Both the Philadelphia Union and Union II were in action this past week, with both picking up victories. The Union advanced in Leagues Cup to the Round of 16 and the Union II picked up three hard earned points in a 3-2 victory over Chicago Fire II.

Union advance in Leagues Cup

On Friday, the round of 32 arrived in Cheste as the Union took on CF Montreal. Montreal had the Union’s number so far this year winning 4-2 in June at Montreal and earning a point at Subaru Park drawing the Union 2-2.

The crowd for this match was on less than desirable. After seeing an almost sellout crowd with Cruz Azul, saying the stadium was less than half full would be an understatement. “Obviously, the last two Leagues Cup games, this was a packed house,” said Jim Curtin post-game. “But obviously, with the rain, with the August Friday night, you know, a lot of people down the shore. So look, I think that I told the guys, yeah, it’s not going to be the same atmosphere, but we have to kind of manufacture that intensity and then recognize it’s an elimination game ourselves, and we’re in control of that. So the people that did come, I thought, were loud and really cheered us on and helped us.”

Fresh off the Olympics, Nate Harriel returned to the starting eleven along with Sam Adeniran making his second start since arriving from St. Louis City. Fellow Olympian Jack McGlynn started the match on the bench along with Bedoya and Uhre who started the previous match.

The Union had the first chance of the game with Kai Wagner crossing it on net which was saved by the keeper. Union created two chances with balls over the top, however both were saved by the keeper.

Montreal had a great opportunity off a turnover that turned into a 1 v 1 on Andre Blake, however, the Union keeper kept the ball out on a huge save. Union had another opportunity in the 11th minute with a potential handball however, the official did not decide to go to VAR.

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In the 25th minute, the Union had its own 1 on 1 when Adeniran had an opportunity to put it in the back of the net, but Montreal’s keeper, Sirois, made the save on a play could have made it 1-0 Union.

The first goal came in the 46th minute off a Sam Adeniran shot that the goalkeeper deflected out into the box and then found the foot of Tai Baribo, who sent it to the back of the net before the halftime whistle was blown.

In the second half, Adeniran had a bullet on the net but was saved by the keeper. In the 56th minute, Montreal had a clean shot at the goal which sailed high, but Lassiter’s knee ran into Gazdag’s back. Gazdag would leave the match after being down in pain. After the match, Curtin remarked, “Danny got a knee or cleat in the in the back area. I’m not positive. They’re doing some tests right now, so we’ll see. I don’t want to overreact, but obviously, you guys know how important he is. It was serious enough that he knew right away that he needed to come out of the game.” In his presser on Monday ahead of the Cincinnati match, Curtin confirmed that the impact to Gazdag’s back had hit a nerve, leading to considerable pain and some temporary loss of feeling in his legs, prompting him to leave the match. The good news is that he trained fully on Monday and is available for the next match.

In the 84th, minute Olivier Mbaizo was given a red card for a foul that was overturned on VAR and given a yellow card. However, the Union continued to fight off Montreal’s attack, keeping good shape in the back line. Curtin commented, “Montreal does take risk. Everything they do is wide. There’s not a lot in the center of the field, but we did a good job getting out blocking crosses, and Andre had to make a big save in the first half on Bryce Duke. But after that, I thought, you know, he did his job and wasn’t too busy.”

The final goal was scored by Tai Baribo in stoppage time as Jeremy Rafanello played a wonderful ball to Jack McGlynn, who then found Baribo wide open to put it in the back the net for his second goal of the night and his 3rd goal overall in this competition. Curtin remarked, “I don’t want to say easy goals, but the goal, like the one that you know, Sam- Sam crosses the ball that deflects. That doesn’t happen by coincidence. That happens because he put in work the entire half the entire game and previous games. So I think you get rewarded for that work.”

So with the Union’s 2-0 victory, they will now advance to the Round of 16 of the Leagues Cup and face their rival in FC Cincinnati on Tuesday, August 13th. The Union have not won at TQL stadium in the last 4 meetings with them, and to advance back to round of 8 would be a big step forward for the club and fan base’s confidence on the season.

Read the Union II vs Chicago Fire II Recap

Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.