Photo: Paul Rudderow

The Union squandered a lead and an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth last night against Toronto FC.  They battled back in the second half to find an equalizer, but they’ll be disappointed to not come away with all three points on the road.

Player Ratings

Matt Freese – 7 

Neither of the two goals were his fault nor saveable.  The saves he made were solid, and he showed some good reflexes on several crosses (both high and low) into the box.

Kai Wagner – 9

Great cross in the first minute finding Gazdag in a dangerous area which led to the goal.  He did a great job tracking players down the flanks and got an assist on another beautiful cross in on the Santos equalizer.  Wagner was a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating game for the Union.  I’m glad he made it on the MLS All-Star squad earlier this year, because he has put together an all-star caliber season.

Jack Elliott – 5

A tough night for Elliott.  As Danny Higginbotham mentioned on the broadcast, his position on the own-goal is so difficult for defenders; you have to try and make on play on the ball knowing that if you don’t get to it, Altidore is there for a tap in.  He did have a few other mishaps in this game, including one or two mistimed tackles.  It wasn’t a debacle of a game for Elliott by any means, but he’ll be looking forward to Sunday so he can put this game behind him.

Jakob Glesnes – 6

Strong one on one defending and did well blocking several shots.  He also did well carrying the ball forward in a few instances.

Oliver Mbaizo – 6

Overall, a decent game for Mbaizo.  A bit of mixed bag defensively.   He blocked a few crosses and got his head on a dangerous ball played into the box in the first half.  He also had a few plays where he got beat.

Leon Flach – 4

Seemed unsure of what he wanted to do when he got on the ball and defensively, he appeared to be chasing the game a bit.  Not one of Flach’s better games tonight.

Jose Martinez  – 5

His passes were either really good or really poor.  He had some lovely long, cross field balls over the top.  He also had some sloppy giveaways trying to play out from the back.  He had an average outing defensively.  He didn’t provide stonewall defending as he shown he’s capable of, but he also wasn’t a liability.  Picked up a yellow card late in the second half.

Alejandro Bedoya – 8

A great finish to give the Union the lead after 30 seconds.  He had some good interceptions and did well pressing for most of the match.  A solid outing from the captain.

Jamiro Monteiro – 4 

I thought he should’ve been subbed off for Santos instead of Gazdag in the 58′. He seemed to wake up offensively in the last ten minutes of the match, but this felt like one of his “disinterested” type of games.

Daniel Gazdag – 6 

He had good wherewithal to turn and find Bedoya on the opening goal.  A few poorly weighted passes on potential through balls in the first half.  Not a great performance from Gazdag, but certainly not a bad outing. He’s visibly more comfortable in his role with the team.

Kacper Przybylko – 3

A frustrating evening for Przybylko.  He should’ve score  on two separate occasions.  First in the 63′, which would’ve put the Union up 2-0 and probably iced it.   Credit to Quentin Westberg for a good save; but from point blank range, on a great cross in, he needs to be more clinical and finish it.  To make things worse, three minutes later, he tries to play a flick pass deep in his own half , which is picked off and leads to the Altidore equalizer.  The second opportunity came in the 80′  when he received a great ball from McGlynn and hit the bar.   He was unfortunate to not score, nor get awarded a penalty, from his shot in the 90′.

Substitutions

Sergio Santos ( Subbed on in 58′)  – 9 

Came on, provided his usually high energy and got the equalizer on a wonderful header.  Not much more you could’ve asked of Santos in this one.

Jack McGlynn (Subbed on in 73′)  – 7

Great ball to Kacper in the 80′ which, per the above, should’ve been an assist.  Made a few good tackles in the Union’s defensive third.

Jesus Bueno (Subbed on in 86′) 6

Tempted to give him an N/A coming on late in the game, but he made one or two nice tackles to win the ball back for the Union.

Referee

Silviu Petrescu – 6

The Union players were clearly frustrated on the no-call against Przybylko in the Toronto defensive third, which gave way to Toronto’s go-ahead goal.  It’s also tough seeing the ball clearly go off of Michael Bradley’s hand in the 90′ but not be called because it deflected off of his knee first.