HOUSTON – The sight of Christian Ramirez bursting through the defense to score is familiar to Minnesota United fans from his goal-rich time with the club. On Wednesday night, though, United was on the receiving end.
Ramirez scored in his first game against his former team in a 2-0 loss to the lowly Houston Dynamo that dents United's playoff prospects, delivers a reality check after the euphoric win over Los Angeles FC earlier this month and heightens the importance of Sunday's match at home with Real Salt Lake.
Minnesota is fourth in the Western Conference standings and in the thick of a seven-team scramble for six spots. RSL is tied for second in the West with Seattle at 46 points. LA Galaxy is one spot out of the playoffs, in eighth, with 42 points. And the Loons (45 points) and three other teams are wedged into that four-point window.
"Great for Christian, but I could care less who scores the goal," said Ethan Finlay.
The winger was more preoccupied with United's poor first-half performance. Finlay said he "came out personally flat and there's a handful of guys that had the same thing, maybe some heavy legs."
He added: "We're a really good team when we play as a collective but if we have some individuals who aren't up for it on the day we tend to struggle. … When we play as a collective, we genuinely think that we can beat anyone in the league."
That was demonstrated on Sept. 1 when Minnesota beat LAFC, the Western Conference leaders, on the road with two goals from Mason Toye.
But with United pinned in its own half for much of the first 45 minutes at BBVA Stadium, the forward saw little of the ball and was substituted at the break as coach Adrian Heath brought on fresh legs, tweaked the 4-3-3 formation and gave the players a piece of his mind.
