Tag: Julian Carranza

Philadelphia Union grind it out, besting FC Cincinnati 1-0 in MLS playoffs

The Union were just a little bit better in a bruising battle with Cincy

MLS playoff wins are often a long way from pretty, and if that’s how it has to be, the Philadelphia Union are ready.

Philadelphia and FC Cincinnati duked it out at Subaru Park Thursday night, and the Union did just enough in a physical battle to take a 1-0 decision. Leon Flach, who hadn’t scored a goal all season, picked up the game-winner in the second half of a hotly contested Eastern Conference semifinal.

The Union front three of Julián Carranza, Dániel Gazdag, and Mikael Uhre combined for 49 goals and 25 assists on the season. Cincinnati had pretty much the same situation with their attacking trio: Luciano Acosta, Brenner, and Brandon Vazquez totaled 49 goals and 25 assists in MLS this year.

And yet, the stars of this battle ended up being eaten up for long spells by the unsung players in the respective engine rooms. Philadelphia’s ferocious pressing and defensive organization meant the visitors never had time to think. Going the other way, Obinna Nwobodo was seemingly everywhere for Cincy, preventing the Union from assembling any passing fluency.

It was fitting that when the Union broke the deadlock in the 59th minute, it wasn’t an attack-first Designated Player. It wasn’t even a star fullback like Kai Wagner, or a set piece. It was Flach, the midfield shuttler  — that’s Leon “zero goals in 2022” Flach — sweeping the ball past Roman Celentano after a scramble inside the Cincinnati box.

They say goals change games, and while Cincinnati did go for a classic center back out/striker in substitution, with Ian Murphy coming off for Sergio Santos, the game largely remained a hectic scrap. Referee Tim Ford somehow only gave out five yellow cards as the tackles continued to fly in, and if any big-name player stood out, it was Union goalkeeper Andre Blake.

Ultimately, while both of these teams are capable of some lovely soccer, the fact is that they’re two of the rough-and-tumble East’s roughest, tumblingest teams. This was never likely to become a game about technical proficiency. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, Philly is just a little bit more comfortable with the sort of battle this game turned into, and that’s why the Union are off to the conference final.

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MLS can’t let the Philadelphia Union keep playing D.C. United

Stop! Stop! They’re already dead

The Philadelphia Union must be prevented from playing D.C. United any more this year, just for common decency’s sake.

The Union already beat United 7-0 at Subaru Park back in July, a defeat so resounding that it seemed to hasten D.C.’s choice to hire Wayne Rooney and find some sort of path forward in a dismal season.

United got to play host Saturday night, and they suffered an only marginally less catastrophic 6-0 loss. The Union rode some luck to get to halftime up 2-0, but ripped United to shreds in the second half, and in truth could have scored more.

Philadelphia manager Jim Curtin was diplomatic after the match, opting not to rub it in after his team finished the season series with a 13-0 goal difference.

“(United) put a ton into the first 20 minutes of the game. A ton,” Curtin told reporters following the match. “Credit to them, they came out really, really fast, caught us off-guard quite a bit… A couple of plays or bounces here or there, and we’re picking the ball up out of the back of our own net.”

That was a stark contrast from United’s captain Victor Pálsson, who stood in for the suspended Steven Birnbaum at center back.

“Absolutely embarrassing… Individual mistakes, it all goes back to mistakes,” said Pálsson to reporters before taking responsibility for the Union’s first goal. “We just completely collapsed.”

Pálsson called the defeat “one of the worst days of my career” before summing up how United felt about the game. “It’s not acceptable. It was f—…ashamed. I’m ashamed to be captain today.”

The Union got a hat trick from Julián Carranza, and one each from Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gázdag, and Cory Burke. For Carranza, it’s his second hat trick against United in 2022, and Philadelphia has scored over 25% of its 51 goals this season against United.

Rooney was unsparing in his analysis.

“Second half was just not acceptable,” Rooney told reporters. “We lost every second ball, we had players not wanting to take the ball, giving the ball away cheaply. It was completely unrecognizable from a team I manage.”

Rooney said he “purposefully stayed quiet” on the sideline rather than berating his charges. “I wanted to see which players were gonna take responsibility and show some leadership, and the only one was Chris Durkin.”

Mercifully for United, their schedule no longer contains any more Union games.

Watch the Union dismantle United again