In the battle of unbeaten teams, the Union delivered another clean sheet to defeat another quality opponent in Minnesota United on Saturday. Let’s wrap on the contest:
Daniel Gazdag Opens the Scoring
In the 16′ minute, Daniel Gazdag‘s tally on the service from Kai Wagner got the Union on the board. Jack Elliott actually was credited with the assist, as the Philly centre-back made a subtle pass over to Gazdag, who has able to get proper positioning on the far post to finish off the sequence. The goal was Gazdag’s 54th career goal for the Union in all competitions and according to Jimmy King, he trails Sébastien Le Toux as Philadelphia Union’s all-time leading goal scorer by just two goals.
“It’s important for Danny to score,” head coach Jim Curtin said in post. “In the run of play, we know how great he is but this will be good for his confidence going forward. I know he wants to score every game.”
Blake Exits With Injury
For as great of a day as the Union had, it was concerning to see keeper Andre Blake exit the game with an apparent head injury of some kind. Blake was down a total of three times throughout the match, perhaps trying to play through whatever was ailing him.
“Credit to our medical staff for being proactive,” Curtin said of the decision to pull his keeper. “As we all know, Andre makes us a better team, but we have to be safe with head injuries.”
Oliver Semmle spelled Blake and did well as the substitution. Blake seemed to be in good spirits after the game so we’ll continue to monitor his status when the team releases more information.
Carranza Doubles the Lead
Julian Carranza added the insurance marker at the 83′ minute on a header from Ale Bedoya to give the Union a two goal lead. Carranza’s shot was perfectly placed, as the shot went off the far post and in. Bedoya, who subbed in later in the game for Mikael Urhe, contributed all over the pitch in his short time on it.
They Said It
Jim Curtain on the Union’s Set Pieces: “Teams scout us (too) so you have to have some variation. If you notice, Kai usually hits hard, curled balls and he hit a couple that were flat and made it a jumping contest because we had a height advantage in set pieces today. I thought we caught them off-guard with the first one.”
Jakob Glesnes on his first half collision with Andre Blake: “Me and him had a collided in the first half on the corner kick. He started to feel something in the second half. No reason to take a risk with him. Especially with a head injury, just play it safe.”
Jack Elliott on Focusing on MLS Play: “We wanted to go further obviously in Champions league. It makes it easier in MLS when you don’t have to juggle traveling when some other teams you are playing aren’t doing it.”
On Deck
The boys in blue will head back out on the road for a match against Nashville SC next Saturday, 8:30 P.M.
