Photo: Marjorie Elzey
Second-half goals from Alejandro Bedoya and Daniel Gazdag helped Philadelphia Union overcome a late red card and earn their first win of the season, a 2-1 victory over CF Montreal.
Manager Jim Curtin made two changes from his first lineup of the season. Sergio Santos replaced last week’s goal-scorer, Cory Burke, up top alongside Julian Carranza. At left back, Olivier Mbaizo lost his place after a poor performance, replaced by Nathan Harriel. The club’s big offseason signing, striker Mikael Uhre, made the bench for the first time after training with the team this week.
CF Montreal plays its early-season matches at Olympic Stadium, as State Saputo’s field is typically frozen after a long Canadian winter. But the field at the Big O makes Veterans Stadium look like Wembley, little more than squares of artificial turf plopped unceremoniously atop a bed of concrete. In the early minutes, both sides seemed unsure of how to manage the treacherous turf, passes and touches skidding erratically.
Philadelphia had the first quality chance after 15 minutes, with Carranza picking up the ball at the edge of the box after a nice diagonal run. His shot stung the palms of Montreal keeper Sebastian Breza.
The Union turned on the high press with more success than has been seen in some time, pinning Montreal in their half and forcing some poor passes. But those successes did not lead to any clear-cut scoring opportunities, and the hosts would soon make the Union pay for wasting their dominance.
In the 32nd minute, Ismael Kone drove into the Union box, receiving a pass in front of Jack Elliott, but found all his shooting angles closed down. He passed to Lassi Lappalainen at the edge of the box, who attempted a curler toward the far post. Harriel attempted to block the shot, but the ball deflected off his foot, looped over a helpless Andre Blake, and nestled in the back of the Union’s goal.
A minor flashpoint erupted moments later when Breza caught a cross while Carranza collided with him. Montreal players took issue, feeling that the Union man could have avoided the contact, and a low-key scrum ensued.
VAR erased what would have been a special goal by Djordje Mihailovic at the start of the second half. The American tackled Carranza at midfield, then drove right down Route 1, breezing past four Union defenders and cooly finishing past Blake from the top of the box. But referee Drew Fischer went to the monitor and determined that Mihailovic’s tackle on Carranza was a foul, wiping the goal off the scoreboard.
Barely a minute later, the Union equalized through captain Alejandro Bedoya. The Boys in Blue matriculated the ball into Breza’s box, where Sergio Santos did well to maintain control of the ball. It squirted out to Bedoya, who rifled one past Breza and into the side netting.
Three minutes later the Union had the lead. Kai Wagner looped the ball down the wing to Carranza, who controlled exquisitely and centered for Daniel Gazdag. The Hungarian international slid in front of his man and fizzed his shot into the back of the net.
In the blink of an eye, the scoreline had changed from a two-goal Montreal edge to a 2-1 Philadelphia lead.
Uhre made his Union debut in the 68th minute, coming on for Santos with his side holding a one-goal lead. Moments later, Blake kept the game level with a typically spectacular leaping save. Lappalainen, looking for a brace, had fired one on the half-volley that looked destined for goal, but Blake sprung into the air and pushed the shot wide.
Off the ensuing corner, Carranza picked up his second yellow card by clumsily dragging down Montreal’s Zachary Brault-Guillard, ending his afternoon and reducing the Union to ten men with 20 minutes left to play. Looking to see out the game, Curtin threw on Mbaizo in place of Gazdag.
Uhre nearly opened his Union account in the 76th minute, latching on a ball over the top from Bedoya and bearing down on Montreal’s goal. Aiming for the near post, his shot beat Breza but went wide of the post.
Kamal Miller should have leveled the match for Montreal in the 81st minute, when a well-placed cross by Brault-Guillard found Miller all alone at the far edge of Blake’s box. But his powerful header flashed wide, and the Union breathed a sigh of relief.
With five minutes to go, Bedoya picked up a knock and left the match, replaced by Quinn Sullivan.
Breza denied another opportunity for Uhre late in the match, after Philly’s newest addition shredded Rudy Camacho and went in one-on-one. The keeper made himself big and Uhre’s shot lacked finesse, giving Montreal stoppage time to try to find an equalizer.
None came, and the Union headed back to the United States with their first win of the season.
