Photo: Paul Rudderow
Back in front of a full capacity crowd at Subaru Park, the Philadelphia Union earned a 1-0 win over reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew. It was a tight and cagey affair, which saw Philadelphia see out a first half goal to a win. On to the ratings.
Player Ratings
Andre Blake – 7
Not much doing on the night for Andre Blake, until that huge save on a Columbus attack in the 82nd minute. Teams need goalkeepers who after 70 minutes of inaction make a big save, hence why Blake is the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
Olivier Mbazio – 7
A good night for Mbazio, as Columbus expected the Union to attack down the left leaving him acres of space. Set up the Union goal with the initial cross in, and made some excellent defensive recoveries throughout the night.
Jakob Glesnes – 7
Another clean sheet for the backline, which didn’t really give up any threatening looks most of the night. Glesnes hit some beautiful balls to switch the field of play, unlocking Mbazio most of the night.
Jack Elliott – 7
Similar outing to Glesnes, also had some beautiful passes to switch play and looked stronger in possession. Can’t knock the center backs too much after a clean sheet.
Kai Wagner – 6
Wagner had a quiet outing by his standards, with Columbus making sure most of the Union attack didn’t flow through him. Was reliable defensively and wasn’t caught out of position much.
Leon Flach – 5
Not a busy night for Flach, who struggled at times to get into the attack like he normally does. Did well to recover defensively and recover possession for Philadelphia deep in their own half.
Alejandro Bedoya – 6
Another quiet and dirty running outing from the captain. Came off around the 75th minute mark due to cramps, didn’t provide anything flashy but helped get Mbazio down the right side.
Jamiro Monteiro – 8
A great night for Monteiro, who looked comfortable as the Union’s volume midfielder they needed on the night. Recovered well defensively and couldn’t have placed his goal any better.
Jack McGlynn – 6
Much like the captain, a quiet night for McGlynn. In his appearance he was able to link passes well with the rest of the midfield, not getting caught in possession. Nothing flashy but a strong outing.
Kacper Przybylko – 5
An overall very quiet night for the big man up top. Recovered defensively and helped create space for Burke, but other than that didn’t have very many looks on goal
Cory Burke – 7
A strong outing for the Jamaican, who was in a wrestling match each time he was on the ball. Found acres of space on the right side to get the attack going, could use some work on his crosses though
Subs
Sergio Santos – 4
Struggled to get into the game, and didn’t make much of an impact. Thought his speed would be a factor but wasn’t on the same page as the rest of the team.
Quinn Sullivan– 5
A short 15 minute outing for the youngster off the bench. Didn’t play as an attacker which was interesting, put did enough to help see out the win in midfield.
Matt Real– 5
A nice 30 minute outing for Real, did his job in helping button down the hatches and see out a win. Was sent off, then wasn’t, probably didn’t even deserve a yellow on his tackle.
Alvas Powell– N/A
A brief cameo for the new man, nice to see him in Union colors.
Player of the Match – Jamiro Monteiro
A toss-up between him and Andre Blake, but Monteiro was everywhere on the night. A classic performance from him and a great goal to give the home side the win.
Geiger Counter
Joseph Dickerson– 5
Let some physical stuff go, then clamped down on it in the second half. Got Real’s card completely wrong, which the VAR correctly overturned.
VAR 10/10 man of the match.
When I first saw the challenge from Real I thought it was a clear red, as the ref did (was a similar angle). Only on replay was it obvious that he pulled his legs back enough to only be a yellow.
Wagner is fascinating. He was an assist machine when Gaddis was here, and since Mbaizo has been added, he’s decided to be a lock down defender. So versatile and still criminally underrated.
Definitely. I’ve been trying to understand why the Union suddenly favor the right and Mbaizo so much in attack. It’s not like Wagner’s not equally capable. You’d think it would make the team a bit too predictable. Thought it continues to work.
Wagner is capable of bombing down the wing with his speed and combination play but I don’t think he has Mbazio’s dribbling ability. Mbaizo is fully capable of beating someone one on one.
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Mbaizo is also getting more comfortable cutting inside too.
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I thought he would be good, but wow he is just continuing to show more and more. A move to France may be happening sooner rather than later.
Maybe it’s a question of chemistry with Wagner. That left side of the diamond has been filled by Montiero, McGlynn, Flach, and even some Real. Presumably they all play a little differently. The right has been Mbaizo and Bedoya just about all year.
Am guessing that keeping Zelarayan quiet was mostly the job of Flach, which he did. Though Flach he wasn’t big offensively, keeping Columbus attacking midfield locked down is probably worth more than a 5.
Exactly right
A little rough on Flach. Quite night? He ran over 7 miles. Didn’t get into the attack enough? He was playing DM position against a very talented midfield in a game we led going into half. I think he had almost as much to do with the shutout as the center backs.
I’ll admit I was rough on Flach. Curtin did mention at half they wanted him higher up, guess that’s due to how Brujo normally plays, as he likes to spread the ball around. Flach lies deeper and hits passes between the lines
I would give Flach at least a 7. His offense was down because he was playing CDM and he shut down Columbus as well as Martinez would have. MLS.com has him leading the league in tackles won (although I’m not sure about the accuracy of that given that just to the right of that the “leaders” in clean sheets are listed with one Andre Blake nowhere to be found despite the fact that he has two more than anyone else).
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I think part of Wagner’s issue was that he is not used to playing with McGlynn and Real in front of him.
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I thought Dickerson did a good job at not falling for Columbus’ flops. It’s nice to see a ref who wasn’t using the Union’s reputation against them. Definitely glad he gave Monteiro a final warning for frequent fouling before giving a card that would have left him suspended on Saturday. Yes, he got the Real situation wrong, but he had to go with what he saw where he was positioned. Having seen Real beat his opponent to a free ball, I could easily see the play as not even a foul given that it was just two guys going for the ball from different angles.
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Don’t see how Glesnes could have a score higher than a 2 given how he didn’t have any highlight reel plays. 🙂 🙂 🙂
This Wagner point is astute. While MBaizo has the experienced and ever present Bedoya ahead of him, the LM position is the most frequently changed.
McGlynn has been tidy in possession and understandably conservative in progressing the ball. Flach is similar as a LM.
While the defense-first nature of these two should allow Wagner more freedom to make overlapping runs, the chemistry or understanding is clearly not there yet.
Haha- guess I should have read down a little further before commenting.
Elliott made MLS Team of the “Week” for the 2 days ending last night.
Mbaizo is PotM for me. He has been stunning. I never called for Ray’s job and I do miss him, but his retirement could be a major blessing in disguise as Olivier improves every game. Hope Harriel is good cuz OM may be gone this autumn.