Boasting a lengthy history of upsets against MLS opposition, fans in Minnesota relish the opportunity to take on the top flight clubs. But on Tuesday, the newly-branded Minnesota United club fell victim to a repeat ‘giant killer’ themselves as the visiting PDL Des Moines Menace claimed their fifth upset of a professional club with a 1-0 decision.
With a name that, to phrase nicely, is probably uttered often unintentionally as a replacement for a certain expletive, Brandon Fricke will no doubt find it intentional from this point forward in the Twin Cities after his dagger of a blow with four minutes remaining knocked the second division side out of the tournament.
The decisive tally was the result of a glancing header from a Fricke off a corner kick sent toward the penalty spot by Jimmy Tulloch.
Both teams had several opportunities throughout the contest. Des Moines’ Shadow Sebele and Albert Edward had excellent chances back-to-back from long range that forced fingertip saves from Matt Van Oekel.
Dramatic stops were not the sole propriety of VanOekel, however, as his counterpart Angevine made a fantastic save on an 18-yard effort from Pablo Campos and a Menace defender cleared a ball off the line amidst a scramble in the box that Minnesota’s Travis Wall got his foot to.
Wall missed another hanse wide in the 57th and Campos saw a difficult shot from a narrow angle in the 73rd go wide and weaved through several defenders before sending a 78th minute effort high.
Despite several misses, the Minnesota faithful thought they might have the equalizer in the final few minutes, however, but Campos’ header on a Michael Reed free kick rang off the crossbar.
Highlights