New York City – Union II continued their steamrolling of the Eastern conference on Saturday as they took down NYCFC II 2-0 at Icahn Stadium. It was yet another road victory, marked by goals from Markus Anderson and Malik Jakupovic, a barrage of shots, and a strong defensive performance. With the win, they extended their unbeaten run to nine. They are second in the conference (behind New York Red Bulls II) but have two games in hand. They also continue to have the best goal differential by far in MLS Next Pro at 28 after Pierce Holbrook recorded his fourth clean sheet.
With the first team playing at home later that evening and Sal Olivas and Neil Pierre being on the bench for that match, and Cavan Sullivan being away at Manchester City, head coach Ryan Richter had a smaller pool to work with and only had four field players on the bench. Pierce Holbrook once again got the nod in goal. The typical 4-2-2-2 formation had Isaiah LeFlore taking on a center back role, paired up Rafael Uzcátegui, who has been a massive pick up and so reliable. Jordan Griffin got the start at left back, with Giovanny Sequera at right back. Captain Nick Pariano and Óscar Benítez were defensive midfielders, while Kellan LeBlanc and Markus Anderson were attacking mids. Forwards Eddy Davis and Stas Korzeniowski were paired up top.
In the first half, Union II put on pressure right away, and Markus Anderson recorded the first shot in the third minute, however NYCFC II’s keeper, Alex Rando, proved up to the task on the save and would put in a strong performance on the afternoon. Union II would get a few more shots, while NYCFC II would not get a shot on target until the 32nd minute, which Holbrook saved. The home team did manage to be offside five times in the half and picked up three yellow cards- not to be their last.
Union had a flurry of activity in the box late in the first half and were really threatening, especially Eddy Davis and Markus Anderson. Rando was on his game, however, and withstood the attack- with a little help from the woodwork as well. The half would end scoreless, however, with Union II outshooting their opponent 17-2.
The second half began much like the first had ended, with Union II bringing pressure and Anderson getting chance after chance. He finally found the breakthrough in the 60th minute. On a corner executed by Giovanny Sequera, Óscar Benítez put a header on goal that bounced to a perfectly positioned Anderson, who was able to get a foot on the ball and tap it in to put Union II up 1-0 for his third goal of the season.
NYCFC II missed a huge opportunity in the 65th minute when the ball crossed dangerously in front of the goal mouth, but LeFlore came up with a big clearance to preserve the lead. In the 67th minute, Davis was replaced by Malik Jakupovic, who at that point had scored in all four of his appearances, leading to the big question of whether he could continue that trend.
NYCFC’s Julien Lacher was bringing pressure, and had a shot in the 72nd minute that just missed, but kept getting stymied by Union II’s defense. Rafael Uzcátegui has proven to be a massive pickup with how reliable he is at center back, and Benítez had an especially strong day in the midfield, and the improvement each game has been notable.
Richter made more subs in the 73rd minute, taking Jordan Griffin and Stas Korzeniowski out for Leandro Soria and Willyam Ferreira, and then in the 78th minute Jamir Johnson replaced Anderson. LeFlore would be shown a yellow for a foul in the 80th minute as he continue to try to stifle any chances by the opponent.
The MLS Next All Star tandem of Johnson and Jakupovic, who had played in Austin earlier in the week, connected in the 82nd minute to increase the lead 2-0. Nick Pariano sent a wonderful cross from the right side of the 18 yard box to the left side of the 6 yard box, which was headed down masterfully by Johnson to Jakupovic whose left foot sent it into the goal on a half volley. The goal marked Jakupovic’s team leading sixth goal of the season, and he has scored in all five of his appearances with Union II in just 124 minutes.
Not everything went Union II’s way, however. In the 90th minute, LeFlore was shown a second yellow for a foul, leading to a red card ejection just as regulation was expiring. Union II played down a man for the four-plus minutes of stoppage time, but were able to hold off their opponent and take all three points home.
Union II continues on a busy stretch as they will travel to High Point, North Carolina on Wednesday, July 30 to face independent team Carolina Core FC at Truist Point Stadium at 7:30 PM. CCFC are currently in 12th place at 21 points and 3-7-8. Their home record is 2-4-3, and have a -3 goal differential. With Chicago Fire II’s record breaking 9-2 drubbing of New York Red Bulls II, which came as a result of a straight red in the 14th minute to Jair Collahuazo, Union II are breathing down the necks of RBNY II. They will be without defender Isaiah LeFlore due to the red card, but could see some added flexibility should Noah Probst make his debut in the lineup. The match will be available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union II
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