The Union return to the friendly confines of Subaru Park next Saturday, when they welcome Jamiro Monteiro and the San Jose Earthquakes to town. Kickoff from Chester is at 7:30 p.m.
Three Points
- Turnabout is fair play. It looked like game-over when Djordje Mihailovic put the ball in the back of the net early in the second half. But the Union woke up once VAR wiped the goal away, picking up the two goals they needed to secure the win.
- Right back shuffle. Jim Curtin benched Olivier Mbaizo sooner than most expected. His replacement, Nathan Harriel, had a solid game
- Striker situation. Mikael Uhre showed real promise in his substitute appearance, even with his team down to ten men. With Carranza suspended next week, Curtin will have to choose between Sergio Santos and Cory Burke to be Uhre’s strike partner against the Earthquakes.
Lineups
Philadelphia Union
Andre Blake, Kai Wagner, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Nathan Harriel, Jose Martinez, Alejandro Bedoya (Quinn Sullivan 87′), Leon Flach, Daniel Gazdag (Olivier Mbaizo 76′), Sergio Santos (Mikael Uhre 68′), Julian Carranza
Unused subs: Matt Freese, Stuart Findlay, Matt Real, Jesus Bueno, Paxten Aaronson, Jack McGlynn
CF Montreal
Sebastian Breza, Alistair Johnston, Rudy Camacho, Kamal Miller (Zohan Bassong 81′), Mathieu Choniere (Zachary Brault-Guillard 65′), Ismael Kone (Rida Zouhir 65′), Victor Wanyama, Djordje Mihailovic, Lassi Lappalainen, Joaquin Torres, Kai Kamara
Unused subs: James Pantemis, Logan Ketterer, Zohan Bassong, Robert Thorkelsson, Joel Waterman, Gabriele Corbo, Matko Miljevic
Scoring Summary
MTL: Lassi Lappalainen — 32′ (Ismael Kone)
PHI: Alejandro Bedoya — 53′
PHI: Daniel Gazdag — 56′ (Julian Carranza, Kai Wagner)
Discipline Summary
MTL: Ismael Kone — 20′ (dissent)
MTL: Victor Wanyama — 23′ (foul)
PHI: Julian Carranza — 64′ (foul)
MTL: Rida Zouhir — 67′ (foul)
PHI: Julian Carranza — 71′ (second yellow) (foul)
Statistics
| MTL | Statistic | PHI | MTL | Statistic | PHI |
|
65.2 |
Possession % | 34.8 | 61 | Duels Won | 58 |
| 12 | Shots | 8 | 10 | Tackles Won |
10 |
|
5 |
Shots on Goal | 4 | 2 | Saves | 4 |
| 2 | Blocked Shots | 1 | 9 | Clearances |
22 |
|
539 |
Total Passes | 287 | 16 | Fouls | 16 |
| 82.2 | Pass Accuracy % | 66.9 | 3 | Yellow Cards |
1 |
|
6 |
Corners | 1 | 0 | Red Cards | 1 |
| 19 | Crosses | 14 | 0.7 | xG |
1.6 |
|
1 |
Offsides |
2 |
Harriel was much better than Mbaizo. The goal was a fluke rather than a blunder like we’ve seen with Olivier.
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Not a good showing on the goal that was called back. Hopefully Uhre can provide that type of attack for the Union.
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Assuming Burke isn’t away from the team for too long, I think it makes more sense for him to start with Santos coming in as a second half sub.
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Dumb question. I notice there are still 20 players dressed but neither team used more than 3 subs. (I know the Union didn’t use more than 3 last week but I didn’t play attention to Minnesota.) Are the teams still allowed 5 subs or is it back to 3?
Yeah I think it’s 5 still
Agreed. Montréal used four subs,so it cannot have reverted to three.
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I wasn’t counting while watching the game, but according to the recap above, both teams used 3 subs.
I just counted the total subs in. The feed portion o the MLS website report of Dc v Fc Cincy. There were nine.
Not a fluke. Harriel was slow and hesitant shutting down a wide open attacker. He was decent overall but let’s not gloss over an obvious error.
I didn’t see it that way at all. He was rushing over to cover for his center backs, and then had to rush back out to his wing when the ball was slid through. He didn’t come hard because Lappalainen would’ve goaded him into a foul and he made himself wide to try and block a shot. It’s unlucky, but he wasn’t at fault.
