It's probably too simplistic to say Minnesota United goes as star midfielder Emanuel Reynoso goes.
But it sure helps when the gifted playmaker scores as well.
Reynoso scored twice and assisted on his team's third goal in Sunday night's too-tense 3-2 victory over Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field.
As they did Wednesday night at LA Galaxy, the Loons scored the game's first three goals and then hung on dearly to win by the same 3-2 score.
Real Salt Lake scored twice in five minutes — in the 71st and 76th — but never managed to tie the score on a night when the stadium scoreboard flashed in victory and the team's supporters fired their smoke guns with a minute still to play.
"We made hard work of it again from where we were," Loons coach Adrian Heath said.
Heath said he saw Sunday's finish coming in training the previous two days because of the tired bodies and tired legs he saw from a team that had played at New England, Miami, Los Angeles and St. Paul in eight days.
"I watched the lads train, I knew today was going to be a tough day for us," Heath said. "That's why it was important we got our situation in the way we did. It would have been a travesty if we hadn't won the game."
This was their second victory in a row after the Loons went 1-6-1 in their previous eight MLS games, 1-7-1 counting all competitions. In two games, they moved from 18 points and 12th in the Western Conference to 24 points and eighth, right behind the Galaxy.
"We can't overstate that wins change everything," Loons captain Wil Trapp said. "It's amazing when you win two games what the table looks like."
The Loons won with a starting 11 that successfully moved attacker Robin Lod to central midfield because Kervin Arriaga is injured and Joseph Rosales was suspended.
Just like Wednesday, Reynoso scored another early goal, in the game's ninth minute to take a 1-0 lead.
He created a shot for himself after he saved the ball from going over the end line. When two Salt Lake defenders tried to trap him against that end line, he went around both with two strides with the ball and then struck a left-footed shot from 10 yards out that beat goalkeeper Zac MacMath.
Reynoso made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time when he created a penalty-kick call in the 6-yard box and then scored on the kick's rebound after MacMath stopped the shot.
In the second half, Reynoso's perfectly weighted pass — turning with one touch and threading the RSL defense — sent striker Luis Amarilla free on a run toward the goal before he chipped a shot from outside the 18-yard box after MacMath had come out toward him.
Reynoso has scored seven goals in MLS play and five in his past four games.
"He's a wonderful footballer," Heath said. "That's seven goals now with half a season to go. If he goes from a five or a six a season man to 10 or 15, with the assists he does and the forward passing and creativity, there's nobody better than him. When he's in full flow, there's nobody better than him in the league, full stop."
Reynoso took Trapp's pass, spun and found Amarilla running free with a perfect pass.
"The weight of the pass, the finish, everything was just beautiful," Trapp said. "I don't know when he looks around, but he must because his awareness and timing of the pass is really amazing."
On Friday, Heath said asked if it's too simple to say his team goes as Reynoso goes.
"Well, yes it is," Heath said. "It's a bit disrespectful to everybody else … But there's no doubting Rey's a quality player."
After Sunday's game, Trapp was asked the same question.
"There's 11 guys on the field, so it's a little tricky to say that completely," Trapp said. "But everyone knows he's the fulcrum of our attack. At times we can't be too reliant on it. We have to find way to be multifacted in the attack. The less pressure we can put on Rey, the better. Of course, we know he is integral to our success, but we have other pieces and they showed tonight."
