United pins first loss of 2016 on Indy Eleven

It took Minnesota United FC barely five minutes to put away Indy Eleven on Saturday, a week after Indy posted a one-goal victory over the Loons.

Christian Ramirez scored twice in the game's first six minutes, the first from the penalty spot, and the Loons cruised to a 2-0 win in front of a franchise-record announced crowd of 9,460 at the National Sports Center in Blaine. It was Indy's first loss of 2016.

"Last week we gave them an opportunity and let them off the hook, so that's a great performance from us," said United head coach Carl Craig. "We were the better team last week. Fair play to them, but we should have had six points from these two games."

United scored with virtually its first two attacks of the game. Winger Danny Cruz started things off 90 seconds into the game when he was tripped in the Indy penalty area, drawing a penalty kick.

Last Saturday, Ramirez had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Jon Busch, low and to the keeper's left. Busch dived the same way again, but this time Ramirez blasted his kick high and in the middle of the goal. "I knew that he was going to move early," said Ramirez. "I was just going to go down the middle, hard."

Two minutes later, Ramirez struck again. This time, the ball came from the left side, as Stefano Pinho rolled a setup across the penalty area. Cruz cleverly let the ball run past him, and Ramirez darted in at the back post for a tap-in second goal.

Sammy Ndjock was strong in goal for United, especially early in the second half, when he made a spectacular save after Indy forward Justin Braun got loose for a wide-open header on a corner kick.

"They have an unbeaten record. They didn't let that down easily," Craig said. "Right to the last whistle, they were going at it."