Tai Baribo netted his first hat trick to lead Philadelphia Union to a resounding 5-1 victory over the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
It was a breakout first half performance for the Boys in Blue as Baribo scored twice before the break while defender Kai Wagner connected with Jakob Glesnes for a thundering finish off a corner. Baribo opened the scoring for the Union just before the half hour mark, directing a cross from Jack Elliott in the middle of the box. Ten minutes later Philly doubled its lead on the Glesnes goal while Baribo made it 3-0 for the Boys in Blue with a counter attacking finish set up by Mikael Uhre and Alejandro Bedoya. The visiting Revs got on the board in the 50th minute but Baribo quickly re-established the Union’s three goal advantage with the completion of the hat trick. Wagner was locked in on both sides of the contest, setting up three of the Union’s four goals to move within one assist of tying Union Ring of Honoree Sebastien Le Toux for the most in club history.
The Union’s memorable night got even sweeter in the 84th and 85th minute as Quinn Sullivan scored a long-range goal and immediately ran to his brother Cavan to celebrate. Seconds after the celebration conclude, the 14-year-old midfielder took to the pitch for his historic debut to become the youngest player to make his regular-season debut among the top North American professional sports leagues.
Head Coach Jim Curtin turned to some veteran faces for their Wednesday night match against New England Revolution, adding captain and goalkeeper Andre Blake and midfielder José Martinez back into the starting lineup. The match marked the three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year’s first since undergoing meniscus surgery, and with his return, the team is back in officially back to full health.
With Blake in net, Curtin reverted back to the squad to the preferred 4-4-2 diamond instead of a three back system. Instead, his defense featured Jakob Glesnes and Jack Elliott paired, with Kai Wagner and Olivier Mbaizo on the wings. Martinez, Leon Flach, Alejandro Bedoya made for a defense-minded midfield, while Daniel Gazdag, Tai Baribo, and Mikael Uhre formed the front three. While the starting XI was a strong one, all eyes were on the bench, as 14-year-old Homegrown midfielder Cavan Sullivan made his first appearance in the 20-man matchday roster since signing in May. He sat alongside his older brother, Quinn Sullivan, on the bench.
Energy was high in the stadium even before first kick, starting from the moment when public address announcer Kevin Casey listed Andre Blake as the night’s starting goalkeeper. The stadium responded with resounding applause, repeating the reaction when Martinez’s name was called shortly after.
The team built momentum off the atmosphere, finding an opening chance early – Elliott attempted to make the most of a Kai Wagner free kick in the second minute, volleying a shot after the ball went through the box without finding any of his teammates. A leaping effort rom Revs goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic plus an assist from the crossbar kept the score level, but Philadelphia Union didn’t let up on their pressure.
While trying to take advantage of an extremely shorthanded New England squad early, Martinez was one of the Union players who laid it on the most. The Venezuelan, fresh off an exceptional performance for Venezuela at Copa America, took two shots in the first 15 minutes. His second attempt was a laser from distance, but it missed just shy of the left post.
After strikes from both Baribo and Glesnes, the stat sheet was lopsided on the attacking front, with Philadelphia Union having taken six shots to New England’s zip. Ryan Spaulding, who was shown a 14th minute red card in the last meeting between Philadelphia and New England, got one off before the 20-minute-mark, but it landed far off target.
It wasn’t long into José Martinez, fondly known as El Brujo, committed his first foul. A hand to a New England player Esmir Bajraktarevic’s face gave the visitors a free kick chance, that became a corner after it went out of play on the first attempt. The Revs sent it in, hoping to make something happen in the box, but Blake quickly reminded everyone in the building how impact e really is, emerging above the crowded box for a save.
Loud chants and a raucous symphony of drums set the stage for the first goal of the night – after Tai Baribo was taken down on the Union’s attacking end, Kai Wagner took a free kick, sending it into the box in hope of a score. The service went right of the goalpost, but a slide from Elliott to keep it in play, placing it Baribo’s path. The 26-year-old Israeli met the ball with his head, scoring his fourth goal this month to give the Philadelphia Union a 1-0 lead.
Chants from the supporters continued to pulse energy through the stadium, especially after a pair of blast from distance struck by Martinez and Mbaizo landed just off target. Moments later,in the 39th minute, a centerback scored the team’s second goal of the night; Jakob Glesnes headed a corner from Wagner to the back right corner of the net, making the score 2-0.
After the team celebrated the score with Glesnes, a team captain, eyes in the stadium turned toward the bench, as six players were sent to the sideline to warmup, including Cavan Sullivan.
It wasn’t long, though, before attention was back on the pitch – in the 44th minute, Baribo scored his fifth Major League Soccer goal, capitalizing on an assist from Uhre to bag a brace on the night, and a 3-0 lead for the Union.
By the time the team emerged from the locker room for the second half, the skies opened up with rain on the riverfront. The weather may have changed, but the intensity didn’t, as the Union opened up the second 45 minutes of play with two shooting attempts.
Baribo made the score 4-1 in the 52nd minute, running onto a pinpoint pass from Wagner on the left sideline, and driving it toward the net for a 1v1 with Ivacic. He placed it past the keeper for a hattrick and his sixth goal this month.
Head Coach Jim Curtin made his first changes of the match in the 71st minute, adding in Quinn Sullivan and Jesus Bueno to replace Bedoya and Uhre. As for New England, Head Coach Caleb Porter used his fifth and final substitute by the 75th minute, calling on subs to help decrease the Union’s three-goal lead.
As the rain concluded, the chants from the stands began to ring out as they called for the debut of Sullivan in front of the Union faithful. Tension began to rise as the 80th minute saw the slow stroll from the Union bench to the warmup area where Sullivan was told to increase his warmup pace and was congratulated by his teammates. A few minutes later the Sullivan family had a different moment to celebrate of Quinn Sullivan scored a banger from well outside the box with his right boot that had the Revs defense stunned.
After Quinn ran to his brother to celebrate, the stadium went another level as Cavan was called over and entered the match one minute after his brother scored. Sullivan's historic debut comes at 14 years, 293 days old when he took to the pitch in the 85th minute of the Union's match against New England Revolution. Sullivan breaks the record by 13 days held by Freddy Adu who was 14 years and 306 days old. Three minutes into his debut, it was the Sullivan connection on display as Quinn and Cavan combined for the first team to become just the second brothers to share the pitch as part of the Boys in Blue.
The Boys in Blue look to conclude MLS play before the Leagues Cup break on a strong note as they host Nashville SC on Saturday night. The contest serves as Military Appreciation Night presented by GIANT with kick off set for 7:30PM ET at Subaru Park.
