Loan Report: Mannone Continues Unbeaten MLS Run

Unfortunately for Vito Mannone and Minnesota United, the MLS side have been unable to continue their 100% record over the last couple of weeks, but are still unbeaten in competitive action.

On the evening of our last loan report, Minnesota were scheduled to take on New Mexico United in the US Open Cup Quarter Final, in which the hosts prevailed by a handsome 6-1 scoreline, setting up a semi-final meeting with Portland Timbers.

The Loons then picked up a last-gap 1-0 win over FC Dallas thanks to a 91st-minute winner in the league. In a match away from competitive action, coach Adrian Heath played a rotated side in a 3-0 midweek defeat to Premier League side Aston Villa in a friendly.

This past Sunday, in the most recent MLS game for Minnesota, a visit to Real Salt Lake ended in a 1-1 draw. Just before the hour Darwin Quintero put The Loons 1-0 up, but with twenty minutes to go Salt Lake drew level thanks to a goal from Marcelo Silva. Minnesota still sit fourth in the Western Conference of the MLS, three points behind second-place LA Galaxy.

Mannone played 90 minutes in all of these games except the friendly against Aston Villa, which he watched from the sidelines alongside other rested players.

Photo by Mark Vancleave/Star Tribune via Getty Images

Would it surprise you if I said that Beijing Renhe have played three games since our last report, and they have lost all three? In a game that saw Renhe reduced to ten men, the first of these matches resulted in a 2-0 home defeat to Wuhan Zall.

The second game saw two teams from Beijing go head to head, but unfortunately for the strugglers, the hosts Beijing Guoan came out on top by a 2-1 scoreline. The last of the run of three games saw Renhe demolished 4-1 at home by Shanghai Shenhua.

Sone Aluko did not feature in any of these games, appearing to miss out after picking up an injury. Beijing Renhe are rock bottom of the Chinese Super League, but only three points away from safety.