VANCOUVER – Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath saw something he liked when he watched 17-year-old Alphonso Davies score twice against the Loons in a 4-2 victory for Vancouver on Saturday night.
He saw something else he liked, too. Just didn't quite see enough of it.
"The kid Davies has had a great night and looked what he is," Heath said. "He's a special talent, the kid. But when you look at the first goal, people diving in, not staying on their feet, and then a couple of individual stuff from him.
"But in between the goals, and I know this sounds silly, I thought we were actually the better team, the better footballing team. But we got beat 4-2."
The Loons (9-12-1) put some fear into Vancouver (8-9-5) in the late stages, getting an own goal off a corner kick in the 82nd minute that made it 3-1. That became 3-2 when substitute Abu Danladi scored from close range in the 87th minute.
Davies put that comeback bid to bed two minutes later with the match's final goal.
What Heath saw was opportunity wasted. Designated player Darwin Quintero generated his side's best chances, but he missed wide left in the 24th and 45th minutes, got stopped by a lunging tackle during first-half stoppage time and missed an open net over the bar in the 68th minute.
"It's one of the oldest sayings in football, you have to score when … you're having your moments on the road," Heath said. "We keep making the same mistakes, and I'm sorry, but we can't keep doing it."
