Michael Boxall, MNUFC's primary centre-back for most of the last 1o years has missed the last four games to injury. Following Boxall's injury, things did not start well for Minnesota United as they were hammered 3–1 by Nashville and 6–0 against Vancouver in the next two outings. Since then a new style has emerged moving back to a 3-4-3/5-3-1 hybrid used last season, but with a little extra offence.
That change along with solid performances from Morris Duggan leading the defence has led to a change in fortunes. The two losses were followed by a nil-nil draw against Seattle and then a 2–1 win away to LA Galaxy. Following the win, manager Cameron Knowles said about Duggan;
“He has been very good. He has been very good all season. He comes in a step ahead of where he finished last season and continues to grow and do well."
On Saturday night in Carson (yes, not Los Angeles), Morris was a huge reason why the Loons defence was mostly able to shut down the Galaxy. And once again João Klauss ended a match against without scoring. A missed tackle from Duggan did lead to Marco Reus getting an open shot and scoring on the rebound. But Duggan and the defence made up for it with a late game stand against a determined Galaxy side.
"The minutes he played are just enormous in getting that result. And Morris continued to show his ability as a player, but also as a leader in the group, getting the group organized, leading them, pushing them through those moments and taking a ton of responsibility for a guy that is relatively early in his professional career,” said Knowles.
The organisation brought by Duggan and the performance the entire back line brought stopped the Galaxy from scoring an equaliser. From the 75th minute to the final whistle LA fired 10 shots, half of their entire total for the match. Minnesota United blocked 5 of those 10 in a true team effort to hold out for a win.
"You take a look at that entire group, he’s done well, but I think that whole group [defense] in the back has done extremely well," Cameron Knows said. "Jefferson [Diaz] has done well. Nico [Nicolás Romero] has done incredibly well. It was a really difficult matchup on that side."
Michael Boxall is day to day and does appear to be getting closer to a return, when he does return Duggan will almost certainly remain in the eleven.
