Minnesota United tries to steal an MLS game with subs, instead loses to lowly Houston

Minnesota United hasn’t had trouble competing with the best in MLS this season. The Loons’ problem seems to be more with picking up points against the worst.

The Houston Dynamo haven’t been good this season, residing in 14th place coming into Wednesday night’s game, but they were good enough to beat a heavily rotated Minnesota lineup 2-0 in Houston.

After a game last Saturday and ahead of a game next Saturday, the Loons decided to try to steal some points in Houston with their second string. The backups weren’t able to create much in the way of offense, though, and Houston scored twice off set pieces to beat the Loons at their own game.

The Loons did try to make subs after an hour of the match, in hopes of pulling off the heist without exhausting some of their top players, but a half-hour from the starters wasn’t enough to make a difference for the visitors.

“We weren’t good enough,” Loons manager Eric Ramsay told reporters in Houston. “We didn’t have a strong enough grip of what we did with the ball, and we lacked a real threat.”

Minnesota is proud of its set-piece prowess and happy to count second balls and other recycled chances that follow set pieces — which means the Loons will be extra unhappy about Houston’s goals.

First, the Loons managed to clear a Dynamo corner, but Amine Bassi pulled down the rebound and let a long shot fly. It deflected into the air and bounced to Houston center back Pablo Ortiz, who headed the ball over leaping DJ Taylor and into the net, moments before halftime.

This is the Loons’ playbook: to use the small margins of set pieces to create scoring chances from unlikely sources. Which makes it hurt more to be defeated that way, by a team that came into the game with just 10 points in 12 matches.

The Loons made eight changes to their starting lineup from Saturday’s game with Miami, and two players — Hoyeon Jung and Kieran Chandler — made the first MLS starts of their careers.

It was an understandable decision from Ramsay. Minnesota played Saturday and will play again three days from now, and with games coming fast and furious before the June international break, the Loons at some point were going to have to depend on depth.

Even though it was understandable, it certainly wasn’t successful. The Loons starters created virtually nothing on offense, with the team’s only attempted shot through 64 minutes a wayward Sang Bin Jeong free kick from 25 yards out.

“Ultimately, we got an outcome that is frustrating, but perhaps one that — given the context as a whole — would perhaps be at least understood, if not expected,” Ramsay said.

“I think we really lacked a spark and that quality and composure to give us an even foothold in the game in the first half,” Ramsay said.