Photo: Howie Pollard
The Union got back in the win column on Saturday evening as they cruised to a 4-1 victory over Chicago Fire at Subaru Park. Philadelphia’s attack found numerous chances and timely saves from Andre Blake kept Chicago at bay for the majority of the evening.
On to the ratings.
Player Ratings
Andre Blake – 8
Blake didn’t have much of a chance on the Chicago goal, but did make some big saves early to keep Chicago off the board. A good outing for the Jamaican.
Olivier Mbaizo– 7
A good offensive night for the Mbaizo, who found his way back into the lineup for his attacking prowess. A great assist on Burke’s goal but Chicago was taking advantage of his advanced position defensively.
Jack Elliott – 7
A good night for the Elliott, but does shoulder much of the blame for the Chicago goal off his turnover. Made some nice blocks and interceptions throughout the night and got a goal.
Jakob Glesnes – 7
A similar outing to Elliott with the timely blocks and interceptions, but no turnover leading to a goal.
Kai Wagner– 7
A good night for the German on the left. He didn’t add to his assist total this week but did provide several good balls into the box.
Leon Flach – 6
A good night for Flach filling in for Martinez at the base of the diamond, his more natural position. Gave away some fouls but was able to transition defense to offense well.
Jack McGlynn – 5
A quiet night for McGlynn who got a start in Flach’s usual spot. Made some good passes but not involved as much as usual.
Daniel Gazdag – 8
A great night for the Hungarian who notched his 12th goal of the year. Played several great balls to attackers and linked play well up top.
Alejandro Bedoya- 6
A quiet night for Bedoya, but did link well with Mbaizo on the right side and should have drawn a red card in the first half.
Mikael Uhre – 7
Uhre was involved in almost every Union goal. Played a great ball to get Carranza free on the first and broke free to set up the third.
Julian Carranza – 8
An unselfish outing from Carranza who set up Gazdag for the first goal. Cleaned up Uhre’s attempt for his own goal and third of the night.
Subs
Paxten Aaronson – N/A
A short 5 minutes of action for the young midfielder, should have had an assist on Burke’s header.
Quinn Sullivan – N/A
A brief 5 minutes with Aaronson to seal out the win
Jose Martinez – 5
A 20 minute appearance for the usual starter with some defensive breakups.
Cory Burke – 7
A much needed goal for Burke, who just loves to play against Chicago. Could have easily had a second goal.
Player of the Match – Daniel Gazdag
Gazdag had everything flow through him for the attack for Philadelphia, tacking on a goal and setting up many others.
Geiger Counter
Ismail Elfath- 3
A very uneven game called, letting some fouls go and calling some too stringent. Never went to VAR, and missed a clear intentional stomp on Bedoya.
Two thoughts:
1)Thought that was Mbaizo’s best game of the year.
2) It seems like with their “normal” starting 11 the Union usually think they can play out of the back. Saturday with McGlynn at left back and Flach at #6, it looked like they KNEW they could play out of the back. It felt different.
Maybe that is one reason why Mbaizo had such a good game.
Regarding Olivier I agree that he is playing with more confidence and has a stronger attacking presence from the right back position than Nathan – however… in my opinion … there were a couple of occasions where Olivier tried to dribble through from the back where he could have made a simple pass …
On one of those occasions he looked for the pass. Either it was not there or he did not see it. Not sure if Chicago had cut the lanes or Union players failed to provide them.
We should track whether of not Giminez gets punished after the fact for the intentional stomp on Bedoya. I was very amused by Bedoya’s gamesmanship to go down and draw the ref’s attention. I’m not sure why VAR didn’t flag it as a missed red card but I expect the review board will have something to say.
Agreed. It was smart of Bedoya and I’m not sure if the scoreline persuaded Elfath to not investigate further. He should have.
It’s also possible Giminez misses some time due to injury given that he was stretchered off the field in which case disciplinary action would be rendered moot.
Early comments from Henderson suggest the injury did not look good. Hamstring was mentioned, but the coach said they would know more in the future.
Great game by Gazdag but MBaizo was my POTM. He initiated many threats and was dominant throughout. Curious how he receives same score as the other 3 defenders when he made no glaring defensive errors, had 2 brilliant assists (no mention of the perfectly weighted header on goal the keeper could only tip to Elliot) and drove the play from the right side.
Given Elliott was mostly responsible for the Chicago goal, he shouldn’t be rated as high as Glesnes. Also, I don’t think Bedoya should have seen red. The yellow he received was soft, and I think any transgressions after that took that into account as well as the foot stomping he received. I know that’s not the way refs think, but I think this one did. Also thought McGlynn and Flach played well and should be scored higher. You can’t dock a DM for giving away fouls, it’s in the job description.
To counter your point regarding Elliott, he did score what turned out to be the game winning goal and made MLS team of the week which Glesnes didn’t.
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And no one think Bedoya should have received a red, the guy who intentionally stomped on his foot should have.
The goal was a nice touch, but that’s why he’s sent up there for set pieces. As a defender I judge him more on his defensive action than being in the right place for a tap in (not saying he didn’t earn it by being alert and following the play, since no one else did). Team of the week selections always seem to favor defenders who make it on the scoresheet rather than defensive actions on the fiels.