His deflected free kick had tied the score minutes earlier, and now Emanuel Reynoso was taking a pass from defender Alan Benitez along the right sideline as two Houston Dynamo players crowded in.
He's used to it. As Minnesota United's best and most exciting player, Reynoso has grown accustomed to opponents trying to impose claustrophobia, to remove time and space, to encourage him to discard the ball like a fugitive discarding an incriminating piece of evidence.
That doesn't always work out as well as his opponents would like.
Minnesota and Houston were tied, 1-1, after Reynoso's free kick was deflected into the Houston net by a Dynamo defender in the 79th minute. Five minutes later, Reynoso was receiving the star treatment along the sideline, and he did what an unselfish star should do, nudging one of his patented soft, deft passes back to Benitez.
Benitez's defender had left him for Reynoso, so now Benitez was as alone as you can be near an opponent's goal. He found a wide-open Luis Amarilla in front of the net, Amarilla scored easily, and Minnesota was en route to a 2-1 victory, a record of 8-1-2 over its past 11 games, and third place in the Western Conference.
These are heady days for the franchise, in part because Reynoso has added goal scoring to his play-making. Encouraged by United coach Adrian Heath to shoot more often this season, Reynoso has scored 11 goals, tied for the second-most in franchise history. He needs three more in the remaining seven games to tie the franchise record.
More important, Reynoso scoring could make the Loons a dangerous team in the postseason.
Dangerous was not the proper description of the Loons in the first half against an inferior opponent on Saturday at Allianz Field. Reynoso often looked more interested in body blocks than touch passes. He received a yellow card as United fell behind 1-0 at the half.
