Well, that was a gut punch of a draw, wasn’t it? Let’s get straight into it.

What was the plan with the Victor Olatunji substitution?

I’m at a complete loss here. Victor Olatunji came on and very quickly took up defensive positions. The man who has played as a striker repeatedly was playing alongside the backline and was ultimately a key factor in RSL conceding a very, very late goal. I understand why he’d come on. When trying to hold a lead, it can be valuable to bring on a player to stretch the defense. And if that’s how Olatunji had been used, I’d have been largely OK with it. It’s largely explicable at that point.

But that’s not what we saw at all. We saw Olatunji consistently playing in the back line to, what, head the ball away? In the lead-in to the goal, he’s standing — standing! — as the cross comes in, and he keeps everyone onside. There’s no way there wasn’t intention around having Olatunji operate in this way, as it’s not something we’ve ever seen him do. (I mean, I guess it’s possible — but if I were a coach and I brought on somebody to not play in the back line, I’d be doing everything I could to communicate that. Given we saw it for a good 10-minute span, it’s got to be intentional.) Do you know how many aerial duels Olatunji won? Zero.

I think largely RSL’s coaching decisions have been reasonably good this year, but this one cost RSL two points.

RSL lacked creativity through the middle

As the match progressed, it became increasingly clear: RSL lacked creativity. On balance, 8 shots to Minnesota’s 11 isn’t disastrous — but only three of those shots came after RSL’s opening salvo. And that was a great goal, wasn’t it? Zach Booth made a great run, Zavier Gozo spotted it really nicely, and the pass was excelelnt. That moment was great, and there was a degree of creative thinking that was important.

Not only did RSL not attempt many shots, but they sort of retreated into themselves, surrendering a 60-40 possession ratio, losing more aerial duels, passing successfully only 70 percent of the time, all after they scored a 22nd minute opener.

This isn’t only because Diego Luna (muscle soreness) and Morgan Guilavogui (excused absence) were out, but it’s clear that those two are the players making RSL’s attacking outlay work. Guilavogui is a surprise there; Luna is not.

Will we see Gozo again for RSL?

With European transfer windows opening in June and the season now over for a staggering two months, it’s looking increasingly likely that we’ve seen the last of Zavier Gozo in an RSL kit. Popular consensus has largely been that he’s likely to land a big transfer fee this offseason. If this is the last we’ve seen of him in an RSL kit, I think it’s worth recognizing how good he’s been and how much he represents of what we want this team to be. He’s quick-witted, he’s fast on his feet, he’s clever — and most importantly for the team’s identity, he works tirelessly every time he’s on the pitch. If this is the last we’ve seen of him, I will miss his influence and impact a great deal.