At Seattle on Aug. 19, Abu Danladi had two glaring misses en route to the Loons' last-minute loss.
A week later at Chicago, the rookie forward redeemed himself.
The No. 1 pick's two first-half goals gave Minnesota United to a 2-1 victory Saturday over the Fire, a top team in the league. It also vaulted the Loons out of last place in MLS to ninth in the Western Conference at 7-14-4.
"Before the game, I thought about composure and taking my time to finish the ball, and I think from looking back from last week, that's where I learned from the mistakes I made," Danladi said. "I tried to make it better. I think that's what I did [Sunday]. That's why I got those two goals."
Coach Adrian Heath said earlier in the week Danladi's point-blank whiffs at Seattle didn't concern him. In fact, Heath said he felt Danladi probably could have scored one or two goals in several recent matches because the 21-year-old was putting himself in good positions.
At Chicago, Ethan Finlay fed the ball into the box and Danladi managed to scramble it in for his first goal after some failed clearance attempts. Jerome Thiesson then assisted Danladi's second, a pass just in front of the forward that Danladi slid to meet and punch home.
"I didn't have another choice than to put it directly into the middle," Thiesson said of his pass. "Of course, Abu's quickness helped a lot, because I think the ball wasn't that perfect, but he made it look like it was."
Danladi has five goals and two assists in his 18 matches with 10 starts this season, which various injuries have hindered at time. But with leading scorer Christian Ramirez (hamstring) out for the past three matches, Danladi has been able to play his natural striker position. The Loons are on a break until Sept. 9 when they face Philadelphia (8-12-7, eighth in the East) at TCF Bank Stadium, and Ramirez's return is still to be determined.