Photo by Marjorie Elzey

The Philadelphia Union met Cruz Azul on Sunday night to finish out the group stage of the 2024 Leagues Cup tournament. Following Cruz Azul’s penalty loss to Charlotte FC on the Wednesday prior, the Union had already advanced to the competition’s knockout stage but needed to win or draw in regulation to remain first in the group. Cruz Azul needed a win in regulation or penalty kicks to advance to the next round.

Despite attempts from local fans to boycott the tournament, Subaru Park sold out to a majority Cruz Azul crowd. The sellout was so large that Cruz Azul supporters with tickets in the River End could not be moved to other stadium areas before the match due to a lack of space.

Jim Curtin fielded a similar lineup to their last match against Charlotte FC, with only Damion Lowe and Mikeal Uhre replacing Jakob Glesnes and Sam Adeniran in the starting spots. Additionally, Holden Trent found his way to the bench over Andrew Rick.

First half

Immediately following the kickoff, Alejandro Bedoya received a yellow card for a foul at midfield. 

Cruz Azul earned most of the chances early in the first half and hit the post from outside the box in the 20th minute. 

Philadelphia earned a few set pieces in the final third and despite Kai Wagner’s ability on the dead ball, no one got on the end of them. It looked as though the boys in blue were preoccupied with avoiding a potential breakaway rather than taking the opportunity. 

Cruz Azul had a near-perfect chance in the 29th minute to catch the Union’s defense off-guard but failed to get the ball into the net amidst the scramble. Philadelphia followed it up with a cross into Uhre who headed it wide of the net. 

Play between both sides was as physical as expected, with many fouls to both sides. Quinn Sullivan earned himself a yellow card in the 37th minute in the process of stopping an attack while both Gazdag and Uhre were on the ground behind the play. 

La Máquina finally broke the deadlock in the 41st minute with a pass across the box to Carlos Rotondi, who put it past an outstretched Andre Blake. Rotondi was wide open on the back post while Sullivan and Martinez recovered.

Second half

Neither team made changes at the half, despite two Union players being on yellow cards.  

Play continued to be physical, and after Tai Baribo was taken down at the center of the field without a whistle, Lowe took down a Cruz Azul player right outside of the box to get a yellow. Referee Jorge Peregrina let things escalate further on another foul in the middle of the pitch where both Cruz Azul’s Carlos Rotundi and Philly’s Gazdag saw themselves a yellow. 

Baribo was taken down on a breakaway in the box in the 69th minute, but the challenge was shoulder-to-shoulder, and the officiating crew made the right decision not to give a penalty. Baribo went down quite easily, and it did not look like enough for the call given the other challenges that were allowed to play on earlier in the match. 

Both teams continued to have chances sparingly but were wasteful with their shots. Los Azules could have gone up another goal or two if they were able to keep it on frame. Lowe was nutmegged in the 80th minute, but Blake parried it away for Olivier Mbaizo to clear.

Gazdag pulled off a miracle for the union in the 88th minute. Amid a high press, Sam Adineran and Quinn Sullivan took advantage of a defender’s mistake and put the ball into the box for Gazdag to tap in. The match went on to penalties to decide who took the majority of the points, but the scoreline guaranteed that Philadelphia was first in the group and Cruz Azul finished second. 

Penalties:

CAZ: Gonzalo Piovi– Goal  [0-1]

PHI: Daniel Gazdag– Saved [0-1]

CAZ: Andres Montaño– Goal [0-2]

PHI: Jack Elliott– Goal [1-2]

CAZ: Willer Dita– Goal [1-3]

PHI: Jose Martinez– Goal [2-3]

CAZ: Carlos Rotundi– Goal [2-4]

PHI: Sam Adineran– Goal [3-4]

CAZ: Angel Sepulveda– Goal [3-5]

Three Points:

•  Handling Mexican opponents:  After what happened in Pachuca earlier in the year, it isn’t surprising that the Union attempted to open the match more defensively against another promising Mexican side. While, yes, they were going to advance regardless of the result, they should look to come back stronger in their next match and play with more confidence.
• Olympians returning: Nathan Harriel and Jack McGlynn will be back for the Union’s next match on Friday. It’s likely that they’ll be slotted back into their usual starting spots, meaning that Mbaizo’s stint at right-back will conclude. He made a strong effort to break up a few Cruz Azul attacks, but will still be an asset for Philly off the bench.
• Daniel Gazdag’s late equalizer: When hope for the Union to get on the board was beginning to burn out, pressing play paid off to get the ball to the Union’s leading goal scorer. Philly didn’t give up, and their efforts were rewarded.

Lineups:

Philadelphia

Starters: Andre Blake, Kai Wagner, Jack Elliot, Damion Lowe, Olivier Mbaizo (Jesus Bueno– 82”), Jose Martinez, Alejandro Bedoya (Leon Flach– 64”), Quinn Sullivan (Jakob Glesnes– 90+1”), Daniel Gazdag, Mikeal Uhre (Sam Adeniran– 64”), Tai Baribo

Unused subs: Oliver Semmle, Holden Trent, Frankie Westfield, Olwelthu Makhanya, CJ Olney, Cavan Sullivan, Jeremy Rafanello, Chris Donovan

Cruz Azul

Starters: Kevin Mier, Jorge Sánchez (Camilo Candido– 90+7”), Ditta Willer, Erik Lira (Andres Montaño– 90+7”), Lorenzo Faravelli (Carlos Rodriguez– 73”), Georgios Giakoumakis (Angel Sepulveda– 73”), Alexis Gutiérrez (Carlos Antuna– 81”), Jose Rivero, Luis Romo, Carlos Rotondi, Gonzalo Piovi

Unused Subs: Gudiño, Luis Jimenez, Amaury Garcia, Raymundo Rubio, Jose Suarez, Jorge Garcia, Bryan Gamboa

Scoring Summary:

CAZ: Carlos Rotondi–  41”

PHI: Daniel Gazdag– 88”

Discipline Summary:

PHI: Alejandro Bedoya– 2”

PHI: Quinn Sullivan– 37”

CAZ: Luis Romo– 51”

PHI: Damion Lowe– 54”

CAZ: Carlos Rotundi– 59’

PHI: Daniel Gazdag– 59’

CAZ: Carlos Antuna– 90+3”

Referee: Jorge Peregrina