MINNEAPOLIS — After two consecutive weeks of conceding costly own goals, it was only fitting that Christian Ramirez scored the game-winner on Saturday night for Minnesota United.
Ramirez bounce back from back-to-back games in which he bundled the ball into his own net by netting the decisive tally in Minnesota's 1-0 home win over Orlando City on Saturday. The striker scored the winner in the 56th minute, racing to get on the end off a flicked pass from Johan Venegas before rounding Joe Bendik.
“Yeah, definitely,” Ramirez remarked when asked if the goal was a relief. “Bobby [Shuttleworth] was the first one to come up to me after the game. He told me we broke the streak, which felt nice. To learn from last week with the ball that Miguel [Ibarra] gave me and cut it back on the goalkeeper was nice.”
For a player who came into the season with a lot of questions, "Superman", as Ramirez is known, has silenced critics with a notable ability to find the back of the net. His detractors most recently pointed to two own goals conceded in the past two weeks, but he got his redemption with Saturday's winner.
“It was amazing,” Ibarra said of Ramirez’s goal. “Right when he scored, I told him he could’ve done a back-and-forth with me to get me an assist. I gave him a hard time about it, but I’m really happy for him.”
As he celebrated his goal, Ramirez ran over to head coach Adrian Heath on the sideline. Of course, this was Heath’s first match coaching against his former side in Orlando, and Ramirez’s goal ended up being dedicated to the manager.
“I told him this goal was for him,” Ramirez affirmed. “I knew how much that win would mean to him. I’m just glad we got the three points.”
Ramirez now sits on eight goals, tied for third-most in MLS, equaling CJ Sapong for most goals by an American so far this season.
