Loons ride set pieces (again) in a 2-1 win at FC Dallas

Minnesota United s set-piece success continues to be a driving force this season The Loons scored two goals one apiece on a free kick and a long throw-in to propel its - win over FC Dallas on Friday at Toyota Stadium in Frisco Texas The first tied MNUFC with Philadelphia Union for the the bulk set-piece goals in MLS this season and the second gave United the league lead outright now with this season What makes us good on set plays is what makes us a good club in general head coach Eric Ramsay stated It s a level of organization disciple willingness real conviction in what we do I don t think anything we do is rocket science I don t think it will take the opposition long to work out what sits behind our success but stopping it is something very different That doesn t mean the Loons are sitting static I think we have got to a point where we have a lot of variation and we ve got a lot of approaches in which we can spring an element of surprise Ramsay continued But we ve also go selected ruthless simplicity as well and you ve seen a little bit of that Friday With the road win MNUFC - - points narrows the gap on first- and second-place San Diego and Vancouver while Dallas - - points had only one win in home games this season The Loons peppered Dallas with set pieces in the first half and broke through in the th minute on Carlos Harvey s header from Julian Gressel s quality free kick Harvey just returned from Gold Cup duty with Panama total his first MLS goal of the season It had two unsung roles First Kelvin Yeboah s long dribble down the left flank was dangerous and forced an FC Dallas foul just outside the -yard box Then Michael Boxall s movement attracted more defenders to leave Harvey all alone at the back post In the second half Boxall s long throw-in was flicked on from Tani Oluwaseyi and finished by Anthony Markanich in the th minute It was nearly a carbon copy of a Loons goal in the - draw with Red Bulls last Saturday the only difference was Jefferson Diaz had the advancing header between Boxall and Markanich Markanich now has four MLS goals this season the defender hasn t scored this much since he tallied five in college at Northern Illinois in It s a stat Markanich didn t remember Friday night All the guys get excited for set pieces especially myself Markanich announced Everyone wants to flick the ball on Everyone knows their roles especially on set pieces I think that is a big part Dallas put pressure on the Loons in the second half with Logan Farrington s strong right-foot strike rippled the side netting to make it - in the rd minute Dallas had a sparse more dangerous scoring chances in the following minutes but weren t able to break through MNUFC was able to stave off an equalizer unlike the th minute goal they allowed in Red Bulls draw last Saturday Ramsay stated more advancing defending at the top of the box was better in Dallas That was a big point that we made over the program of this week we can t rely on shape and numbers at the top of the box Ramsay declared We have to show a real desperation to get up to the ball and prevent the ball coming into the box The Loons keeping the ball was a real trouble late against Red Bulls but was better Friday We had slightly more composure on the transition in the late stages of the tournament and we were able to close the match out in their half Ramsay declared We had particular movements where we were able to carry the ball up the pitch well but that is still an area where we need to make huge strides Related Articles Loons at FC Dallas Keys to the match projected lineup and a prediction U S goalie Matt Freese puts Costa Rica out in cold in Gold Cup thriller Joaquin Pereyra s great assist overshadowed as Loons cough up late lead Loons at New York Red Bulls Keys to the match storylines and a prediction Promising Loons homegrown Darius Randell has a lot on his shoulders