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Player ratings: Montreal Union 2-2 Philadelphia Union

Photo: Marjorie Elzey

A late equalizer salvaged a point for Club de Foot Montreal, as Philadelphia Union drew 2-2 with the hosts on a rainy afternoon in Quebec.  The Union will be disappointed to have not left with all three points having squandered their lead late in stoppage, though the team still ended the weekend holding on to third place in the Eastern Conference.

Player Ratings

Matt Freese – 6

Despite Montreal’s 66% first half possession, Freese didn’t have much to deal for most of the first half, but was fundamentally sound on the plays where he was called upon.  He didn’t have much a chance on the first Montreal goal so I can’t knock him there.  Quick reaction save off of Elliott’s deflection in the 69′ and got a hand on a dangerous curling shot one minute later.

Oliver Mbaizo – 6

Decent defending throughout most of the match.  He did okay going forward down the right but most of his advances offensively didn’t amount to much.

Jakob Glesnes – 7

A solid outing in the back with a few good blocks.  He put himself in a good position on the first goal, proving to be a good distraction if nothing else.

Jack Elliott – 7

Did well getting his head onto the high amount of corners and crosses being sent into the Union box, especially in the first half. Overall, it was another solid performance from the Union center-back.

Kai Wagner – 8

He was involved very early on, primarily via a handful of fouls in the first half, some of which came via some very hard challenges.  He had the Union’s lone “chance” of the first half with a cross that ending up skidding across the top of the net.  Offered some positive passes upfield to the attacking players early in the second half and found the back of the net on his free kick in the 77′.  His man scored the equalizer in stoppage time, but it was more a result of a good ball into the box by Montreal then it was Wagner being out of position.

Leon Flach – 6

His defending at the No. 6 was free of any glaring mistakes.   He brings positive energy to nearly every game he plays, although nearly all his runs going forward were unthreatening.

Alejandro Bedoya – 6

Didn’t notice him much on the field for a good chunk of the first half although but he showed good positioning defensively most of the night.  He misplayed a couple of potential through balls and didn’t offer much offensively.

Jamiro Monteiro (subbed off in 75′)– 7

Did well pressing from both the No. 8 and No. 10 and positioned himself well going into tackles..  He put the ball in a dangerous position in the Montreal box on the set piece which lead to the fortunate equalizer in the 63′ set piece in the 2nd half, which is why I’ll give him an extra tally above the rest of the midfielders.

Paxten Aaronson (subbed off in 88′) – 6

Difficulty getting on the ball through much of the first half, granted the Union found themselves defending for most of the half. Showed a good bit of skill on the ball in the his own half on which led to a good build up and dangerous shot on goal(by himself) in the 74′.

Kacper Przybylko – 4

Looked to be wandering a bit aimlessly on the first goal off the corner,  granted no one seemed to have any concept of where Miljevic was in the box.  He was isolated for most of the game with touches on the ball few and far in between.

Quinn Sullivan (subbed off in 56′) – 4

A 4 may be harsh given that Sullivan struggling to get on the ball was in part a result of the Union having so little possession in the first half, but when he did get a touch, it wasn’t impactful. He was subbed off quickly in the second half for Gazdag.

Subs

Daniel Gazdag (subbed on in 56′) – 6

He was involved in a few buildups and did fairly well to find space between the Montreal lines. Although, like most of the Union midfield, he struggled to generate many exciting chances (granted, the conditions were less than ideal)

Jesus Bueno (subbed on in 75′) – 5

He was on the receiving end of a late, hard tackle in the 84′.  Otherwise I didn’t notice him much during his 20 minutes on the field.

Nathen Harriel (subbed on in 88′) – N/A

Came on late to try and help hold on to to the late lead.

Player of the Match – Kai Wagner

Solid defending overall coupled with a goal is a surefire way to get man of the match.

Geiger Counter

Pierr-Luc Lauziere – 8

There were a few hard shoves in the box that maybe another referee may have called, but I thought he did well to keep his whistle silent on this plays, and for most of the match for that matter.

9 Comments

  1. These ratings seem high for a team that was outpossessed 2:1 AND let in the tying goal at the end of the match. Hard to agree that the only two players receiving less than 5 are the two forwards (who were largely invisible BECAUSE the rest of the team was having issues keeping the ball).
    .
    Agree that the ref had a good game except he probably should have stopped the match as Montreal was taking their final throw-in since a second ball came out of the stands and onto the field and I think it happened just before the ball was actually thrown in. Not saying that gives the Union an excuse for not defending better, but the ref also needs to be better on top of things there.

  2. el Pachyderm says:

    Appreciate the time and energy.
    .
    My rebuttal. If Leon Flach is a 6 then Olivier Mbazio cannot be.
    .
    Either Leon Flach played better than Mbazio or Mbazio played worse than Flach.
    .
    I think 6 is fair for the HDM so that tells you what I thought of Mbazio on Saturday afternoon.
    .
    With each passing month… I miss Raymond’s sophisticated play more and more and tend to be irritated by Mbazio’s poor touches of routine balls and or the poor recognition of space ….and strangley angled runs into that space when it is finally recognized. Anyone can bomb forward and whip in a cross. It’s not hard. Takes a bit of diligence.
    .
    I’ve been patient. We need a better right back. I’m sure this will meet adversity here on PSP… but it’s the truth from my lense.

    • Chris Gibbons says:

      We agree on Mbaizo, with one caveat – he (and everyone) on this team would be better at their jobs if they had someone stretching defenses on a consistent basis, opening space for them. Mbaizo would be a blast on the right if he had a partner or two over there making combinations and overlapping, but he’s largely alone out there or with Bedoya, missing that third triangle point. It’s close, but not quite.

    • Nah man. Not having it. Ray Gaddis was a sophisticated player???
      Some revisionist nostalgia clouding your lens right there.

      Mbaizo may confound and disappoint but only bc his talent level is leagues above all other options past and present. And he always plays hard, gets stuck in and demands a high level from himself and his teammates.

      He is certainly not the problem and subbing him off cost the Union 2 points Saturday.

      • Mbaizo wasn’t subbed off. Harriel came in for Aaronson.

      • My bad. Thanks for the correction.
        .
        Strange substitution in any event.

      • el Pachyderm says:

        Yes. For starters Raymond was a better defender.
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        And second, yes IMO he was able to receive then get the ball in behind the LB sometimes, or receive the ball and hold it in combination play to build in the deep right flank channel… instead of the automated response we see every time from OM which is to just whip it in the box.
        .
        Ray was better than many people give him credit for. Bums me out.

  3. Do any Union players take a hit for not taking the ball to the offensive corners in stoppage time to try to kill the clock?
    Clearly hindsight is 20-20, but a mere 20 seconds of that would have preserved the win. That is why teams do it.

  4. These ratings are overall just too high. The team was soundly outplayed in the entire first half. I would take almost everyone down 1-2 points, except maybe Freese.

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