The Union got their first home win since March in a thrashing of the New England Revolution, besting the visiting team 5-1 behind a hat trick by Tai Baribo and goals by Jakob Glesnes and Quinn Sullivan. 14 year old phenom Cavan Sullivan made his MLS debut to break the record for youngest ever debutant not only in MLS, but in North American pro sports.

The forecast looked iffy, it was a Wednesday night game, and the Union were in the midst of a terrible winless streak since May. Still, hope was renewed with the return of 3-time MLS goalkeeper of the year, Andre Blake, who was sorely missed as he recovered from injury. Also returning to the lineup was midfielder Jose Martinez, who just had a strong showing at Copa America for Venezuela. The starting lineup looked much more familiar, and the prospect of playing an injury-depleted New England squad allowed for some optimism.

The Union went with the tried and true “Diamond” formation. However, the the night would not be complete without mentioning that Cavan Sullivan made his first appearance on the bench alongside his brother, Quinn, ahead of much fanfare from the league, team, and various media outlets. Coach Jim Curtin had mentioned in his pregame presser that Cavan would be in the lineup, which led to a lot of anticipation on the night.

In the 3rd minute, with Leon Flach getting fouled, the Union had a chance when Kai Wagner’s cross bounced to the feet on Jack Elliott whose shot went just over the crossbar. The Union had another decent chance when Daniel Gazdag sent a ball over top to Mikael Uhre. The Danish striker had some problems controlling the ball and the shot was blocked, but the Union had two decent chances in the first 10 minutes.

In the 13th minute, another set piece went outside the box and landed on the feet of Jose Martinez, who shot it wide. Moments later, another opportunity for Tai Baribo was saved by New England’s goalkeeper, Aljaz Ivacic, despite Alejandro Bedoya being wide open on the right flank.

New England’s first chance came in the 19th minute when Olivier Mbaizo was beat outside in the attacking zone, which led to a Revolution corner kick. Following that, the Union countered with their own opportunity with a beautiful pass from Kai Wagner to Flach, who crossed it in but bounced off Gazdag’s chest.

In the 25th minute, New England had two chances after a Martinez shot that went for nothing. The Union had another set piece after a bounce found Tai Baribo who knocked in the back of the net to put the Union up 1-0 in the 29th minute and was their 14th set piece goal of the year. The goal gave Baribo 4 goals on the season.

Just after that, after a Mbaizo shot was knocked over the bar, the Union were awarded another corner kick. A nice ball by Wagner found the head of Jakob Glessnes, who knocked it in for his second goal of the season, making it 2-0. Moments later, Uhre, fighting off a defender, broke lose for a beautiful cross to Baribo to find a brace, making the score 3-0.

New England had two chances prior to the half, including a shot by Harkes that just missed by inches. As the rain began to fall, the Union headed to the locker room with a 3-0 lead. During halftime, MLS Communications announced that with two assists on the evening, Kai Wagner had 30 assists over the last 3 seasons in MLS, marking him the only player to do so.

As the rain began to pour down in Chester, the Revs began to create some early chances in the second half. New England was first to get on the board in the half via Ian Harkes with an absolute blast past Andre Blake. The Union did well to answer back when Kai Wagner found Tai Baribo for a 1 v 1 and the striker put it in the back of the net. It was Tai’s first hat trick with the Union and put the score at 4-1, and Kai’s third assist on the night.

The Union’s first subs were Jesus Bueno and Quinn Sullivan, who came in for Bedoya and Uhre in the 71st minute. Around the 80th minute, the River End began chanting for Cavan Sullivan, and both teams went back and forth with really no real attacks as both teams began to hunker down with time running down.

In the 84th minute, Quinn Sullivan blasted the ball from outside the box for a “Goal of Matchweek” contender to put the game out of reach, much to the relief probably of the Union fans who have seen leads get blown late too many times. Quinn’s goal put the Union up 5-1, and immediately after came the moment everyone was waiting for. After Quinn scored, he took a big celebratory slide in the corner and was hugged by his brother, Cavan, as the team celebrated. Cavan Sullivan then jogged over to the sideline, removed his pinny, and got ready to enter the match, which made the crowd go even wilder than they already were from the goal celebration.

History made.#DOOP pic.twitter.com/b5GuOT2Asx

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) July 18, 2024

Cavan was subbed on for Tai Baribo, and his debut made him the youngest player to debut in not only MLS, breaking the record set by Freddy Adu in 2004, but in all North American major sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLS, MLB, NHL, NWSL). Quinn and Cavan also became the second pair of brothers to play at the same time for the Union, after the Farfan brothers. Cavan would get his first MLS shot, which was a strong strike on target that the Revs keeper handled.

It was an encouraging night on many levels. Having Andre Blake back in net provided not only more confidence in the goalkeeping, but also in the defense as Andre does much to communicate with and position them. Tai Baribo has come into his own and seems to have gotten in sync with Mikael Uhre, becoming the Carranza replacement everyone hoped he could be, and earned MLS Player of the Matchweek. Kai Wagner had a hat trick of assists and the set piece goal domination continued. Jose Martinez had a strong game after a shaky earlier part of the season, seemingly rejuvenated after his international duty. The Union will need to keep the momentum going as they host Nashville on Saturday, looking to keep trending in the right direction.

Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.