Photo by Marjorie Elzey
The Philadelphia Union continued a strong run of form at home with a win over Eastern Conference foes Columbus. The win helped put some breathing room between Philadelphia and the playoff line, as the Union only have 2 home games left this season.
Onto the ratings.
Player Ratings
Andre Blake – 8
Wasn’t much for Andre Blake to do until he stopped the penalty and made another big save on a Columbus shot. Deserved clean sheet
Alvas Powell– 5
A pretty good outing for the Jamaican right back, who provided some offensive threat. Gave away the penalty which though.
Jakob Glesnes – 8
Was excellent at stepping up and pressuring the ball when played into the forwards. Gave up almost no clear looks all afternoon. Had a few big stops when Philadelphia was a man down.
Jack Elliott – 7
Wasn’t stepping up as frequently as Glesnes, but also shut down Columbus’ attack. A well taken free kick to get his goal from distance.
Kai Wagner – 3
A little bit of a quiet night by Wagner’s standards, as most of the action came down the right side. Got a questionable second yellow and put his team in a tough spot the last 25 minutes.
Leon Flach – 7
A pretty good outing for Flach playing at the base of the diamond for the suspended Jose Martinez. Put in good tackles and played nice outlet balls, one springing the Union’s second goal. Gave him an extra point for his goal.
Alejandro Bedoya – 7
A classic outing from the Captain that Union fans were waiting for. Was pretty quite most of the first half and then played a beautiful give and go for his goal with Przybylko.
Jamiro Monteiro – 6
A good outing for Monteiro who looks to be getting back in form after his absence. His energy and pressing are hard to replace, and always an option on free kicks.
Daniel Gazdag – 5
A 5 may be a little low for Gazdag, who looked more comfortable than in any other outing. Was effective in getting the ball up and finding teammates, so attacks did sputter out though.
Kacper Przybylko – 6
The big man up top has been in a pretty good run of form lately, grabbing am assist in this match. Did well to hold his run and find Bedoya with a cutback. Could of had a goal himself, but was saved by Bush.
Sergio Santos– 6
Santos does well using his speed to create opportunities and fouls, one of which lead to Elliott’s goal. Gave great service to Prybylko on his chance. Didn’t have many chances himself though, and goes down to easy in spots.
Subs
Staurt Findlay – N/A
Was put in to help keep the clean sheet and did just that. Not much else for the big Scotsman.
Quinn Sullivan- 5
Didn’t see much of the ball in his stint but did well to take it to corners and keep possession when he did.
Nathan Harriel – N/A
A brief outing for the young homegrown who will see action with Wagner’s red card.
Jesus Beuno- N/A
A debut for the new man in his brief 5 minute run out.
Player of the Match – Andre Blake
Wasn’t busy until the later stages but kept his team in it with the penalty save and a robbery of Nagbe after. Proved why he is reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
Geiger Counter
Victor Rivas- 3
Was having a good match until the Wagner second yellow, which is up for debate. Gave the penalty which is also debatable. A good portion overshadowed by some major decisions.
Monteiro needs to stay at the 8. He always plays better and has better player ratings there.
Completely disagree as the whether the second yellow was questionable. As soon as Kai threw the block, I knew he was gone. He stopped a potential Columbus attack without trying to play the ball. Clear yellow for me. (The first one was further away so I couldn’t see it as well but to me that looked like the more questionable of the two.)
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Hard to see how Elliott scores lower than Glesnes despite Elliott putting the ball in the back of the net. Both did an excellent job at shutting down the middle all game. Blake made two great saves but wasn’t really involved for much of the match. For me Elliott was MotM.
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Flach is also scored too low. The knock on him has been the lack of offense so when he scores a goal, starts the break on another, and is part of a team shutout playing the 6, he needs a higher score (and could also get consideration for MotM).
What makes it questionable for me is that, at least upon careful inspection, it simply looks like he stands up tall instead of continuing to move out of the way. While in the run of play it looks like he’s moving into the path, his feet aren’t actually moving. He just stands back up and gets run into.
The ref doesn’t make the call based on careful inspection, just on live play. If I as a Union fan see it as a blatant yellow, so will an unbiased ref. (And even after analyzing the replay, Wiebe felt it was the correct call on Instant Replay.)
It’s a yellow. As soon as he got the first one, on a stupid move, I sensed he might be off before the end.
Agreed that Wagner’s second yellow wasn’t particularly questionable. On the live call you could tell JP’s first instinct was that it was a yellow too.
No love for Sullivan’s creative little scoop over the defender before assisting Flach’s goal? Not sure what else he could’ve done in a 20+ minute outing with his team down a man to deserve more than a 5.
Big game as the team is starting to get in playoff shape.
Sullivan created a highlight reel assist and nobody seemed to notice….other than Flack.
Thanks to others above for pointing out Sullivan’s contributions, thought I was the crazy one for a sec. Flach had an excellent game and I think Santos is still a huge reason for our success even when he doesn’t score. Seems pretty clear that good coaches know they must take him away from our attack and keep from being stretched wide. The attack in general felt very cohesive so you can either credit Monteiro, Gazdag, or both. Maybe whatever fits your agenda. My agenda is Monteiro being acknowledged as our best and most dangerous outfield player by far when he plays the 8. And I stand by that opinion fully. But please acknowledge that Gazdag looked much more comfortable too, he deserves credit.
During the game I said to my wife that I’m looking forward to seeing Gazdag and Santos pair up once they’ve had an offseason to work together.
You’d think it’s strength on strength right? Gazdag knowing how to play balls into space and Santos making smart and speedy runs. I agree.
Sullivan is ready. Not sure how the off season shakes out, we will probably see some departures, but Sullivan should be be getting real starters minutes next year.
Sullivan’s scoop to himself was the Union’s most creative play of the match. +1 for that.
In real time, I thought he had tried to scoop it to a teammate (I forget who was closest), but then ran and picked it up when they didn’t. Had a laugh on that. But if it was on purpose that would be all the better.
In what world was the penalty questionable? It was a stone waller.
Could’ve
I am rewatching the game, and have to say, Alves had a monster game (except for the penalty, of course).