The Union played Toronto FC to a level, 1-1 match on Saturday night at Subaru Park. The boys in blue are moving on to a 9-1-4 record on home turf this season. Let’s wrap on the match:
The Vass and the Furious
Philadelphia wasted little time getting on the board, scoring first in the 4th minute of the match. It was Indiana Vassilev that took advantage of a crisp pass from Tai Baribo, as the left midfielder finished the play with a right footed shot from the centre of the box.
“It’s everything we want to do,” Vassilev said of the goal. “It’s what we practice. It’s getting vertical, connecting the first pass. Their backline was shifted over, so I kind of ran into space.”
The tally is Vassilev’s third of the year, while Baribo added his third helper. Despite this, the Union didn’t look as sharp in either half of play after the goal. There was, obviously, a lot of emotional swings in this contest. From a spirited scrum in front of the Toronto goal that saw both Olwethu Makhanya and Deandre Kerr each receive yellow cards to questionable officiating, this match had plenty of action for a game that had such little offense that manufactured actual shots on target.
Debatable
In the 55th minute, the Union appeared to have secured the go-ahead goal of the match before a VAR review determined that Baribo was offsides on the play. Philadelphia felt undoubtedly that Baribo had reestablished himself onside before the ball was put in play, and that the goal should have stood. Much of their ire was directed at referee Tori Penso as a result.
“I’m sure you guys saw it,” Vassilev said. ” I don’t even know what Tai does. Is he offside on the initial one? Yes, but he doesn’t affect the play. He’s not interfering with any Toronto player at all. I can’t comment on the referees or I’ll get fined, so I’m not going to say anthing about their performance tonight.”
head coach Bradley Carnell found himself echoing similar sentiments too.
“I’m still waiting on the clarification on that,” Carnell said. “You know, I’ve looked at it a couple of times and I’m still not sure. That just sways the momentum of the game. We struggled to deal with that.”
Surprisingly, even with fresh legs coming in for the remainder of the match, the Union couldn’t push for another tally. Later, of course, is when Toronto FC came up with the equalizer in the 90th from Deandre Kerr after the Canadian International maneuvered around Jacob Glesnes to place a header past Union keeper Andre Blake to knot the match at one a piece.
They Said It
Bradley Carnell on if the Union got complacent in the match: “I don’t sense complacency. I sense, when it doesn’t work our way, the guys get frustrated that it doesn’t work in a certain way. Then when the game takes on an emotional content, we should try to stay as machine-like as possible.”
Indiana Vassilev on the Union chasing games at home: “Especially at home, this is our fortress. We want to win here and we want to win big. We feel a certain pride playing here. We want to produce for ourselves, but also want to produce for the fans. They pay money to come watch us play.”
Nate Harriel on the mood in the locker-room: “Frustration. They really only really had one and half chances the entire game, then we give the soft goal. At the same time, heads up, big Open Cup game Wednesday night. All our focus now is on Red Bull.”
Did You Know?
Per the club, Midfielder Jesus Bueno suited up for his 25th career start in MLS regular season play on Saturday evening. Additionally, all said 25 starts have come with the Union for the Venezuelan international.
On Deck
The Union return to the pitch on Wednesday, August 13th, when they play host their rival NY Red Bulls at Subaru Park in a U.S. Open Cup, Quarter-Final match. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on Paramount+ and the CBS Sports Network.