Not for nothing … about 10 seconds before the goal, I called out “watch the run! He’s open!” Sadly, no one in my house was able to prevent it.
Exactly, he did pretty much all he could on that play and just to an unlucky pop off his foot
Ok so he got a red card..but I kinda like the way carranza gets into the “greasy areas “ with no hesitation..now, I’m not saying I want him to turn into an offensive Martinez, but I like the willingness…hopefully he can control himself a bit more as the season runs
I was impressed with his debut as well last week. Both new strikers Impressed. Uhre is going to finish those chances and is really quick.
He is playing every game like he is trying to prove he deserves a shot. Love it.
Just heard Monteiro will NOT be returning to Chester next week due to his straight red this afternoon against Columbus.
Watched it on replay. I’d be salty if he was still with us. Hope he still makes the trip to say hi to the fans…
“Miller all alone at the far edge of Blake’s box” I wonder how that happened. I cringed when Mbaizo came in to bolster the defense. Sure enough Harriel pinched in and Mbaizo reverted to ball watching and leaving Miller to saunter in. I really thought he was going to get the equalizing header thanks to Mbaizo once again.
This.
…and we saw today why the clock is ticking for Mbazio at right back. In relief.
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In other news, I’d like to nit pick a bunch of shit about that game but can’t do it tonight. They’re sitting on four points after two games and despite neither one being played well— kudos to them for winning that match. They deserve my respect so, respect they get.
Hard for me to nit pick on a field like that. Take the points, be grateful no one got injured, hope you never have to come back.
+1.
Since it was at Le Stade Olympique, “Je suis d’accord!”
Montreal’s defensive scheme seemed to deny side to side play first and foremost. The Union tried to use vertical short passing but the pitch demanded they execute at and extremely fast pace with a higher level of precision than they could sustain.
Using Mbaizo as an improvisational midfielder with a specific defensive role off the bench comments reveakinglynabout current assessments of the defensive cgaraxteristics of the three homegrown midfielders. For all his flaws Mbaizo was thought better for the role than the youngsters or Matt Real, probably for his athleticism
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Without any idea of the immediate pipeline contents — not U II roster info — we cannot move on from the Cameroonian.
Or maybe Curtin’s assessment of the homegrown midfielders is way off? He’s been known to favor his guys (Bedoya, Flach) over players who are fast AND good at soccer (Trusty, Rosenberg) before. Mbaizo’s holding this team back, but maybe so is Curtin.
I think it’s a stretch to say Flach is “his guy” after being here 12 months but homegrowns like Rosenberry and Trusty aren’t. His guys are guys whom he trusts, defense-first players. That’s why both of the latter aren’t here anymore and Flach keeps getting a spot. I suspect if we were inside the locker room right now, the reason the young guys aren’t starting yet is defense.
Not surprised he brought in Mbaizo ahead of Sullivan or Aaronson in the situation since they are more offensive threats. Not bringing in McGlynn or Bueno was a bit more unexpected. I was actually most surprised that he brought in Sullivan rather than Bueno for Bedoya.
See Twitter for reports that Sullivan not only won the beep,test but kept on going for five or six more shuttles instead of stopping.
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He’s going to get reinforced for that, and probably this season he is Bedoya’s backup until he proves otherwise.
Mbaizo ended last season making critical defensive errors and started this season the same.
Lost starting spot to Harriel.
Curtin trying to save this guy by placing him in midfield nearly cost us the win
Check out his total lack of awareness at the 80’ which allowed an unchallenged header towards goal which would have tied the game.
Notice how Montreal FC quickly figured it out that crosses into his direction would result in better chances and they did it a number of times.
Change his name to M’BOZO
Big win on the road playing shorthanded for the last 20+ at the end of the game. I find it hard to judge this game because the green concrete is a relic of my childhood. That being said a tie on the road and a win at home just got the flip flop so four points after two games is a good pace to start your season.
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On another note I watched the tragedy in Mexico and find it hard that someone is willing to do that in the name of soccer. This isn’t a good way to start a future competition with Liga MX and a TV contract being part of the equation. Liga MX needs to take extreme measures with the two clubs.
Absolutely, regarding Liga MX. Just horrible, against all this beautiful game stands for.
3 points does the trick. In other news, former Union man Fernando Aristeguieta scored a brace in Puebla’s 1-3 win over Cruz Azul. Kacper looked very much like Kacper for Chicago.
