Notebook: Ending the skid was huge

Saturday night, Minnesota United FC came back from a three game winless streak to finally get three points. And three points on the road in Austin nonetheless. A huge said of points for the Loons as they enter the final five match stretch of the 2021 campaign.

“We talk about the level of performance that I thought, at times, we weren’t last week, certainly in the last half an hour,” said Heath. “We were tonight. Really resolute. Defended like our lives depended on it which is what you have to do on the road. [Austin’s] last two games, they beat Salt Lake and the Galaxy. I think people look at the league table…I knew today was going to be a really tough game. We spoke about it before the game, be tough and difficult to beat, and I thought that’s what we were.”

Tyler Miller also stressed the massive importance of the points for Minnesota United.

“It was a huge, huge three points. The way our team has been able to respond all season you’ve seen the character that this team has and it was a tremendous effort by everyone that got on the field. Everybody knew their roles and knew what they had to do and we obviously know that things are tight on the table. Everybody responded really well coming to a very difficult place to play. This stadium is pretty incredible, to be honest with you. The fans are fully engaged. Even though Austin’s results haven’t gone their way, the fans and supporters are tremendous. I give them a lot of credit.”

Heath would speak highly of his team in the post match press conference after breaking the winless streak.

“I thought we all, everybody, did their job. And it was important. I said before the week started, we’ve got like six cup finals. We spoke about that to the players before the game. We’ve talking about the last few weeks, it’s been like playoff football. It was really good. Everybody did their job which I was really pleased with.

While the Loons did get the three points on the night, they did get lucky with not allowing a goal, as Tyler Miller would say post match.

“They have some pretty dangerous attacking players. To be honest with you, I think we got a little bit fortunate at the end with [Sebastian] Driussi missing the header. He’s a very good player, very skilled and he has a really good shot. I think that Austin has a lot to work with for the next coming years. Just have to put it all together.”