Photo: Marjorie Elzey

“Playing in Kansas City’s home opener, in a hostile environment, missing your top goal scorer and the best goalkeeper in the league, I think the group showed a ton of character today to play to the final whistle and get a big point on the road,” said Jim Curtin in the postgame press conference after his team gutted out a 1-1 draw against Sporting Kansas on the road.

It was far from pretty soccer, but it got the job done.

Here’s how the team rated:

FWD Chris Donovan  – 3

In his first start of the season, the 23 year old was underwhelming.  He worked hard to win the ball back but outside of a few positive passes in buildup, he offered very little offensively in this match.  There wasn’t much fluidity between Donovan, Rafanello and Sullivan in the first half, and he looked a bit stagnant, with his first touch letting him down on several occasions.  This was an opportunity that went unrealized, as he generated just one shot in his 57 minute shift.

FWD Quinn Sullivan – 5

He was one of the few starters who actually looked dangerous and made some positive runs at goal with the ball, but nothing ever materialized for the homegrown.  He played a really good ball into the box to find Markus Anderson late in the match that nearly provided an equalizer.

CAM Jeremy Rafanello – 5

Speaking in his postgame press conference, Jim Curtin said of Rafanello, “He had a role to do, and I thought he did it well.  We knew we were going to suffer in the first half.  Being in a team’s home opener, we were a little bit short-handed and undermanned, and Jeremy was a guy that we needed to give us minutes.  He worked tirelessly defensively, took away their good #6, but also gave us an outlet on the counterattack.  He did his job, and I said that to him at halftime”.

LM Jack McGlynn – 4

Anyone watching could see McGlynn was a bit sluggish in this match, which is to be expected after going 120 minutes against Saprissa on Tuesday and 80 minutes in the homeopener against Chicago.

RM/CDM Jesus Bueno – 6

He appeared to have a nice assist that set up Sullivan for an equalizer in the 42′, but he was ruled to have fouled Tim Leibold while doing so.  The broadcast only showed one replay and the angle provided no confirmation one way or another. Speaking about Bueno postgame, Curtin said, “I thought he did a good job going to the six.  It’s not easy going from a clear role in the first 45′ and then jumping into a different position, but Bueno handled it well and had a solid game for the Union.

CDM Jose Martinez – 4

Martinez was unlucky to stumble over the ball which led to KC’s goal.  He suffered injuries on two occasions in the first half (including the play leading up to the goal) and on the follow-through of his shot just a few minutes earlier. He was able to grit it out until he was subbed off at halftime. Curtin stated postgame that he is hopeful that he will be OK for Tuesday.

LB/RB Nathan Harriel – 5 

Harriel struggled a bit playing out of his preferred rightback position in the first half in order to save Kai Wagner from playing a full match, but he settled in once he switched to rightback at halftime.

CB Damien Lowe – 6

Picked up a yellow card on a poor tackle on Johnny Russell in the 58′, but he was all over the field making tackles in this match and played a crucial role in keeping KC’s tally to just one.

CB Jack Elliot -5 

It was a mixed bag game for the centerback who was playing on the right with Glenses getting rest.  He was caught in no man’s land on the first KC goal that was ruled offsides, but he was otherwise stout in defense for most of the second half.

RB Olivier Mbaizo – 4

Nothing of note from the Cameroonian before being subbed off at halftime. Curtin mentioned in his postgame press conference that Mbaizo was a planned halftime sub coming into this match.

GK Oliver Semmle – 7

There’s not much more you could’ve asked from Semmle in this match.  He had some errant distributions but he made some key saves, both early and late in the game.  He is proving to be a capable replacement for when Andre Blake is unavailable.

Substitutes:

(46′) Alejandro Bedoya – 8

Picked up a yellow just three minutes after coming on at halftime, but in the end, the veteran saved the day with a left-footed goal in the dying seconds.

Speaking about Bedoya in the postgame press conference, Curtin had the following to say:

“He did a great job for us tonight. He gave us a real calming presence in the second half. He connected his passes and then in the biggest moment when we’re throwing guys forward, basically the last kick of the game, for him to have the composure there…You see so many guys try and full swing that one and hit it a ton and it winds up in the 30th row.  For him to just guide it into the upper corner speaks to the composure and talent.”

He added, “Nothing better than on the road, making 18,000 go quiet”

(46′) Kai Wagner – 7

Wagner immediately started making an impact after being subbed on at halftime and provided the game winning assist.  As Chris Turk alluded to in his match report, Kai Wagner is an irreplaceable component for the Union, on both sides of the ball.

(46′) Daniel Gazdag – 4

A few decent chances, including a half volley early on in the second half that went wide, and then his play in the box late in the game that saw him go to ground, but no foul was given.  Overall, a fairly mundane night for the Hungarian.

(57′) Mikael Uhre – 4

Didn’t offer much more than Donovan, whom he replaced, aside from playing a few balls into the box.  Apple TV commentator Devon Kerr suggested that Mikael Uhre was reading a book in this match, rather than searching for goals.

(83′) Markus Anderson – N/A

Difficult to judge Anderson from his seven minute plus stoppage time shift.  He did have a really good opportunity for an equalizer in the 90′ with a header from the six, but it went just wide.

Man of the Match

Alejandro Bedoya snags Man of the Match honors for securing the point with his stoppage time equalizer.  Honorable mention goes to Kai Wagner for injecting some much needed energy after coming on at halftime and earning the assist on Bedoya’s goal.

What’s next…

The Philadelphia Union will play host to Liga MX side Pachuca on Tuesday in the first of two legs in their CONCACAF Champions Cup, Round of 16 series.  Kickoff is at 7pm ET, FS2. The Union return to MLS play on Saturday, March 9th with an inter-conference match against the Seattle Sounders (7:30pm ET, Apple TV).