Photo courtesy Major League Soccer
Kicking off at the opposite time as their first match, the Union defeated new club Inter Miami CF late Tuesday night. Their second victory of the MLS is Back Tournament means the Union advance to the Round of 16.
Much like last match, it was gritty and it wasn’t always pretty, but it got the job done. Starting off strong, losing control before the first half, only to reclaim the match with a beautiful goal, and hold on the final 20 minutes was a typical Union rollercoaster. At least it kept fans awake into the early hours of Wednesday morning, right?
Player Ratings
Andre Blake – 6
Allowing his first goal 126 minutes into the tournament, Blake had a solid performance. The fault does not lie with him in terms of who allowed Miami’s goal, but one did have to wonder what he was doing when he missed the punch entirely following that corner and subsequent header from Román Torres that nearly tied the match. Still a pretty good performance from the keeper, despite last week’s clean sheet performance being better.
Kai Wagner – 7
A much better showing from Wagner this time. Aside from hitting that rocket to get the early go ahead goal and give the team the confidence it needed to control most of the first half, he was back to his aggressive, counterattacking ways. If Kai Wagner had to spend last match shaking off the rust as he returned from a longer injury, he more than made up for it on Tuesday night.
Side note, if you watched the English broadcast like I did, please award yourself all the points in the world for having to deal with both announcers constantly mispronounce this German’s name. And for also listening to the most biased national announcing I’ve ever heard.
Mark McKenzie – 5
Mixed night for McKenzie who had some good and bad plays.
Jacob Glesnes – 4
A rather underwhelming performance from Glesnes who saw his first start and real time on the pitch this tournament. Not having time to acclimate like many of his teammates did against NYC FC last week, Glesnes was hopefully just getting his bearings this match, as he had more than a few defensive stumbles. While VAR proved he did not commit a handball, it also proved that he was off his mark, behind both his man and the ball, and it was actually rather lucky he was called for the foul, because who knows what could have happened if that play had continued. He also struggled to mark up as Pizarro dissected the Union’s entire back line to score Miami’s tying goal.
Ray Gaddis – 4
Not a great showing for Gaddis who struggled on covering his man, and was nowhere near as aggressive as he should have been and was last week. Having a very large part in Inter Miami’s goal, he also helped to create the counterattack that led to the Union’s second goal and actually had a chance to score himself. Strange performance overall, but going off of his defending, I’m sticking with this lower rating.
José Martinez – 6
Ah, El Brujo. Martinez is a prime example of “Philly tough” as he’s clearly stepped into the team’s enforcer type role, which is great. But his missed slide tackle at the beginning of the play that led to Miami’s tying goal should have been a card and a man advantage for Miami for more than half the match.
Jamiro Monteiro – 5
Hard to put just one number on Monteiro who had a rough first half, but got infinitely better in the second, so I’ll go halfway and say he earned a 5. While he was off the ball too much in the first half and it was an obvious problem, he was purposefully and tactically off the ball with that double dummy that allowed for the Union’s winning goal in the second half and it was a great thing. See my dilemma in rating him for the entire match?
Alejandro Bedoya – 5
Solid night for the captain, despite it being quieter than last week. A good background performance as his name was rarely said by announcers, but he sets the foundation for the Union, doing what has to be done to get three points.
Brenden Aaronson – 7
Some beautiful soccer from Aaronson on Tuesday night. The kid had everything we’ve come to expect from him, strong passes, great creation of plays and a keen tactical sense. DaMarcus Beasley said it best on Twitter, “I like this kid Aaronson. He is silkyyy!” The only thing he was lacking was the full match fitness, although it’s hard to fault him that when he’s playing a great game of soccer in the heat and humidity that is Florida in July.
Sergio Santos – 4
Santos’ involvement started out well and declined throughout the first half, much like the team’s overall performance. Playing only in the first half, Santos never really had a great chance to net one for the Union, and then play shifted towards Miami’s favor. Overall, he was okay, but nothing really stood out.
Kacper Przybylko – 7
The Striker Muffin had a good night, that’s all you can say. Przybylko had clean finishes that the team needed him to have and capitalized on a beautiful pass from Aaronson that Monteiro purposefully let him have, and it was perfection.
Subs
Ilsinho – 4
Maybe it was because the English broadcast never announced when a sub was made, but it honestly took me way too long to even notice that Ilsinho was on the field in the second half. He replaced Santos at halftime and did very little to get himself noticed, which is his main job as an attacker known for his fancy footwork.
Warren Creavalle – 5
Replacing El Brujo in the 72nd, Creavalle had a pretty sold game. Didn’t stand out too much, but Miami was controlling the field at the end of the match and he did his job in preventing them from scoring. But again, his biggest achievement is probably saving Martinez from getting a well-deserved card.
Anthony Fontana – 5
Came on for Monteiro later in the 81st and didn’t get many chances to shine. It’d be nice to see Curtin shuffle the lineup and let Fontana have more playing time in the next match against Orlando City.
Jack Elliott – 5
He was only on the field for eight minutes, but it was a solid eight minutes. In a time when Miami was at their most desperate and Aaronson was cramping, Elliott came on to tighten up the back line and keep his club ahead.
Geiger Counter
Petrescu – 2
Terrible job by Petrescu overall. Complete lack of calls and cards, and a complete disregard for VAR until the handball call on Glesnes, which he still took a long time to get around to reviewing. He only gets points for not awarding that PK and for finally showing a red card that match, even though it was in the last minute of play. Having allowed so many fouls to go uncalled, it seemed like he had a hand in shifting the pitch to Miami’s control before the first half, the one thing a referee should never, ever do.
Man of the Match – Brenden Aaronson
The kid did well and put in a lot of great work to get his team this result. His assist in the second goal was so beautiful, I’m still thinking about cross. As he only gets fitter and stronger, he will easily be one of the Union’s greatest players and a given starter.
Two major misses by Petrescu pretty much cancelled each other out. Union should have been up 2-0 if he had used VAR and overturned the offsides. Then Martinez should have been sent off.
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I would probably lower Martinez’s score by a point for getting himself suspended next game.
These feel kinda low honestly. Aaronson and Monteiro were key to both goals, and also very unselfish. And Gaddis may not have been perfect, but I feel like 4 is a bit harsh.
Agree. Monteiro did have a pretty non-descript first half, but his double-dummy on the goal was such utter genius that I’d give him at least a 6. Also, I think the defenders deserve an extra point apiece. We gave up a single goal, and when Torres put they header off the bar, Glesnes actually had him covered fairly well.