After a gritty performance last weekend versus Charlotte, a look ahead to the showdown with Cruz Azul with top of the group on the line

The Union last Saturday were able to ride this winning streak that they are on when they defeated Charlotte FC 1-0 at home in Chester, Pennsylvania. In today’s article, I will give a few thoughts and then look ahead as to what the brackets look like, or could like, with the Union moving on after Wednesday’s match in Charlotte.

When starting lineups were announced, the biggest change was Samuel Adeniran starting in place of Mikael Uhre up top along with Tai Baribo.

Things got off to an interesting start. After the national anthem, a yellow card was issued to Jose Martinez and Kai was being spoken to. It looked as if it was in regard to jewelry, which was later confirmed, however the box score said it was due to poor sportsmanship.

“It was because he had his wedding ring on which again the referees come in and it’s a different competition, different referees, different countries different styles of roughing which is great and I respect that and you have to adjust and adapt,” said Jim Curtin in his post game press conference. “I think he was a little over aggressive with the way he gave him a yellow card, he could just tell him to take his ring off, the game hadn’t started yet. There was a way to stay calm in that moment, but he set the tone and gave a yellow card in that situation. I laughed because I looked on the field and eight other guys had wedding rings on, so I said well now… you’re stuck because you guys got to give a yellow card to the eight other guys.”

The Union defense stands tall

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On to the game itself, the Union defense had a solid night, allowing Charlotte FC only seven shots on the whole night and zero on target. The defense also blocked one shot, had six clearances, and 11 aerial duels won.

The Union’s back line kept Charlotte at bay most of the night by not allowing them to counter or get many opportunities by them when Charlotte was playing out of the back and frustrating them for most of the night.

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“Charlotte is a really organized team, a tough team to break down,” Curtin said. “So, you know, we told our guys once they do get eight guys behind the ball, it’s really hard to break them down. So we tried to go quick and transition a few times, but they get numbers behind the ball very quickly. I think we have to be cautious about not having both of our outside backs really high up the field because it leaves us exposed- at least our center backs- exposed quite a bit.”

Regardless, that is now three matches in a row that the defense has only allowed one goal, which after the stretch over the summer can be a glimmer of hope for the Union fans.

Tai Baribo continues to impress

In the 33rd minute, Daniel Gazdag found Tai Baribo for a big first goal of the night, giving Tai now seven goals in all competitions.

The Union had some other chances in the game when in the 38th minute Sam Andeniran had 1 v 1 with with Charlotte goalkeeper Kahlina, which the Union forward put wide of the net. In the 87th minute, Daniel Gazdag had a great opportunity and found the back of the net, but it was ruled offside by the official.

After six minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle and Philadelphia walked out of Subaru Park with a 1-0 old school Union victory. Jim Curtin sang Andre Blake’s praises on having him back with the team:

“It wasn’t a perfect game, I think by any stretch by either team, but I enjoy and like one 1-0 professional, kind of grind it out type of wins. And I think that the group is confident. I think you guys can see the importance of Andre Blake behind the backline and what that brings to this team. And like I said, we’re confident now know we can still improve and play better and be sharper, but overall a good professional performance.”

Looking ahead to Sunday

With Charlotte defeatiing Cruz Azul on Wednesday in penalty kicks, The Union advance in Leagues Cup and remain at the top of the East 4 group, with Charlotte now in second with 2 points and Cruz Azul in 3rd with 1 point heading into Sunday’s Match. Depending on the result of their match with Cruz Azul, the following scenarios are possible:

• Union win or draw and they will finish at the top the East 4 group.
• Union lose and they will finish second in the East 4 group.

Should they finish at the top of East 4 group, the following scenarios will play out for the Round of 32. A Union win or draw and they will play the second place team from the East 2 group, which will most likely be either San Luis or Montreal in Chester.

Should the Union lose, then they will play Orlando, and due to the Leagues Cup ranking systems (which I shared in my previous article), would be on the road in Orlando.

Either way, it should make for another exciting night on Sunday. Are you going? We will be there providing coverage before, during, and after the game as always, so be sure to keep an eye out for more Union coverage coming up here this week.

Thank you to Todd Lewis for contributing the video clips to this article.