Philadelphia Union striker Tai Baribo is Leagues Cup’s top scorer after concluding play with seven goals.
At the start of the summer, Baribo hadn’t yet found the back of the net for the Boys in Blue. Now, he’s been recognized as the tournament’s scoring leader among 47 teams across Major League Soccer and Liga MX.
The Union finished fourth place, and while a great deal had changed for the team in terms of personnel before their Leagues Cup campaign, including Andre Blake’s recovery from injury and multiple starters returning from national team call-ups, their recent form can be credited in part to an outstanding showing from Baribo, who’s broken onto the scoring scene in dominant fashion.
The 26-year-old Israeli scored his first two Union goals on June 19th against FC Cincinnati on the road, and since then, he’s boosted his total to 13 goals in 13 games played. That number includes four braces, a hattrick, and two single-goal games.
His seven Leagues Cup scores put him atop the leaderboard above LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and Columbus Crew’s Diego Rossi, who each competed in the Leagues Cup final, finishing with six goals apiece.
“It means a lot to me because as a striker you want to be in the top of the scoring, you know? All the time, we want to be at the top. But we lost, and it's all about the team and winning,” Baribo said.
He’s pleased with his production as of late, but after Sunday’s Third-Place Match against Colorado Rapids, Baribo emphasized that his hard work won’t stop there. Philadelphia Union's Major League Soccer play resumes on Wednesday night against Columbus Crew, and Baribo is determined to maintain his form and help the team move up the table through the final regular season stretch.
“I need to continue to work hard, to continue to fight for my place on the starting 11. It's not easy. We have a lot of good players. Sam [Adeniran], Mikael [Uhre], Quinn [Sullivan]. But as a team, we need to keep our heads up after we lost today and get ready to face Columbus,” Baribo said.
“We’ve had tough situations this season. But again, it's our job to win. This is our job as soccer players. We have some tough moments, but we need to keep our heads up, we have to work hard, and again, we need to win every game in our building. Of course, Columbus is a very good team. Everybody knows this, but we are in our building and we need the points.”
There are nine regular season matches left, and the Philadelphia Union’s push toward the playoffs resumes on Wednesday night against the defending MLS Cup Champions and the newest Leagues Cup Champions. Click here for tickets!
