For the first 15mins of the match, United spent most of it in the Revolution end, forcing Revolution keeper Matt Turner to make several close-range saves early, but at the 23min mark, Amarilla snuck a beautiful mid-air volley past the keeper to record his second goal in two preseason matches.
New England quickly recovered and at the 28-minute mark were able to pull one back with Adam Buska bouncing one off the post, past Miller to even the match at 1-1
At the 34min mark, Robin Lod was the first to a long ball but was taken down by New England defender Andrew Farrell and the ref wasted no time in awarding a penalty kick to the Loons.
Stepping up to the spot was Amarilla who confidently showed the form that could get him 25 goals as he promised, going top shelf for his 2nd goal of the match.
At halftime, the score was 2-1 Minnesota
The second half was a completely different half for New England. The Revolution came out shooting with Miller forced to stop back to back shots and without the help of defender Michael Boxall, the score would have been tied 53 mins into the second half.
After the flurry of New England shots calmed down, the next part of 15 minutes the play was back and forth but a miscue at the 71-minute mark tied the score up at 2-2 after New England’s Gustavo Bou was able to intercept a sloppy back pass and score.
With the match at 2-2, New England didn’t let off the gas and forced Miller to make a save at the 74 min mark that pushed away a sure goal for New England.
The dept of the Minnesota bench was shown at the 76 min mark with a mass substitution that saw newly acquired Aaron Schoenfeld and Raheem Edwards coming on. James Musa, Brent Kallman, Andrew Booth, Batista, Thomas Chacon, Marlon Hairston, Jacori Hayes, and Mason Toye all entered the game as well.
At the 84-minute mark, the new guys, Edward and Schoenfeld had a great 1-2 combination that Schoenfeld sent wide of the post. Great sign for the new guys!
Both sides exchanged volleys in the final minutes but nothing came of them and with no additional time added, the match ended at a 2-2 draw.
The United goals came from the person that was signed to do so, Luis Amarilla so that has to be reassuring for Adrian Heath. At times, especially the game-tying goal for New England, the defense was a bit sloppy and without some great saves by Miller, the score could have been a lot worse.
Minnesota United be back in action Wednesday against the Portland Timbers at 9:30 p.m. CT for the second game of the preseason tournament.
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