April 20, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. – Minnesota United this weekend travels to face Charlotte FC for the very first time in MLS regular-season action. Both squads enter Sunday evening’s contest with 11 points and both stand in seventh in their respective conference tables. The Loons are looking to get back to winning ways after dropping last week’s game at home against Houston Dynamo FC. A surge of possession and aggressiveness in the second half saw midfielders Robin Lod and Franco Fragapane connect to score the lone goal of the day for Minnesota, giving Lod his third assist of the season and Fragapane’s first goal of 2024.
Out of the Carolinas, Charlotte FC holds strong form at home, with all three victories happening at Bank of America Stadium, including last week’s win against Toronto FC by a 3-2 score. Head coach Dean Smith likely hopes to see forward Patrick Agyemang continue to contribute to the score sheet in order to secure one of the best home records across MLS in 2024.
Though Charlotte has seen significant success at home this season, Minnesota’s away outings have mostly been positive, and could certainly continue this week in the Carolinas. With the Loons’ push for an aggressive play style, Charlotte could see close contention to their crown and home fortress on Sunday.
NEW COMPETITION RULES
Notably starting for this weekend’s match and continuing in future games, MLS and PRO will officially implement three new competition rules and in-game procedures: Off-Field Treatment, Timed Substitution and In-Venue VAR Ruling Announcements. You can read the full descriptions of the two competition rules HERE. Following the conclusion of VAR checks, the referees will announce (via public address inside each stadium) the rulings of their video checks.
HEAD COACH ERIC RAMSAY ON FACING CHARLOTTE FC…
“I’m sort of taking it one game at a time at the moment. Now having gotten over the Houston [Dynamo FC] game, I’m hearing more about Charlotte [FC], more about their record. We’ll have a good look at them this afternoon and start to build a game plan from there. It’s obviously a very difficult place to go with a lot of particularities of the game in terms of the heat, the geography, the record that they have there. We need to find a way to be pragmatic and make sure we deal with all that and hopefully we can produce what we have produced in terms of performance, but convert it into a result.”
DEFENDER…
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