Union Get Help from Woodwork, Hand Red Bulls First Home Loss of Season
Photo via CBS News
The Philadelphia Union hit the road, going 105 miles to Harrison, NJ, seeking their seventh win of the season while carrying the weight of a four-match winless run in all competitions. The New York Red Bulls were awaiting them north up I-95, the only team in MLS without a loss at home all season. New York, despite being unbeaten at home, led all of MLS with 12 draws and had not beaten the Union in all competitions since 2019 (thirteen games). The last time these two teams met was on the 6th of July, a nil-nil draw in Chester, Pennsylvania. In that game, 18-year-old Andrew Rick made the start for Philadelphia in place of an injured Andre Blake, making five saves while Red Bulls’ Carlos Coronel made six on the other end. Let’s just say that this one was not finishing scoreless, and the goalies would earn their pay.
Jim Curtin’s team was back to their diamond 4-4-2 to start this matchday, with Jack McGlynn and Alejandro Bedoya on the wings, Danley Jean Jacques at the base of the diamond, and Olivier Mbaizo starting on the right side of the back line in place of Nathan Harriel, who was dealing with back spasms. Doubt creeps in a bit when you are winless in four, so the Union needed to start fast to gain some confidence on the road.
Que Mikael Uhre.
In the fourth minute, Mbaizo took possession for Philadelphia in their defensive half. He played off to Jacques, who surveyed the landscape before rolling an attack-building ball to the feet of McGlynn centrally near midfield. After a couple of touches, he played forward to Uhre on the left wing. The Danish forward was free to run at Kyle Duncan and, as he got toward the top of the box, worked himself inside onto his right foot. McGlynn’s continued run outside forced defender Sean Nealis to switch Duncan outside to cover McGlynn while he tried to pick up Uhre. That slight bit of space and hesitation provided just enough daylight for Uhre to tee up a right-footed shot. From two yards outside the box, he powered his low shot past a diving Coronel inside the near post, the ball skipping once before it beat the Red Bull keeper. Philadelphia was off to a flying start, but there was plenty of game left.
New York went hunting for the equalizer almost immediately after the opening goal, the next ten minutes full of chances, with the first being Andre Blake’s first save on Cameron Harper in the sixth minute.
A turnover near midfield allowed John Tolkin to spring Dante Vanzeir straight down the middle on the counter-attack. Vanzeir got to the top of the eighteen and laid off right to Harper. Blake met Harper and the ball right at the point of the six-yard box, arms outstretched. The Jamaican international made the save with the middle of his chest, catching a break when Vanzeir’s heavy touch carried the rebound out of bounds.
Carlos Coronel made his first of two consecutive stops moments later when Mikkel Uhre got running again, a Philadelphia clearance getting flicked onto him on the right wing. He charged across the pitch before distributing to McGlynn on the left. The young Scot played inside to Daniel Gazdag at the top of the box, his cushioned layoff right into Uhre’s path. Meeting the ball with the in-step of his left foot, Uhre hit his strike cleanly toward the far post. Coronel hit the dirt and pushed the shot wide with a strong left hand, conceding a corner kick to the Union. The following corner was cleared at first but the return ball found the head of Jack Elliott. He was unable to get much power on his header, directing it right into the hands of the Paraguayan number one.
Philadelphia’s first bit of good fortune came in the 11th minute when Lewis Morgan played a ball down the left touchline for Elias Manoel. Manoel went attacking Jakob Glesnes 1v1 before getting a step on him centrally from twelve yards out. His bending right-foot shot was hit with plenty of pace, a collective groan coming out from the stands as the ball whistled across the top of the crossbar. That miss would prove costly as the visitors would double their lead in the 14th minute.
Jack Elliott sprayed a long ball switch out to the right wing that Mbaizo managed to head down to Bedoya. Bedoya chested the ball down and played to Gazdag who touched ahead to Uhre with his back to goal. Once he was able to untangle his feet, he played out of traffic to Baribo on his right. Baribo’s first touch rolled the ball forward out of his own feet and his second was a dipping strike into the same spot Uhre had hit ten minutes before. Again, Coronel was fully stretched to his right, the dipping ball bending away and under his hand. That gave Baribo 15 goals in 15 games (all competitions) and the Union a two-nil lead inside a quarter-hour.
Andre Blake came up with perhaps his biggest save in the 18th minute, keeping momentum and the 2-goal lead with his side.
Jean Jacques got an important intervention on a cross, intended for Cameron Harper inside the box, setting up a New York corner. After the ball was headed outside the box and bounced around between Daniel Edelman and Jack McGlynn, it landed with Kyle Duncan. Duncan clipped a ball toward the box that somehow managed to bounce past three people to a wide-open Manoel on the backside. Blake again was positioned beautifully, out at the top of his six, taking the shot square in the chest.
Mbaizo had an opportunity to get the Union out of the woods and clear away but instead chose to try and dribble out. He was dispossessed on the defensive right by Manoel who managed to switch a pass all the way across the top of the box to Kyle Duncan on the offensive right. Duncan leaned forward and drove his right cleat through the ball. Blake stayed strong behind the ball and palmed the shot away with both hands. The home side remained on the attack briefly but Blake would come out to claim a cross and settle things down for Jim Curtin’s squad
Dylan Nealis replaced Duncan to begin the second half and this half kicked off as fast as the first half started, New York looking to split the deficit early and nearly doing just that a minute in.
Off the kickoff, Cameron Harper found himself weaving around people in the attacking third. He laid off to his left where Lewis Morgan was joining the rush. Morgan aimed for the far corner and hit a looping strike over Blake’s head. An unlucky Morgan watched as the ball did not dip quite enough and struck the top of the crossbar before going over for a goal kick.
Philly answered back with a chance of their own in response, McGlynn playing a ball from the left wing behind all the defense yet just in front of Coronel. Uhre got a foot on it though, much like Blake earlier, Coronel was out to meet him and close the angle for the save. Uhre was also denied in the 56th minute when a Philadelphia counter saw him get his right foot shot off from inside the box. The ball took a slight deflection and the keeper was able to comfortably make the save with his right hand before it was cleared out.
Elias Manoel must have felt snake-bitten by the end of the game because, in the 60th minute, he struck the steel again. This time Morgan played a through ball for Manoel to Blake’s right. The Brazilian opened his hips up and bent his right foot shot to the far side. The ball bent around a beaten Blake and smacked the face of the far post. The ball kicked out and Morgan’s follow-up shot was deflected just wide to Blake’s left.
Those two combined to create more anguish for themselves again in the 70th minute, this time Morgan’s cross from the goal line on the left finding Manoel’s head ten yards out. His header struck high up on the near post and bounced out for Quinn Sullivan to clear away.
Philly nearly iced the game in the 78th minute when Tai Baribo was a half-step late getting to Jean Jacques’ right foot cross from the goal line and his left foot redirect smacked off the post.
Andre Blake was in a savage mood Saturday and, to pour salt in the wound, stoned Manoel one more time in the 86th. Manoel took a through ball and fired low from Blake’s right. The former #1 pick went down to his left hip and parried the ball away to preserve him and his team’s clean sheet.
The Philadelphia Union have not always been in their best form this year but Saturday night they did something no MLS team has been able to do this season and, with that, put themselves in a much better position to make the playoffs (due to Atlanta’s win over Charlotte, the Union currently still sit outside the playoff picture).
Jim Curtin and the Boys in Blue will look to get hot next Saturday when they play Inter Miami CF from Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET and available on AppleTV+.
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