photo: Paul Rudderow

The Union and FC Cincinnati played out a dour, scoreless draw on the terrible turf of Nippert Stadium on Wednesday night. The two teams only managed one shot on goal between them, with the Union being held without a shot in the match (though Sergio Santos did hit the outside of the post in the second half).

Jim Curtin curiously did not turn to the past week’s super sub Anthony Fontana, who didn’t even make a substitute appearance with the Union offense sputtering all match.

Player Ratings

Andre Blake – 7

There was only one shot on goal in the match, and it came very late on, and Blake did very well to save it to make sure the Union left Ohio with at least a point.

Ray Gaddis – 5

Quiet night for Gaddis who left the field in the 55th minute with a hamstring injury.

Jakob Glesnes – 5

Good positioning, strong with his head, can generally pick a pass. But still feels like he has one mistake in him per match so far giving away the ball from the back.

Mark McKenzie – 5

Typical consistency from McKenzie, who continues to be the stalwart of the backline.

Olivier Mbaizo – 4

I don’t see what Mbaizo offers that he starts in front of Matt Real at this point. Looks wholly uncomfortable forced to his left foot and is too easily pulled out of position on the left side. Also lost his man in the 63rd minute when Jurgen Locadia should have scored (how did he miss that?). With Gaddis picking up a knock, we’ll see what he offers on the right this weekend most likely.

Jose Martinez – 5

Led both teams with 9 recoveries after coming back from serving a one game suspension. Had four shots, none of which hit the target.

Alejandro Bedoya – 5

The silver lining to Bedoya picking up a yellow card is that he’ll get some much needed rest via suspension for card accumulation.

Jamiro Monteiro – 5

Felt like he was stuck in 2nd gear most of the night and struggled to break Cincinnati’s lines with his passing. His set pieces misfired most of the evening as well, with multiple corner kicks sailing to the back of the box.

Brenden Aaronson – 5

On the day it was heavily rumored that he might be off to Red Bull Salzburg, Aaronson had one of his quietest games of the season, particularly in the first half where he saw little of the ball.

Andrew Wooten – 4

Just not involved enough for me. Yes, I know he has the four assists, but on a team not deep with striker depth, another disappointing performance where he struggled to find the game.

Kacper Przybylko – 5

Like Wooten, struggled to see much of the ball in good areas. A rare match where the friendly striker didn’t register a single shot.

Subs

Matt Real – 5

More direct than Mbaizo on the left, but failed to get forward as much as we’ve seen in other matches. With Kai Wagner’s return imminent, it will be interesting to see Real’s role going forward.

Ilsinho – 5

It felt like the match was crying out for some Ilinsho ingenuity but a subdued performance from the Brazilian provided little spark in the second half.

Sergio Santos – 6

Breathed a little bit of life into the game with his directness and had the best scoring chance of the night for the Union when his poor angled shot hit the outside of the post in the 78th minute.

Man of the Match – Andre Blake

Not a lot of choices for this one. Blake made the big save in the 90th minute when he needed to to preserve the draw.

Geiger Counter

Guido Gonzales Jr.- 3

Cincinnati committed 20 fouls on the night and consistently broke up Union attacks by hauling down Philly players. While Gonzales did give four yellow cards to the hosts, it still felt like he let too many go before finally issuing his cards.