We’ll take the win, for sure, but it was hardly deserved. The praise for Carranza above is interesting, but I am removing him from my MLS fantasy team, not just because he is missing the next match but because he has been pretty “meh” and Uhre is clearly the man up top. The VAR denial of Mihailovic’s goal was bizarre to me, so the Union lucked out there big time. He is precisely the kind of player that the Union really need. Yes, Gazdag scored, and a goal is a goal, but where is our true number 10, creative playmaker? Has this team ever really had one? Until the ownership is willing to really spend big on such a player, the Union will always be a mediocre team devoid of hardware. You can only count on Blake to wear his cape and save our collective behinds for so long.
Carranza did make a nice play to setup the winning goal, so praise is justified there. It kind of reminded me of the game in Montreal a few years ago where Burke got his first career goal with the Union and then got a red card a few minutes later.
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VAR wasn’t a surprise at all. Montreal got the ball on a blatant foul and turned it right into a goal. That’s what VAR is for. I’ve seen significantly less obvious fouls called by VAR to overturn goals (Union had one called back in Columbus a few years ago that was extremely questionable).
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Union did win hardware two years ago. Supporters Shield is equivalent to what most leagues in the world are playing for.
Overall Union played very well, in Montreal, on that God awful turf.
The red card was unfortunate, and Mbizo DID nearly blow it again. But Harriel played well enough to take over that job, despite Mont first goal.
Overall AN AWAY 3 points…. a gut, away win. I think we were 3-15 last year away from Subaru.
Great start.
They only won 3 on the road last year, but had a lot fewer than 15 losses (although several of the draws felt like losses since they involved blown leads).
Exactly… 15 losses.
At the very least, the draw in Atlanta with Glesnes getting the stoppage time goal was NOT a loss.
Sorry, but I was not impressed with Uhre. Two breakaways and he couldn’t ice the game. Granted, the first was a tough angle, but the second was the kind of situation that an elite striker needs to finish. Sure, no one hits it 100% of the time, but that was a poor shot and a missed opportunity to make an emphatic statement.
His first action with a new team after only training for a week…
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AND he almost ices the game?
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His missed shots are hardly a cause for concern.
He was called in for a cameo and ends up playing down a man. That is a sucky scenario for your first game without a preseason. He could have been forgiven for bunkering in with everyone else and protecting the lead. And yet he still manages to get free on goal twice with strong shots. Give the keep credit for the denials. Lots of times those go in. I can’t read the future but that bodes very very well.
He played well.
can’t wait til Sat.
Ur-e!
UR-E!
Thank YOU, Herr Tanner.
And thanks for the personal letter. YOU ARE THE BEST.
4:4:1
Moment of the march for me. Carranza is red-carded. The camera pans on Jim, whose reaction is not that of frustration, anger, indignation, but calm control.
This is a coach who is ready to win a big trophy. I said what I said.
Final…. we have a MLS coach.
CUR-TIN
CUR-TIN
In Tanner we trust….
CURTIN TOO.
Suporters’ Shield is totally meaningless. The VAR decision came after a dive. If Carranza were really any good, why would Miami loan him out? Miami got hammered yesterday. Maybe Higuain hates him… then again, Higuain is the most annoying player in MLS right now.
Maybe Miami’s front office don’t really know what they are doing, and it doesn’t matter how defensive minded you are when the other foreword is an old guy who was surprised how hard people work in this league.
Miami had to overhaul their entire roster this season because of penalties for cheating in 2020.
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https://www.inquirer.com/soccer/blaise-matuidi-inter-miami-salary-20210528.html
Gift horse and all that.
i liked this too, it was a fun catch by the camera guys. Up 2-1, he just quickly kept the same formation less a striker. very cool and collected.
Thought on Mbaizo. Curtin gives him a vote of confidence (which he proceeds to f up, but that is a different post)
That makes this a reasonable move regardless of who was on the bench. It was more psychological than purely tactical
My move, Findlay in, move Elliot up for pure tactics.
I think I go Bueno. He was solid last season in his minutes… unless he regressed, that’s my move.
Mbaizo’s mistake should have cost us 2 points….again.
Nate won the job in my book and Mbaizo is just their as depth for injury.
You could make an argument that Nate was one of the best players on the field in the first 25 minutes – including covering for Eliott who got caught ball watching on the goal. Total fluke that ball deflects in.