Tai Baribo collected his second hat trick with the Boys in Blue to lead the Philadelphia Union to a 4-1 win in their 2025 Home Opener against FC Cincinnati.
Baribo's trio of goals pushed him to five through the first two games of the Major League Soccer campaign with his first goal of the night coming just six minutes into the contest. Leading Philly intense high press all night despite blistery conditions, Baribo made it two at the half hour mark with a tap in finish set up by Daniel Gazdag that needed VAR to award the goal. For the second straight match the Union came out aggressive and hunting for more goals out of the break and were rewarded with a third as Gazdag chased down a ball at the end line and shot it to the red hot Israeli striker to complete the hat trick.
Philadelphia Union hits the road next weekend for another conference battle, this time against the New England Revolution. Kick off from Gillete Stadium is set for 7:30PM ET on Saturday, March 8th. Don't miss the action over on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
How The Match Unfolded
Philadelphia Union returned to Subaru Park for the first time in 2025 on Saturday night, hosting FC Cincinnati for a home-opening matchup in front of Union faithful.
While he’s visited the Delaware riverfront as an opponent in the past, the match marked Bradley Carnell’s first home match as the Union’s Head Coach, and he made a statement early using the same lineup as he did in their 4-2 win against Orlando City a week prior.
Andre Blake started in net, and in front of him, the backline featured 19-year-old Homegrown Frankie Westfield and Kai Wagner as outside backs, and Makhanya and Jakob Glesnes paired at centerback.
Jovan Lukic, Danley Jean Jacques, Quinn Sullivan, and Daniel Gazdag made up the midfield, and Mikael Uhre and Tai Baribo started up top.
The club's two most recent signings in Bruno Damiani and Indiana Vassilev appeared on the bench for the first time, joining backup keeper Andrew Rick, Cavan Sullivan, Jesus Bueno, Alejandro Bedoya, Olivier Mbaizo, and Chris Donovan.
6', Baribo goal! | Just like he did in Orlando, 27-year-old Israeli striker Tai Baribo brought the energy early, opening scoring for a second straight match.
He capitalized on an assist into the box from Kai Wagner right in front of Union faithful in the River End, sending supporters into a frenzy as his goal triggered the club's beloved DOOP song for the first time this year. While the goal marks Baribo's third of the season and Wagner's third assist, the build-up was a team effort, starting from smart passes up the sideline between Gazdag and Sullivan before Wagner booted it toward Baribo for the finish.
30', Baribo brace, AGAIN! | It took the official a visit to VAR to decide it, but in the 30th minute, Baribo doubled the lead, scoring a second goal to make it 2-0. The score marked his second brace in two games, this time running in lock step with Gazdag before the Hungarian midfielder sent it ahead toward Baribo who evaded goalkeeper Roman Celentano's early dive. He nearly made it three minutes later, but his effort was ruled offsides.
52', Tai Baribo makes it three | For the second time in his career, Tai Baribo scored a hattrick, finding his third goal of the match in the 52nd minute. The play started with a lead pass from Danley Jean Jacques through three Cincinnati players, finding Baribo darting toward the net. He first tried to get the ball to Gazdag in front of the net, but Deandre Yedlin made the stop in front of the net. Gazdag quickly recovered the ball, sending it past two Cincinnati defenders and Celentano for a Baribo finish.
58', Evander gets one back for Cincinnati | The push for a home opener shutout came to an end right before the hour mark as the Ohio side spoiled the party with a goal from the new No. 10 Evander. The former Portland Timber playmaker turned in a dynamic one-man run winning the ball back before cutting to his left and sneaking a low shot past a diving Blake.T
78', Cincinnati kisses the crossbar | The Union's two goal lead was nearly trimmed to one with just over 10 minutes left. The sequence began with a stop by Andre Blake off an attempt from former Union defender Alvas Powell. The ball squirted free in front of the River End and fell to Kévin Denkey for a one timer but the leading scorer rushed it and saw his effort crahs off the left post. A third attempt for the Orange and Blue came to Evander but the right footed blast was denied via a sliding block from Glesnes.
90', Damiani scores in his debut | After making his club debut in the 69th minute, forward Bruno Damiani gave the crowd a taste of what a sudden impact he can make with a late goal to make it back-to-back matches in which the Union scored four goals.
