HERRIMAN, Utah (Saturday, March 27, 2024) - Real Monarchs (1-1-1, 5 pts) defeated a shorthanded Minnesota United 2 squad 2-1 with a pair of Zavier Gozo goals, the first brace of his professional career, after a Minnesota defender received a red card only two minutes into the affair.
The complexion of the game radically shifted only two minutes into the contest when Gozo beat out Minnesota’s Tamer Ibsais to a through ball over the top and was brought down from behind with only the goalkeeper to beat. With a man advantage, Monarchs shifted their playstyle to support more aggressive attacking moves, defending out of a fluid 4-2-3-1 but shifting to a 3-4-3 in attack, with an emphasis on overlapping outside play. One such overlapping player, Tommy Silva, created the first concrete chance for Monarchs in the 14th minute of play. Jumping in front of his mark to intercept a ball played wide, Silva raced up the pitch in a two-on-one scenario alongside Daron Iskendarian, laying it off to his teammate for a close-range shot that just barely cleared the bar.
Despite the man advantage, Minnesota was able to threaten Monarchs on multiple occasions, culminating in a goal against the run of play in the 21st minute to take a 1-0 lead. Playing a long, direct ball over the top, Carlos Harvey found Ekoue Mesanvi one-on-one in the box, striking a cross-body shot past Monarchs ‘keeper Fernando Delgado and into the left corner of the goal.
Pushing for an equalizer, Bell found Noel Caliskan deep in the left side of the box in the 39th minute, faking a shot to beat his defender and then shooting from nearly point-blank range. The strike was deflected upwards and fell directly to the feet of Gozo, who calmly finished the chance to equalize the match at one-a-piece and secure the first brace of his professional career.
As Monarchs seemingly composed themselves at halftime, they came out for the second 45 dominating possession and pushing high up the pitch, finally breaking through in the 60th minute to claim a lead. Slowly building up along the left side, a ball was played over the top for Tommy Silva who promptly whipped a ball to Iskendarian in the center of the box. Marked, Iskendarian showed his composure as he calmly played back to Gozo who promptly deposited the scoring chance with an off-speed shot.
Brimming with confidence from securing the advantage, Monarchs controlled the remainder of the match as it became increasingly physical for both teams. Monarchs nearly pushed their lead to two in the 74th minute when a quick combination between Damien Barker John, Ilijah Paul and Iskanderian produced a ball to the feet of Barker John deep in the box, attempting a spinning shot that went just wide as Minnesota defenders swarmed.
Putting a scare into Manager Mark Lowry by risking a late equalizer, Delgado encountered a charging Patrick Weah, nephew of legend George Weah and cousin of current USMNT Tim Weah, attempting to dispossess him in front of goal but narrowly evaded the danger as he faked out with a smooth body feint and safely laid the ball off. Then, in the 87th, Monarchs pressed for a third once again, as Silva flew down the left side and whipped a ball to Jude Wellings in the middle for a one-time shot that was saved back into play, falling to the feet of Barker John for another shot that was also saved.
Monarchs’ Gozo, Silva, Bell, Iskendarien and Barker John were standouts, regularly breaking through the defensive stance of Minnesota to create chances and win the ball. For Minnesota, one of the lone bright spots was defender Morris Duggan, who on multiple occasions defended one-one-one scenarios with Gozo and was dominant aerially throughout the match.
Real Monarchs are on a bye next week and will return to play on April 14th at home against San Jose Earthquakes 2, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MT.
SLC 2 : 1 MIN
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
MIN: Ekoue Mesanvi, 21st Minute (Carlos Harvey): Playing a long, direct ball over the top, Carlos Harvey found Ekoue Mesanvi one-on-one in the box, striking a cross-body shot past Monarchs ‘keeper Delgado and into the left corner of the goal.
SLC: Zavier Gozo, 39th Minute: Pushing for an equalizer, Bell found Noel Caliskan deep in the left side of the box, faking a shot to beat his defender and then shooting from nearly point-blank range. The strike was deflected upwards and fell directly to the feet of Gozo, who calmly finished the chance to equalize the match at one-a-piece.
SLC: Zavier Gozo, 60th Minute (Daren Iskendarien): Slowly building up along the left side, a ball was played over the top for Tommy Silva who promptly whipped a ball to Iskendarian in the center of the box. Marked, Iskendarian showed his composure as he calmly played back to Gozo who promptly deposited the scoring chance with an off-speed shot.
LINEUPS:
Real Monarchs (4-2-3-1): Zavier Gozo (Ilijah Pual, 64), Matthew Bell (Beni Redzic, 81), Daron Iskenderian (Jude Wellings, 81), Damien Barker John, Izzy Amparo (Griffin Dillon 64), Noel Caliskan, Tommy Silva, Bobby Pierre (Zack Farnsworth, 64), Omar Alba, Keller Storlie, Fernando Delgado
Subs not used: Sean Petrie, Sebastian Joffre, Gio Villa, Marzuq Puckerin
Minnesota United FC 2 (4-3-3): Jordan Adebayo-Smith (Andrew Heckenlaible, 83), Alisa Randell (Patrick Weah, 73), Ekoue Mesanvi (Nathan Moua, 73), Carlos Harvey (Justin Arias, 61), Kage Romanshyn Jr., Molik Jesse Khan, Jonah Gasho (Dominic Mawing, 63), Morris Duggan, Britton Fischer, Tamer Ibsais, Alec Smir
Subs not used: Patrick Weah, William Schmidt
Stats Summary: SLC / MIN
Shots: 23 / 8
Shots on Goal: 9 / 5
Saves: 3 / 6
Corner Kicks: 6 / 2
Fouls: 17 / 10
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
SLC: YELLOW (Alba, 15); YELLOW (Amparo, 45+3), YELLOW (Pierre, 46); YELLOW (Gozo, 55); YELLOW (Paul, 69), YELLOW (Iskanderian, 80); YELLOW (Farnsworth, 90+7)
MIN: RED (Ibsais, 2); RED (Manager, 63); YELLOW (Harvey, 44); YELLOW (Manager, 61)
