Photo: Marjorie Elzey
In one of the most remarkable results in the club’s history, the Philadelphia Union scored a 3-0 win in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League quarter-finals against Atlanta United.
The visitors were overwhelmed in a first half in which Atlanta was sure to score a goal (or three). But Philadelphia held out, scoring three goals in the second half, two in devastating counterattacks, and ending a visit to the south.
Player ratings
Andre Blake – 8
The Union won’t win this game without Blake’s heroics in the first half. You could have been blown out. But the Blake wall parried half a dozen good chances from the home team, which gave the Union the platform it needed to claim victory.
Olivier Mbaizo – 4th
Another inconsistent night from Mbaizo, who seems to fluctuate between overtly good and overtly bad from minute to minute. Was the better defender of the Union that night.
Jacob Glesnes – 4
Glesnes didn’t look as confident this season as with Mark McKenzie as a partner, either on the ball or off. He made a fair share of strong gaps in the second half of the year.
Jack Elliott – 4th
See Glesnes. I wouldn’t mind if Stuart Findlay got a game or two soon. Made a remarkable sliding tackle to break a direct chance in the middle of the first half.
Kai Wagner – 3
Wagner was exaggerated early on – something that one is not used to from German. Jürgen Damm gave Wagner trouble all night and the Union was lucky that it hadn’t paid for it. His corner kick led to the first goal.
Jose Martinez – 4.5
Possibly the toughest performance of the night that I could evaluate. The early yellow card was very bad both because Martinez will replace the second leg and because he was forced to call back the aggression a bit. In their dominant first half, Atlanta’s pass took Martinez out of the game. But at the end of the day his side did not concede and the desperate hosts could not get anything going in the second half.
Leon Flat – 7
Flach showed the best midfield performance of the night. He covers so much ground and does it relentlessly. Flat set up the second goal, combining a sharp one-two with Santos with a powerful 40-yard run and a perfect pass to find Przybylko in space. A really impressive start to the season for the 20-year-old.
Alejandro Bedoya – 6
Bedoya looked more like him in that match after a tough game against Miami. Filled room, well rested, read correctly – and kept his side from losing its coolness on an emotional night.
Jamiro Monteiro – 5th
A relatively anonymous night for the Cape Verdean international. I still think he was wrongly cast in role # 10 as he’s not doing enough to get the strikers in good positions. Even so, his defensive pace of work and willingness to work hard for 50-50 years met his high standards.
Cory Burke – 2nd
The limits of a Burke-Przybylko partnership were evident in the first half, whether it was an outlier or multiple situations where both strikers made the same run on well-hit crosses. Burke never seemed to find the game and was rightly removed at halftime.
Kacper Przybylko – 8
Anonymous in the first half, striker Muffin was brought to life alongside Sergio Santos in the second. His first goal showed good instincts that haven’t been sharp this season. His second was a clinical, powerful finish. And his support for the third goal was wonderfully selfless.
Subs
Sergio Santos – 8
Santos’ introduction changed the game. His speed and power opened up new areas of the pitch and after the first goal he set off the two deadly counterattacks that put the game off with great hold-up play and foresight. I could use a little less flop, but Santos should start games for the Union.
Anthony Fontana – 6
I’m not sure if he had more than one touch, but it went to the back of the web. He will be disappointed to get off the bench but if he keeps scoring goals then the starts will come.
Matt Real – n / a
Came in for the last five plus stop as a midfield body.
Player of the Game – Andre Blake
Could have gone here with Kacper or Sergio but last year’s goalkeeper of the year kept the Union alive in a half where they were life sustaining. A clear contrast to the beating Brad Guzan at the other end of the field.
Geiger counter
Jair Marrufo – 6
Set the tone early on by not hesitating to show Martinez a yellow card. Marrufo’s calls have been consistent and neither side will feel badly done.
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Author: Peter Andrews
Peter Andrews is the Senior Editor at PSP. He has covered the Union and the US national teams from fifteen different venues in the US and Canada. In his spare time he works as a lawyer in a Philadelphia law firm. Follow him on Twitter @pfandrews.
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