Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath observed his suspension seated in a narrow coach’s booth Saturday.
Well, sort of.
He had a seat but spent most of his time standing postured over a built-in desk as technical director Mark Watson sat down instead, all while being subjected to their team’s paradoxical first-half performance.
It appeared as merely a matter of time until MNUFC (6-8-6) found the first goal in a match that Austin FC won 4-1, after having led 2-0 at halftime in spite of the tremendous pressure applied by Loons forwards Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Mender García and Emanuel Reynoso.
Those three generated countless opportunities within the first 30 minutes.
And somehow, a majority of the night’s goals included the two that Austin captain Sebastian Driussi netted following Diego Fagundez’s opening score in the 35th minute — not to mention the insurance that midfielder Emiliano Rigoni provided in extra time, which gave Austin its season-high fourth goal.
The Loons salvaged a late 85th-minute score off the head of Devin Padelford, who subbed in alongside Teemu Pukki and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, but it was all but irrelevant by then — similar to their early surge of aggression.
It didn’t matter that Reynoso had set up a number of runs for García, Hlongwane and midfielder Joseph Rosales upon his return from international duty. It didn’t matter that García was inches away from sneaking a goal past the left foot of Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver. And it didn’t matter that Hlongwane had a shot saved off the top post and another not long after that sailed wide left.
Because Austin had weathered the storm.
There were several crosses and setups in its 18-yard box that were either deflected or disrupted, until it rallied with offensive momentum of its own.
After Fagundez, Driussi converted a controversial penalty kick that seemed to spark disbelief in many MNUFC players and fans. Bakaye Dibassy, who started for the first time in 315 days in place of the suspended Michael Boxall, was called for the foul in question on a slide tackle against Jon Gallagher that looked to make quite a bit of contact with the ball before Gallagher fell in the box.
Approximately three minutes ticked off the game clock between when the penalty kick was awarded and when Driussi actually took it, though no video assistant referee (VAR) appeared to be in play during the delay.
Pukki became a threat to score on a handful of occasions soon after he subbed in, though his first goal in a Loons uniform will have to wait.